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The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1973) is a thriller novel by Morton Freedgood, writing under the pen name John Godey. The novel's title is derived from the train's radio call sign. When a New York City Subway train leaves to start a run, it is given a call sign based upon the time it left and where; in this case, Pelham Bay Park station at 1:23 p.m.
A normal day on the subway is disrupted by the hijacking of a 6 train, designated Pelham One Two Three to indicate its point and time of origin. Four men armed with submachine guns detach the lead car and drive it into a tunnel with its 17 passengers as hostages. The hijackers are led by Ryder, a former mercenary, and consist of disgruntled former motorman Longman, violent ex-Mafia thug Joey Welcome, and powerful, laconic brute Steever. The gang threaten to execute one hostage per minute unless the city delivers to them a one million dollar ransom within one hour. One of the hostages is an armed undercover police officer, who considers the odds too overwhelming to attempt any confrontation and remains seated and quiet.
While the city authorities weigh it up and agree to pay, the transit police try to figure out the hijackers' plan, particularly their escape from a tunnel while completely surrounded. They do not suspect that the hijackers have a mechanism, "The Gimmick", for defeating the train's dead-man's switch, which prevents the train from running without a driver's hand pressing down on it. The hijackers intend to let the train and its hostages speed along the track by itself, chased by the police above surface, while they get away. They will discard their weapons and escape through an emergency exit, disappearing into the busy flow of New York pedestrians.
The ransom is delivered to the hijackers, who then demand that the track ahead is cleared all the way to South Ferry. They move the train a short distance down the tunnel, fit The Gimmick, get off the train, and engage The Gimmick to hold down the dead-man's switch. Once the train is underway the gang makes their way to an emergency exit and the undercover police officer jumps off into the tunnel.
At the emergency exit, Welcome refuses to leave his submachine gun behind and argues with Ryder. Ryder fatally shoots him, but the delay allows the undercover cop to shoot Steever from the darkness of the tunnel. Longman escapes while Ryder fires back and wounds the cop. As Ryder goes to finish him off with a head shot, he is himself shot dead by DCI Daniels of the Special Operations Division. Later, the transit police go through their records of dismissed motormen and track down and arrest Longman.
The novel has been adapted to film and television three times:
After the 1974 movie adaptation was released, for many years the New York City Transit Authority barred its planners from scheduling trains leaving Pelham station at 1:23 a.m. or p.m., realizing that it would become too much of a reminder to the public. Eventually this policy was rescinded, but as of 1991, due to the superstitions involved, dispatchers have continued to avoid scheduling a Manhattan-bound train to leave Pelham at 1:23. [2]
The caper story is a subgenre of crime fiction. The typical caper story involves one or more crimes perpetrated by the main characters in full view of the reader. The actions of police or detectives attempting to prevent or solve the crimes may also be chronicled, but are not the main focus of the story.
The Pelham Bay Park station is the northern terminal station of the IRT Pelham Line of the New York City Subway. Located across from Pelham Bay Park, at the intersection of the Bruckner Expressway and Westchester Avenue in the Pelham Bay neighborhood of the Bronx, it is served by the 6 train at all times, except weekdays in the peak direction, when the <6> serves it.
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three is a 1974 American crime drama film directed by Joseph Sargent, produced by Gabriel Katzka and Edgar J. Scherick, and starring Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam, and Héctor Elizondo. Peter Stone adapted the screenplay from the 1973 novel of the same name written by Morton Freedgood under the pen name John Godey.
The 33rd Street station is a local station on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Park Avenue and 33rd Street in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan, it is served by 6 trains at all times, <6> trains during weekdays in the peak direction, and 4 trains during late night hours.
The New York Transit Museum is a museum that displays historical artifacts of the New York City Subway, bus, and commuter rail systems in the greater New York City metropolitan region. The main museum is located in the decommissioned Court Street subway station in Downtown Brooklyn and Brooklyn Heights in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. There is a smaller satellite Museum Annex in Grand Central Terminal in Midtown Manhattan. The museum is a self-supporting division of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
The Third Avenue–138th Street station is an express station on the IRT Pelham Line of the New York City Subway located at the intersection of Third Avenue and East 138th Street in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the Bronx. It is served by the 6 train at all times and the <6> train during weekdays in the peak direction.
The IRT Lexington Avenue Line is one of the lines of the A Division of the New York City Subway, stretching from Lower Manhattan north to 125th Street in East Harlem. The line is served by the 4, 5, 6, and <6> trains.
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system that serves four of the five boroughs of New York City, New York: the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens. Its operator is the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA), which is controlled by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) of New York. In 2016, an average of 5.66 million passengers used the system daily, making it the busiest rapid transit system in the United States and the seventh busiest in the world.
The Canal Street station is an express station on the IND Eighth Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Canal Street, Vestry Street, and Sixth Avenue in Lower Manhattan, it is served by the A and E trains at all times, and the C train at all times except late nights.
A control room or operations room is a central space where a large physical facility or physically dispersed service can be monitored and controlled. It is often part of a larger command center.
The IRT Pelham Line is a rapid transit line on the New York City Subway, operated as part of the A Division and served by the 6 and <6> trains. It was built as part of the Dual Contracts expansion and opened between 1918 and 1920. It is both elevated and underground with Whitlock Avenue being the southernmost elevated station. It has three tracks from the beginning to just south of the Pelham Bay Park terminal. The Pelham Line also has a connection to Westchester Yard, where 6 trains are stored, just north of Westchester Square–East Tremont Avenue.
Morton Freedgood was an American author who wrote The Taking of Pelham One Two Three and many other detective and mystery novels under the pen name John Godey.
The 28th Street station is a local station on the BMT Broadway Line of the New York City Subway, located at 28th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. It is served by the R train at all times except late nights, the W train on weekdays, the N train during late nights and weekends and the Q train during late nights.
The Hoyt–Schermerhorn Streets station is an express station of the New York City Subway, serving the IND Crosstown Line and the IND Fulton Street Line. Located at the intersection of Hoyt Street and Schermerhorn Street in Downtown Brooklyn, it is served by the A and G trains at all times, as well as the C train except at night.
References to the New York City Subway in popular culture are prevalent, as it is a common element in many New Yorkers' lives.
The fares for services operated under the brands of MTA Regional Bus, New York City Subway, Staten Island Railway (SIR), PATH, Roosevelt Island Tramway, AirTrain JFK, NYC Ferry, and the suburban bus operators Nassau Inter-County Express (NICE) and Westchester County Bee-Line System (Bee-Line) are listed below. As of 2024, most bus routes, the subway, the Staten Island Railway, and the Roosevelt Island Tramway charge a $2.90 fare; a higher fare is charged for ferries, express buses, and the AirTrain JFK.
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three is a 1998 American television crime thriller film directed by Félix Enríquez Alcalá and starring Edward James Olmos. It is a television adaptation of the novel of the same name by Morton Freedgood, and is a remake of the 1974 film adaptation. It was followed by a 2009 remake.
The Taking of Pelham 123 is a 2009 American action thriller film directed by Tony Scott from a screenplay by Brian Helgeland. It is the third film adaptation of the John Godey novel of the same name. The film is about a train dispatcher, who is pressed into the role of negotiator after a criminal hijacks a subway car of passengers. The film was released on June 12, 2009. It grossed $150 million against a production budget of about $100 million and received mixed reviews from critics.
The Metropolitan Avenue/Lorimer Street station is an underground New York City Subway station complex shared by the BMT Canarsie Line and the IND Crosstown Line. Located in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, the complex is served by the G and L trains at all times.