New York Subway Celebrates 120th Anniversary: ​​The History of Its Formation and Development

The New York City subway celebrates its 120th anniversary this year, with a huge new exhibit to mark the occasion. Time-out tells the story of the underground and how this revolutionary event influenced the life of the city.

On October 27, 1904, New Yorkers donned their finest clothes and held dinner parties to celebrate the biggest event of the year.

After four years of messy, sometimes controversial construction, the New York City subway has finally opened.

Officials didn't know if people would show up for the opening, but that evening more than 100 people descended underground. They traveled 000 km and 14 stations systemsThe next day, the number of people using the metro exceeded 1 million.

Today, the subway has become something ordinary and ubiquitous. Thanks to it, we get to work, meet for dinner, at the theater or club, get to see friends on time and, probably, do not think about the impact of this mode of transport on our lives. But in the early days, the subway was part of a social reform movement that allowed people to improve their quality of life.

Suddenly, these people were able to move from an overcrowded apartment building where they shared a toilet with many neighbors, to their own apartments with modern amenities. Metro, allowing the city to grow and prosper, became the lifeblood of New York City.

On the subject: Why are there no air conditioners in New York subway stations, even though it is unbearably hot there?

It may not seem like a big deal to us now, but the opening of the metro was revolutionary, and it still is.

A grand exhibition

A fascinating new exhibit at the New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn delves into the history and future of the underground rail system.

Exhibition The Subway Is… brings together artifacts, photographs, multimedia installations, old advertisements, model trains and more to tell the story of the city's subway system.

It shows all the changes over those 120 years, including the dynamic progress of the system, as well as what has remained the same - such as the still-required don't block the door signs from 1938.

The exhibition includes a map of the first metro plan from 1895. It also includes an animated map. It shows how the system has grown and changed over time. Other interesting exhibits include a rock sample, photographs of metro builders, and documentation of the railway tunnel that runs under the buildings.

“We need to go underground”

In the early 1900s, the only people who went underground were miners.

The idea of ​​going underground in an electric vehicle was mind-boggling to New Yorkers at the time, explained museum director Concetta Bencivenga.

But one thing hasn't changed in the last century: New Yorkers need a way to get around the city quickly.

Horse-drawn carriages were the answer at the time, but a vicious disease killed many of the horses. Surface transportation, such as streetcars and trolleys, eventually took over. They created movement and sometimes chaos. When a heavy snowfall in 1888 knocked out the streetcars, city planners began looking for a new way to help people get around. Their conclusion was clear: go underground.

Initially, some business owners didn't want the subway to be dug in front of their department stores, said museum curator Jodi Shapiro. There was also resistance to the underground rapid transit system from above-ground leaders who didn't want to lose business.

“There’s always a split mindset in New York. There are people who are against it from the start because it’s change, and change is scary. And then there are those who can see a little further,” Shapiro said. “That day, October 27, 1904, everything was different. It changed.”

From the start, engineer William Barclay Parsons gave the New York City subway a purpose. It was easy to navigate and beautiful. For example, tulip motifs in the light fixtures were a nod to the city’s Dutch heritage. At sidewalk level, a rounded roof over the subway stairs indicated an entrance, while a square roof indicated an exit.

From the moment the first train rumbled through the streets of the metropolis on October 27, 1904, it marked a new era for New York City and shaped the city we know today.

Get to know the history of the metro

In addition to visiting The Subway Is… exhibit (tickets: $10 for adults, $5 for children/seniors), check out the museum's special program. In addition to the exhibit, there are nostalgic rides on vintage 1917 Lo-V subway cars. These rides follow the original route of the first New York City subway line. Tickets are available here priced at $60 for adults and $40 for children.