October 28, 2024

— Natasha Lyonne

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All walks of life

Front page of the New York Times on March 13, 1888:

I had just moved to the NYC area at the time of Hurricane Sandy in 2012, which people referred to as the storm of the century.

If so, the Blizzard of 1888 was probably the storm of the 19th century. New York was clobbered by 20 inches of snow then, with massive snow drifts, immobilizing the city for nearly a week. Horse-drawn carriages, elevated trains, and streetcars -- all the modes of transportation relied on at the time -- were completely immobilized.

Fun two-person very human story from then: A woman named Mary McEwen fell into a snowbank and was trapped for hours until a man named George Cozine walked by that night and heard her cries. He dug her out, carried her on his back to her family's home some distance away -- and the two fell in love. Six months later, they were married.

I digress, but there's a good reason: Tragedy and chaos sometimes prompt progress. Besides the good fortunes of Mary and George, one of the beneficiaries of the Blizzard of 1888 was the New York City subway system.

Following the blizzard, New York's city planners and engineers realized that if the city was to continue growing, it needed a transit system that could operate independently of the elements. Elevated trains, while effective to a degree, were unsightly, noisy, and still exposed to severe weather conditions. The logical solution was to go underground, but this was easier said than done.

The ambition for the NYC subway was immense. It was intended to be the largest system of its kind in the world, connecting distant boroughs and neighborhoods into a single, unified transportation network.

This wasn't exactly groundbreaking -- London opened its first underground railway, the Metropolitan Railway, in 1863, for example -- but it required breaking ground, pun intended, because Manhattan’s geological makeup, including bedrock and dense underground infrastructure, made digging difficult.

Workers had to excavate enormous trenches, often using dynamite and other heavy equipment to break through rock, while ensuring the city above continued its daily activities. The construction of the first subway line was also dangerous; hundreds of workers known as "sandhogs" toiled underground, facing constant risks from cave-ins, explosions, and toxic fumes. However, after four years of intense labor, the vision of a fully operational New York subway was finally coming to life.

Just over 16 years after the blizzard, on October 27, 1904 (so, 120 years ago yesterday), the New York City subway officially opened to the public. Initial stats:

• Total track laid: 9 miles, from City Hall in Lower Manhattan up to 145th Street in Harlem.
• First train operator: Mayor George B. McClellan Jr., who personally took control of the train, piloting it on its maiden voyage.
• Cost of a ride back then: 5 cents (about $2 in today's money; actual NYC subway ride now costs $2.90)

Although the initial line was a success, it was just the beginning. The vision was always to expand the system into a vast network, reaching outer boroughs like Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. (Staten Island, being an island, is a special case.)

But overall, the subway meant NYC could expand outward, with people living in the outer boroughs while working in Manhattan. Entire neighborhoods sprang up around new subway stations, and boroughs that were once separated by physical and social barriers became interconnected parts of a single metropolitan entity.

The subway also fostered a sense of accessibility and unity that remains central to New York’s identity; the great equalizer of the city, used by people of all classes, ethnicities, and backgrounds. Whether you were a Wall Street banker or a Broadway actor, the subway was the most efficient way to get around.

Its sprawling nature meant that you could reach virtually any part of the city at any time of day or night, an element that continues to make New York distinct from other American cities.

Today, the New York City subway is one of the largest and most complex subway systems in the world, with over 470 stations and 665 miles of track. It runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week—something almost no other subway system in the world does. It has its flaws and challenges, from aging infrastructure to periodic delays, but its scope and influence are undeniable.

Unlike other American cities that rely heavily on cars, New York remains a place where public transportation, especially the subway, is an integral part of daily life.

Yes, people can complain, and sometimes there's danger on the subway -- although statistically and across a population it's a much safer way for a city's population to travel than to rely on cars. And whether it's people like the long-ago Mary and George or the 8 million other stories in the naked city, there's something about a mode of transportation in which people of all walks sit and stand together -- and usually do it pretty well.

Today's quote comes from actress and lifelong New Yorker Natasha Lyonne:

If you haven't visited New York in a while, this is the time of year to do it. See you on the subway.

Did you see ...

• I totally forgot that Trump was having a rally at Madison Square Garden last night, after writing a newsletter about NYC history. A New York report: "Donald Trump hosted a rally featuring crude and racist insults at New York’s Madison Square Garden Sunday ... Speakers labeled Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage,” called Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris “the devil,” and said the woman vying to become the first woman and Black woman president had begun her career as a prostitute." (New York Daily News)
• Eight days out, Trump is narrowly projected to have the last laugh. Polling suggests that this might well be the closest election in American history, with only a small handful of votes -- potentially fewer than 1,000 total -- making the difference in at least one key swing state to decide the election. An average of recent polls shows Trump holds a tiny 0.1% national lead and a 0.9% swing state lead. (Real Clear Politics)
• Top executives at some of the country’s largest tech companies including Apple, Microsoft, and Google (Alphabet) have sought out Donald Trump ahead of Election Day, looking to get an audience with the former president as the likelihood he returns to the Oval Office sits at a coin flip. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy also recently reached out to check in with the former president, two sources familiar with their phone call told CNN. (CNN)
• Pretty big Elon Musk story out of the Washington Post, maybe: "Long before he became one of Trump’s biggest donors and campaign surrogates, South African-born Elon Musk worked illegally in the United States as he launched his entrepreneurial career after ditching a graduate studies program in California," according to a Post report. Musk denied it after the report was published. (Wash Post; Twitter/X)
• Russian actors “manufactured and amplified” a recent viral video that falsely showed a person tearing up ballots in Pennsylvania, the FBI and two other federal agencies said Friday. “This Russian activity is part of Moscow’s broader effort to raise unfounded questions about the integrity of the US election and stoke divisions among Americans,” the agencies said in a statement. (NBC News)
• Publishers at the Washington Post and Los Angeles Times this week said their papers would forgo endorsements for this year's presidential election, adding to a growing number of papers that are choosing to back down from political endorsements across the country. (Axios)
• A Texas man was charged with punching an election worker who asked him to remove a hat in support of former President Trump at a polling place, and J.D. Vance praised a woman who called a poll worker a "d*ckhead" (among other things) and stripped off her clothes while waiting go vote, after he asked her not to wear partisan gear. ("What a patriot," Vance wrote on Twitter/X.) The incidents come as a Scripps News/Ipsos poll found that 62 percent of Americans said violence after Election Day is “very likely” or “somewhat likely.” (The Hill, Yahoo News)