The Underground Guide to New York City Subways

by Dave Frattini

Overview

The only guide you will ever need to travel around New York City by subway.

From the theater district of trendy Manhattan to the quaint residential neighborhoods of Queens, every single station in the four boroughs has been researched to help you maneuver the system like a pro.

Highly informative and resourceful, highlights from Dave Frattini's The Underground Guide to New York City Subways include:

* Noteworthy stations featuring the best in underground art
* The best nearby restaurants for affordable, informal and ethnic dining
* Insightful historic information on the IND, BMT, and IRT transit lines
* A token rating scale that gives an honest assessment of each station's
- Decor
- Cleanliness
- Safety
- Surrounding neighborhoods
- Nearby points of interest such as museums, theaters, parks and shopping

New York City residents and visitors alike will find this comprehensive handbook indispensable for riding the mass transit rails.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781466872493
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	05/27/2014
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
File size:	733 KB

About the Author

Dave Frattini received a BA in political science from Santa Clara University. He was born and raised in New York and has been fascinated with the subway system since childhood.

Dave Frattini received a BA in political science from Santa Clara University. He was born and raised in New York and has been fascinated with the subway system since childhood, culminating in his writing The Underground Guide to New York City Subways.

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

The Introductions

SUBWAY 101: THE ORIENTATION

Welcome to my Avalon. A glorious dimension where the pearly gates are centered by a tarnished turnstile, and St. Peter comes in the form of a gruff token clerk named Maury. A wondrous place where the stairway to heaven is often malfunctioning, and the divine ascent must be taken via grimy-banistered stairwells. A paradise only the slightly twisted could enjoy. But for all of its obvious shortcomings, there is no place so sacred to millions of natives as the hallowed railways that embody the New York City subway system.

Fact is, these metallic elephants serve as flowing arteries twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, for a city that never sleeps. Even the complicated maps, with their overflow of colors and curves, resemble a Crayola-configured cardiovascular chart. And to dissect and dispel the mystery, you need a highly qualified surgeon to scope and explore every nook and cranny of the grand and sometimes intimidating system. From the friendly confines of 34th Street-Herald Square to the tumultuous enclaves of Franklin Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant, this voyage will uncover it all. A journey so involved and so complex that it is worthy of the ultimate label: extreme. Sure it takes balls to bungee jump, snowboard, or hang glide, but it all seems like child's play when compared to negotiating the treacherous reaches of a dimly lit subway station in the eerie night of Bushwick, Brooklyn. Now if that's not worthy of coverage on ESPN's X-Games, I don't know what is. So grab your miner's hat, pop some creatine, and prepare to join me on the most spine-tingling adventure ever attempted since sitting through a full episode of The Jenny McCarthy Show. In the immortal words of New York Jets wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson, "Gimme the damn ball!"

Historical Primer: Just the Facts, Ma'am

Now, before this journey of immense proportions is undertaken, we need to provide a brief yet thorough history of the subject. If you tried to surf the Banzai Pipeline without knowing where the reef lay, you would emerge from the sea with your chest doubling for a big, hairy chunk of Swiss cheese. By the same token (no pun intended), I don't want to feel responsible for some drooling neophyte staggering through Harlem, penniless and clueless. Unlike the crumpled Walkman pamphlets that implore you to "Read prior to use," this section should be digested in the comfort of your easy chair, before you set foot underground. Your life and well-being are hanging in the balance! (Dramatic sigh.)

The Beginnings

October 27, 1904. A day forever etched into the graffiti-marred mind of any transit buff. At approximately 9:00 A.M. on that brisk fall morning, the first subway rolled out of the City Hall station for the inaugural journey up to 145th Street in Harlem. With New York mayor George McClellan at the controls, a new era in rapid transit was born. Sure there were trolleys that had toiled above ground in Brooklyn and Manhattan since the middle of the 1800s, but this was the real deal, the subterranean sandblasters. Trolleys are to subways what San Francisco is to New York. Don't get me wrong, Frisco is a smashing city in its own right, but the residents' idea of football tailgate food is crusty sourdough and Pinot Grigio. Need I say more?

