The original Pennsylvania Station opens. In 1900, The Pennsylvania Railroad became the largest company in the world with more than 10,000 miles of track between the Mississippi River and New York. As part of an expansion project to connect the trains to Manhattan, known as the New York Terminal and Tunnel Expansion Project, corporation president Alexander Cassatt oversaw the construction of Pennsylvania Station.

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire takes place claiming the lives of 146 innocent workers. It remains the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of New York City. The fire brought mass attention to the dangerous working conditions in factories and prompted new legislation enforcing better safety standards and regulations for workers.

Grand Central Terminal opens to the public at midnight after ten years of renovations, and 150,000 New Yorkers from all over the city visited the new transportation hub on its opening day. Today, HJ Kalikow’s flagship building at 101 Park Avenue stands one block away.

World War I begins. New York factories start producing military equipment and munitions, and shipping them out through the city’s ports.

Under President Woodrow Wilson, Congress declares war on Germany, and the United States officially enters World War I. After four years of bloodshed, the war ends on November 11, 1918. The Allies declare victory, and the Treaty of Versailles is signed on June 28, 1919.

As soldiers return home from war, there is another deadly battle being waged: The 1918 influenza pandemic. The deadly disease kills an estimated 50 million people worldwide: approximately 675,000 Americans and more than 20,000 New Yorkers. Peter Kalikow’s maternal grandmother, Pauline Robinson-Citrin (pictured below) died from the fatal disease in 1920 at the age of 30.

The Harlem Renaissance begins, and African American culture and art are revived in Manhattan.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is founded. A little more than 70 years later, Peter Kalikow would serve as a Commissioner of the Port Authority.

The Yankees win their first World Series, beating the New York Giants to claim victory.

Macy’s holds its very first Thanksgiving Day Parade down Broadway. The parade, which was called the “Christmas Parade” that year, was arranged by Macy’s employees who immigrated to the United States from Europe and wanted to host a celebration similar to those in their home countries.

The Holland Tunnel is opened to traffic. It was the longest underwater vehicular tunnel in the world at the time.

The extravagance of the 1920s comes to an abrupt end when the stock market crashes on what is infamously known as Black Tuesday. It would soon spiral the country into a ten-year-long economic decline, known as the Great Depression.