Viewing NYC Articles Categorized Under Subway

[REPOST] [VIDEO] The Subway's Leftovers | NYC Subway Remnants and Provisions Part 1: Manhattan

2026-09-13T12:00:00-04:00

This fascinating video tour uncovers the hidden history of the New York City subway system by exploring a variety of remnants and provisions scattered throughout Manhattan. From the famous abandoned City Hall loop to lesser-known tunnel bellmouths, storage tracks, and closed station platforms, the footage provides a rare glimpse into infrastructure that was either part of the original subway design, built for expansion plans that never materialized, or decommissioned as the system modernized. By examining these architectural leftovers, viewers gain a deeper understanding of how the city transit network has evolved and the many secret spaces that still exist right beneath the feet of daily commuters. For those interested in learning more about the preservation of these historic sites, you can explore the New York Transit Museum to see how they keep the history of the subway alive.

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[VIDEO] The Mets Were Made For The Yankees

2026-09-09T12:00:00-04:00

This video delves into the rich history of New York City baseball, revealing how the modern rivalry between the New York Yankees and New York Mets runs deeper than often perceived. Before the 1950s, New York was home to three major league teams: the Yankees, the Brooklyn Dodgers, and the New York Giants. The Dodgers, representing Brooklyn's working class and notably signing Jackie Robinson to break baseball's color barrier, and the Giants, based in Manhattan, eventually left for California in 1957. This left the Yankees as the sole team, enjoying a period of dominance and winning many World Series. To fill the void and, more importantly, to create an antagonist for the powerhouse Yankees, the Mets were formed in 1962, adopting the colors of the Giants (orange) and Dodgers (blue) as a tribute. The video highlights how the Mets' identity was deliberately built to oppose the Yankees' tradition and intimidation with a chaotic and experimental approach, fostering the "Subway Series" rivalry that continues to this day.

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[VIDEO] New York's 2nd Avenue Subway Took 100 Years and $6.3B

2026-09-05T12:00:00-04:00

The video delves into the century-long saga of the Second Avenue Subway project in New York City, which ultimately cost $6.3 billion to complete just three stations. Initially proposed in the 1920s, the ambitious undertaking faced numerous setbacks, including the Great Depression and the 1975 New York City fiscal crisis, leading to multiple restarts and abandoned sections. The project's exorbitant costs are attributed to a combination of factors collectively known as the "New York Premium," which includes complex labor agreements, burdensome procurement laws, unforeseen underground utilities, extravagant station designs, federal red tape, administrative overhead, and frequent change orders. Comparing New York's construction expenses to those in cities like London, Paris, and Tokyo reveals that building subway infrastructure in NYC is significantly more expensive per mile. Despite these challenges, Phase 1 delivered functional and well-designed stations at 72nd, 86th, and 96th Streets, but the escalating costs threaten the future expansion plans of the line.

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[VIDEO] NYC's least talked about Abandoned Station

2026-08-08T12:00:00-04:00

This video delves into the Myrtle Avenue Elevated line in Brooklyn, highlighting a section that has been abandoned for decades and an even older, underground station that was also abandoned. The current M and J subway lines utilize a portion of the original elevated structure, which once extended to Downtown Brooklyn and crossed the Brooklyn Bridge before 1944. The video illustrates the complex junction where the M train diverges towards Middle Village, emphasizing the capacity challenges this creates. It also points out the remains of the abandoned elevated structure, where tracks have been removed but the ironwork still stands. Additionally, the narrator discusses an abandoned underground station of the BMT line, located beneath Flatbush Avenue near Myrtle, which closed in 1956 and notably lacked a connection to the elevated line. This missed connection is cited as a factor in the elevated line's eventual closure in 1969, with its route largely replaced by the B54 bus.

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[WATCH] The Greatest Debate in Design History | The NYC Subway Map

2026-07-26T12:00:00-04:00

This video explores the rich and contentious history of the New York City subway map, highlighting a fundamental tension in design between clarity and accuracy. From the system's fragmented beginnings in 1904, where multiple private companies operated with separate maps, to the city's eventual unification of the transit lines, the challenge of creating a coherent map was immense. In 1957, designer George Salomon proposed a unified approach to signage and wayfinding, inspired by Harry Beck's London Underground map, which introduced the idea of a diagram over a geographically accurate map. This paved the way for Italian designer Massimo Vignelli, who, in 1972, unveiled a radical, colorful, and abstract diagrammatic map. While hailed as a modernist masterpiece by designers, many New Yorkers found Vignelli's map confusing due to its distorted geography, shrinking Central Park into a square and abstracting street details. The public's backlash led to the map's replacement in 1979 by a more geographically accurate design by Michael Hertz, who later updated it in 1998. The debate resurfaced with digital maps like The Weekender and the Live Subway Map, which blended both approaches, showcasing how technology can offer flexible information systems. In April 2025, the MTA formally adopted a new physical map, designed in-house, that pays homage to Vignelli's bold, geometric style while incorporating geographic clarity and commuter rail connections. The video concludes that modern navigation tools like Google Maps and Apple Maps have freed the subway map from needing to serve as a street guide, allowing it to focus on its primary purpose: guiding riders through the system itself, a realization of what Vignelli had originally envisioned.

