sharjeel
Politcal Worker (100+ posts)
Going underground: The photos that show how New York City's subway was built
It is one of the oldest public transportation systems in the world.
Since Manhattan's original 28 stations were built, its subway system has grown to over 468 stations serving 1.64billion riders a year.
These black-and-white images show the painstaking process endured by the laborers who laid the foundation for the 842 miles of track winding beneath the city pavement today.
Underground: Laborers look at the camera while working on a subway tunnel in Manhattan, c 1901-1931
Photos from the New York City Municipal Archive show the New York City subway system under construction from 1901-1931.
Beneath layers of concrete and earth, construction workers are dwarfed by drills and walls of dirt and bedrock as they labor to complete the first stations that opened in 1904.
By 1930, most of the 468 stations in existence today had already been built.
From City Hall to modern-day Harlem, the underground liars - and the structures that surround them - would go on to form the nervous system of the city.
Under pressure: Workers man cranes at an interior structure in January, 1931
Heart of the city: Park Row and City Hall Park, from street level, November 1902
Dangerous work: The station at 8th Avenue and 52nd Street, May 1927
Hauntingly familiar: 14th Street & 4th Avenue Pillars and tracks with stairs leading to the platform, October 1903
The city underground: Broadway & 42nd Street, below ground seen from street, February 1903
What lurks below: 173rd to 177th Street under Broadway, April 1928
Drilling on: A Circular tunnel with chains running across, February 1906
Laying the foundation: 175th to 183rd Street under Grand Concourse, Bronx, c 1928-1931
Bedrock: A subway tunnel under construction at 4th Avenue & 15th Street, looking north from the street into the sunlit lower level, September 1901
Opening day: The subway on Delancey Street west, January 22, 1907
Downtown: Looking east from Norfolk Street subway station, December 13, 1906
At the start: New avenue open subway station east from Norfolk Street, December 13, 1906
Back in time: The ground level of a Manhattan station, January 1931
Today, the system has 21 interconnected subway routes, the deepest of which travels 180ft below street level, at 191 Street in Manhattan.
According to the Metropolitan Transit Authority, the web forms the world's seventh busiest subway system, behind Tokyo, Moscow, Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul and Guangzhou.
The average weekday subway ridership was 5.3million last year - the highest since 1951.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ork-Citys-subway-1901-1931.html#ixzz1v1Z0APxS
It is one of the oldest public transportation systems in the world.
Since Manhattan's original 28 stations were built, its subway system has grown to over 468 stations serving 1.64billion riders a year.
These black-and-white images show the painstaking process endured by the laborers who laid the foundation for the 842 miles of track winding beneath the city pavement today.
Photos from the New York City Municipal Archive show the New York City subway system under construction from 1901-1931.
Beneath layers of concrete and earth, construction workers are dwarfed by drills and walls of dirt and bedrock as they labor to complete the first stations that opened in 1904.
By 1930, most of the 468 stations in existence today had already been built.
From City Hall to modern-day Harlem, the underground liars - and the structures that surround them - would go on to form the nervous system of the city.
Laying the foundation: 175th to 183rd Street under Grand Concourse, Bronx, c 1928-1931
Today, the system has 21 interconnected subway routes, the deepest of which travels 180ft below street level, at 191 Street in Manhattan.
According to the Metropolitan Transit Authority, the web forms the world's seventh busiest subway system, behind Tokyo, Moscow, Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul and Guangzhou.
The average weekday subway ridership was 5.3million last year - the highest since 1951.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ork-Citys-subway-1901-1931.html#ixzz1v1Z0APxS
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