Anyhow, if success is measured in swarming crowds and near-riot situations, the initial underground jaunt was a bona fide hit. When service opened to the public later on that night, crowds over 160,000 strong jammed into the IRT to experience the promise of going from City Hall to Harlem in a scant fifteen minutes. If today's rush-hour cram makes you dizzy, imagine the sight of SWAT-garbed policemen beating away the masses with nightsticks as they broke through the turnstiles with the same vengeance as thousands of angry sledgehammers slamming down the Berlin Wall. Two days later, on October 29, the initial fare was set at five cents a ride. This exorbitant amount did nothing to deter the rail-starved public. Dense conditions continued to be the norm as the underground novelty lasted for months upon months.

Expansion continued, and by the summer of 1905, there were six additional branches of subway in operation. But as the warmer weather approached, one problem begged to be addressed — the Transit Authority's questionable claim of underground air "PURER THAN YOUR OWN HOME." By hiring Columbia University faculty member C. F. Chandler to conduct a fabricated study of the below-street atmosphere, the T.A. assumed that all fears about the oxygen quality would be squelched. However, when the asphalt-coated tunnels heated up to well over one hundred degrees, the demand for proper ventilating systems was screamed loud and clear. In stark contrast to today's sometimes lead-footed Transit Authority, the IRT engineers acted quickly and efficiently in installing ventilating chambers along the line to allow the stale, arid air to escape while allowing fresh, preozone-era gusts to refresh the perspiring crowds. Facing predictable start-up problems from minor nuisances to major catastrophes such as the air-compressor explosion underneath the East River in 1905, financier August Belmont's brainchild, the IRT, flourished and continued to develop into what is today's 7th Avenue Local, made up of the 1, 2, 3, and 9 trains. By 1906, the IRT had expanded into The Bronx, establishing what is known as the 4, 5, and 6 Lines. It wasn't until 1915 that the section of track going from Grand Central Station to Vernon Avenue in Queens was complete, kicking off service on everybody's favorite purple-patterned subway line, the good-old 7 Train.

Second Child: The BMT (Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit)

While the IRT set the stage with a crude, workmanlike rolling fleet, the BMT aspired to pick up some of the stylish slack left behind. With fancy mint-and-white lighting, red-leather seats, and cars with names like Bluebird and Green Hornet, the BMT seemed to come straight out of a Saturday Morning cartoon. While compiling facts on the history of this line, I detected an air of arrogance and elitism. It turns out that my impulses were correct, for the original purpose of the BMT was to shuttle the rich and privileged to the "faraway" lap of luxury by the shore. The extravagant resort village of Coney Island. It is quite hard to fathom that Coney Island was once a playground worthy of a Robin Leach visit, but in the early 1900s it was the place to be seen. Today, I'd be hard-pressed to walk around Surf Avenue at night without an M-16 under my coat, but for the sake of history, let's go back to an earlier time....

The day is June 22, 1915. The beach-blanket season is in its infancy, and the BRT (later BMT) makes its maiden voyage from the foam-kissed sand of Coney Island to the hustling grind of Chambers Street in Manhattan. This newfangled subway line happens to be an offshoot of the snooty Bath and Coney Island Railway, which kicked off its service in 1867, just after the Civil War. Soon after that memorable June day, service would commence on what is today known as the J, M, and Z Lines throughout Jamaica and Williamsburg en route to downtown. However, for all of the positive advances made by the BRT, it all came crashing down, literally, on November 1, 1918, when the worst subway disaster in the system's history took place at Malbone Street in Brooklyn. Due to the use of the earlier-mentioned "posh" subway cars on the heavily traveled lines, the BRT was content to implement rickety old wooden cars on the remainder of the system. This moment of aloofness came full circle when rookie motorman Ed Luciano, oblivious to the unique nature of the line, lost control of his archaic chariot and violently crashed into a waiting car at the foot of the Malbone Street tunnel, killing ninety-seven people. After the crash, New York mayor John Hylan waged a public war against the BRT, refusing to pump money into the line's budget. The network seemed doomed, until the election of 1924 brought in subway-friendly mayor Jimmy Walker. Not to be confused with the skinny seventies comedian of the same name, the man affectionately known as "Gentleman Jim" had the subway hierarchy screaming "Dyn-O-Mite!" when he increased the budget that would enable the BRT to open the hallmark repair yard in Coney Island. This gigantic overhaul center is still in use today and can be clearly seen from the N and R Lines as they begin the Stillwell Avenue descent into Coney Island. From that moment on, the BRT was renamed the BMT and came to be the catalyst for modern subway planning. And they all lived happily ever after.