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[VIDEO] How NYC's Impossible East Side Access Was Constructed

2026-07-03T12:00:00-04:00

This video delves into the colossal East Side Access project (https://www.mta.info/projects/east-side-access), an ambitious undertaking to revolutionize New York City's transit system. The project aims to alleviate congestion on existing commuter lines by connecting commuters from Long Island directly to Grand Central Terminal. Engineers face immense challenges, including excavating massive caverns 150 feet below Park Avenue and Manhattan's dense midtown, requiring controlled blasting through bedrock while maintaining continuous city operations. The construction also involves installing some of the longest escalators in New York City. The video highlights how such ground-breaking innovations are crucial for keeping major urban environments, from New York to other global cities, functioning efficiently despite seemingly impossible obstacles.

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[VIDEO] Overlooked Architecture of NYC's First Subway System

2026-06-21T12:00:00-04:00

Join host Jamie Adams from Up To The East Side as he explores the fascinating original portion of the New York City subway system, built by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) and opened in 1904. The journey begins on Manhattan's Upper West Side at the 110 Street-Cathedral Parkway Station, showcasing its mosaic tiles and expanded platforms. Jamie highlights unique architectural features in various stations, including the distinctive control houses at 72nd Street and Atlantic Avenue, the historic ticket booth at Wall Street, and the captivating Turkish kiosk replica at Astor Place. The video also visits the impressive original IRT Powerhouse near Columbus Circle, a landmark built to electrify the nascent subway. Each stop reveals a blend of meticulously preserved turn-of-the-century design and modern updates, offering a rare glimpse into the early engineering and aesthetics of one of the world's most iconic transportation networks.

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[WATCH] Should the Subways be Extended to Staten Island?

2026-06-12T12:00:00-04:00

The video explores the feasibility and a multi-stage plan for extending the New York City Subway to Staten Island. The presenter argues that current conditions don't justify immediate rail expansion due to low ridership compared to other NYC boroughs and New Jersey. However, by implementing "Stage 0" with upzoning near existing Staten Island Railway stations and introducing Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) routes (S1, S2, S3), the island's density and transit ridership could increase significantly.
Stage 1 proposes extending the R train from Brooklyn to Grasmere, with a new yard at Lily Pond Avenue. Stage 2 outlines an elevated rapid transit line along Forest Avenue, connecting St. George to the Matrix Global Logistics Park, passing through key employment centers and areas ripe for housing development. Stage 3 introduces a Trans-Harbor Tube from St. George directly to Manhattan, connecting to Grand Central Terminal and offering through-running services with Metro-North Railroad. This stage would also require upgrading the Staten Island Railway to Metro-North standards and implementing Omni fare payment.
Finally, Stage 4 focuses on connecting Staten Island's Richmond Avenue Elevated to New Jersey via the Bayonne Bridge, linking with an upgraded PATH system (converting the Bayonne portion of Hudson–Bergen Light Rail to heavy rail) and extending it north into Bergenline and Anderson Avenues. This ambitious plan aims to transform Staten Island into a denser, transit-rich borough with strong connections across the region, boosting its population to over a million and enabling more efficient reverse commuting.

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[WATCH] Why London Abandoned a Secret 6-Mile Subway

2026-06-04T12:00:00-04:00

Delve into the fascinating story of London's Post Office Tube Railway, an autonomous, driverless underground freight system that operated beneath the city for 76 years without public knowledge. Built in response to severe street congestion in the early 20th century, this innovative network transported millions of letters and parcels daily between central sorting offices and mainline stations. While its advanced automation and subterranean operation made it an indispensable part of Britain's communication infrastructure, especially during wartime, changing logistics and railway privatization in the late 20th century led to its eventual closure in 2003. Although much of the system remains sealed and hidden from view, a section beneath Mount Pleasant has been restored and opened for tourist access as part of the Postal Museum, allowing the public to experience this once-secret marvel.

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[VIDEO] The Century Old Idea that Can Revolutionize NYC Commuter Rail

2026-06-03T12:00:00-04:00

In the 1920s, New York City faced a capacity crisis at Penn Station, leading the New Jersey legislature to form the North Jersey Transit Commission. Their 1926 report advocated for "through running"—a concept where trains continue through Penn Station instead of terminating there, improving efficiency and capacity. Historically, similar through-running solutions were implemented in NYC, such as by the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company for the BMT Broadway Line and the BMT Nassau Street Line, and for Thameslink in London. However, current implementation at Penn Station faces technical challenges, including varying electrification systems, platform heights, and labor agreements between the MTA, New Jersey Transit, and Amtrak. The primary obstacle remains governance, with a lack of a single authority to mandate cooperation among these entities. Recent developments, including MTA head Janno Lieber's support for through running and the federalization of Penn Station's renovation under Andy Byford, suggest a potential path forward, with plans for a service optimization study to re-evaluate train operations.

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