Forgotten New York is in Association with the Greater Astoria Historical Society, a non-profit organization supported by the Long Island City community.
BY GARY FONVILLE Forgotten NY correspondent The New York City subway system was planned with a lot of standardization. Standardization was very practical for subway planners and financial backers: if each station was custom designed, costs would have risen exponentially. As a result, wall tiles, entrances, support columns, construction techniques, lighting techniques and kiosks (for the [...]
Categorized in: Subways & Trains Tagged with: Bronx Brooklyn Manhattan mosaics Prospect Park Queens
Original 28, Part One Subway design reached its apotheosis in the original 28 subway stations, designed by architects George Heins and Christopher LaFarge, engineered and built by William Barclay Parsons and opened to the public on October 27, 1904. The original line ran from City Hall to 145th Street and is now a part of today’s [...]
Categorized in: Signs Subways & Trains Tagged with: Manhattan mosaics plaques
Like many things, the subways disappoint more often than not. The waits are too long, graffiti is creeping back again, the express won’t wait for passengers to cross the platform from the local, and token booth clerks, or rather station attendants, can bark more often than offer polite responses. A look at a 1967 report I [...]
Categorized in: Signs Subways & Trains Tagged with: Manhattan mosaics plaques
NOW HEAR THIS: the subway/MTA photo ban lives. Snapped a photo of a track indicator at Flatbush LIRR. With the renovations going on, these may soon vanish. Two cops rush over. One says, ‘tell me you didn’t just snap a photo.’ Demands camera, ID. Compels me to erase photo of track indicator and one of Morris [...]
YOU’VE felt the heat already. New York City’s 722 miles of subways are among the dirtiest, hottest and most woebegone in the country. Other, newer systems are cleaner, cooler and run better. I notice decor a great deal, though, and… I still favor New York’s subway stations over others I have been in in Chicago, Philly [...]
Categorized in: Subways & Trains Tagged with: BMT Manhattan mosaics
AS WE celebrate the 100th anniversary of the New York City subway in 2004, just think about what 100 years has meant for the sheer variety of architectural styles that are represented down below. Next time you take the mugger mover, consider that the subways were built by three different companies that were once in [...]
Categorized in: Subways & Trains Tagged with: Brooklyn Bushwick IND IRT Long Island City Manhattan mosaics Park Slope Washington Heights Williamsburg
In the 1950s, despite the considerable charms of Marilyn Monroe, Bettie Page, Jane Russell and so many other voluptuous stars in film and magazines, it was decided in the architectural community that curves were definitely out. The United Nations Headquarters on 1st Avenue was built from 1947-1953 by an international team of architects that included Le Corbusier of France; at [...]