Today, the BMT Division operates the J, M, and Z Brown Lines, the L Gray Lines, and the N and R Yellow Lines. Many aspects of those early 1900s stations are still evident today, especially the open-cut stations of the N and R Lines, which pierce through the neighborhood backyards of Bensonhurst and Sunset Park in Brooklyn.

Spend, Spend, Spend: The IND (Independent Subway System)

Eight hundred million dollars. To some that may seem like a great deal of wampum, but it will probably be the sum of Shaquille O'Neal's next basketball contract. Needless to say, when ground was broken on the baby of the three major subway networks in March 1925, eight hundred million dollars was still a helluva lot of money.

"Safety is priority number one!" That was the tag line of the Walker administration during the foundling years of this budget-busting addition to the already-fabled Gotham City transit cluster. And while the fiscal planners popped Tylenol to alleviate their dubious number-crunching mission, there was a marked decline in the number of fatalities during the construction of the IND. While workers had regularly dropped like flies when plying the IRT and BMT, less than ten people perished while completing the IND handiwork — a fact Mayor Walker proudly gushed whenever publicly questioned on the staggering monetary statistics. Of course, there were also hints and allegations that Kid DynoMite was occasionally dipping his hand in the till for a little side reward, but New York was so smitten with the charismatic politician that it gave him a figurative slap on the ass while whispering, "Naughty, naughty" into his ear.

On September 10, 1932, the "8th Avenue Line" opened amid little fanfare on what is today known as the A Train. Shortly after midnight, sixteen trains arbitrarily positioned somewhere between Chambers Street and 207th Street in Upper Manhattan began the journey, picking up and discharging passengers much as the line does today. No fireworks, barbershop quartets, or gin-laden celebrations to commemorate the historic event, just the dulcet tones of Transit Board chairman John Delaney, who peered at his watch and barked out instructions for the clerks to "open up shop." Talk about anticlimactic.

The true test would come approximately six-and-a-half hours later, when the IND would weather the first rush-hour crowds. And to no one's surprise, the commute went off without a hitch. So efficient was this new service that the first system malfunction didn't occur until 3 P.M. that afternoon, when a ventilator broke down on 59th Street, causing a ten-minute delay. When weighed against today's agonizingly long impasses in the middle of nowhere, a ten-minute delay seems like the blink of an eye.

In 1940, service began on what is known as the 6th Avenue Local (B, D, F, and Q Trains), and if the 8th Avenue Line was a monetary drain, the 6th Avenue junction was a greenback sinkhole. Though the line was just under three miles long, the total cost from groundbreaking to straphanging was approximately sixty million dollars. And you thought Ishtar was the world's biggest bomb. After World War II, however, the IND really took off. Within a few quick years after VJ Day, the 8th Avenue Line extended into the far reaches of Euclid Avenue in Brooklyn, while the 6th Avenue portion extended almost to the dairy farmlands of Nassau County, terminating at 179th Street in Jamaica, Queens. In 1950, Jamaica was about as far east as you could venture without running the risk of actually bumping into farm animals.

Another unique aspect of the IND was the composition of the stations themselves. Abandoning the expensive and time-consuming design that can still be found along sections of the IRT and BMT, the architects decided to unveil a new, easy-to-maintain system of white and colored tiles, which has become the standard for today. However simple the idea may sound, the arrangements still produce breathtakingly beautiful examples of mosaic and bas-relief.

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

While a main goal of this book is to spotlight the much-maligned subways for something other than random criminal acts, I have also tried to break each stop down by dividing its characteristics. While waiting for the next train to arrive, pull out your scalpel and settle your stomach, for we are about to sever the skin and get to the blood of guts of our journey.

NOTEWORTHY DECOR: Let me say right off the bat, do not have any aspirations of becoming one. On the other hand, you don't really need a Ph.D. in Fine Arts to appreciate the diversity of underground art. While some stations seem to have a Michelangelesque level of beauty, others seem to have been designed by Mike Brady after an all-night drinking binge. The beautiful part of it all is, one man's garbage is another man's delight. What I have basically done is to describe what I see. If a station has a charming 1920s-style motif but is nauseatingly filthy, the filth is duly noted. At one station, there literally was a pair of dirty skivvies on the walkway. So if you're looking for an in-depth discussion of whether the 50th Street mosaic is in Elizabethan tact, this is the wrong place.

Beauty Is in the Eye of the Beholder: Station Art

One of the best features of the subway is the extensive yet varying collection of "pièces de résistance" that adorn many of the depot walls and windows and in some cases the floors. I am totally convinced that you could travel to the Met, the Louvre, Chicago, Boston, and wherever else there is a so-called major museum and not find the bountiful displays that make this system the most fragmented gallery anywhere. Some of the works are in good taste, while others make you wonder if the artists were stoned on smack when composing their works, but one thing is definite: you can admire the works for as long as you want and in any position you want, and you do not have to deal with dirty looks from elitist dweebs in turtlenecks, as is the norm in any popular New York showing center. Typical museum jibe: "Excuse me but your tacky Rollerblades are blocking my vantage point of the Chagall." Refreshing subway response: "Yo lady, lose the attitude and chill." You almost certainly would be removed in a gallery. However, underground, presumptuousness is not tolerated. Here is a small sampling of some of the better displays the system has to offer.

60TH STREET-MANHATTAN: With this station's newly installed white-tile base and beautiful mosaic work featuring the sights and sounds of Central Park (directly across 5th Avenue), you cannot avoid a recurring sensation that can only be described as warm and fuzzy. The colorful depictions of squirrels and other furry friends will surely put a smile on even the biggest grouch's face.

ASTOR PLACE-MANHATTAN: This stop is high on my list because many a night I have attempted to pick up a girl on the station's platform. I suppose I can attribute the maddening rush of testosterone to the various beavers tastefully displayed in stone imprints high atop the tiled walls. But for all of my masculinity and bravado, not once have I got lucky from a connection made beneath the hallowed street. Still, the station remains a haven for chicks of all sorts, and those with a better line than my pathetic opening of "Come here often?" will surely succeed in securing companionship.

90TH STREET/ELMHURST AVENUE-QUEENS: If you ever have the desire to trip out on acid, but can't afford to score, just take a little excursion to this remnant of a bad 1960s SoHo loft. The decor features bizarre green airport relics coupled with stapled walls of sheet metal and a design of block windows straight from Keith Richards's worst hallucinations. The arrangement is so cantankerous that even Andy Warhol would be repulsed. Groovy flashback material.

(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "The Underground Guide To New York City Subways"
by .
Copyright © 2000 Dave Frattini.
Excerpted by permission of St. Martin's Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Title Page,
Copyright Notice,
Dedication,
Map,
Chapter One: The Introductions,
Chapter Two: Going the Distance: The A, C, and E Lines,
Chapter Three: 6th Avenue Soliloquy: The B, D, F, and Q Lines,
Chapter Four: Local Yokels: The G Line,
Chapter Five: Blue-Collar Brothers: The J, M, and Z Lines,
Chapter Six: No Sleep 'til Brooklyn: The L Line,
Chapter Seven: Bay Ridge, Broadway, and the Sea Beach: The N and R Lines,
Chapter Eight: West Side Story: The 1, 2, 3, and 9 Lines,
Chapter Nine: A Bronx Tale: The 4, 5, and 6 Lines,
Chapter Ten: Queen's Court: The 7 Line,
Index,
Copyright,