New York City's subway system celebrating its 120th anniversary
NEW YORK — The New York City subway system is celebrating its 120th anniversary this week.
CBS News New York's Elijah Westbrook is taking a close look at how it was built, its impact across the city and solutions as it looks to expand.
The system has grown from a single nine-mile stretch from City Hall in Lower Manhattan to 145th Street in Harlem. It now traverses over more than 600 miles of track across the five boroughs.
In 1904, the subway opened to the public and promised to meet the demand for rapid transit – and a lot has changed since then.
How the NYC subway system got its start
"Prior to the evolution of the subway, you went down below ground for two reasons. You went down to get something as a miner and come back up, or you went down and you didn't come back up," said Concetta Bencivenga, director of the New York Transit Museum.
The idea of transporting people underground throughout the city was a concept Bencivenga says had some meteorological beginnings.
"The reason why we have a subway at all is because there was a freak hurricane, it's called the Great White Hurricane of 1888. It was a blizzard. It came in in the spring and it crippled the city ... That was the sort of catalyst to say maybe going underground isn't such a bad idea," she said.
Following that storm, the Interborough Rapid Transit Company – also known as the IRT, a private train company – decided to take on a monumental risk in 1900.
"Challenge and change" in NYC's transportation history
Jodi Shapiro, curator of the New York Transit Museum, explains rowhouses on Park Avenue started to shift as the IRT tunneled underneath. She says engineers found ways to bore through bedrock, marble and schist.
Four years later, on Oct. 27, 1904, the New York City subway opened to the public.
"That first line was parts of what is the 4/5/6 of today and the 1/2/3 of today. The original subway line went from old City Hall station up to 42nd Street. It went across Manhattan and up to 145th Street," Shapiro said.
The price to hop on board was just a nickel.
The IRT's success created competition from the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT) in 1923 and the Independent Subway System (IND) in 1932. Two companies separately ran what we know today as the lettered lines, while the IRT ran the numbered lines.
"The cadence of transportation history in New York City has always been about challenge and change," Bencivenga said.
In 1940, the city purchased those three companies. The Transit Museum says the physical integration was quite slow.
"There is the Board of Transportation, which exists until 1953. Then, there is the New York City Transit Authority, which exists on its own until 1968, and then it becomes the MTA, and the MTA becomes the umbrella organization," Bencivenga said.
North America's largest transportation network
The MTA touts itself as the largest transportation network in North America. In 2023, subway ridership increased to 1.15 billion.
The cars themselves, known as "rolling stock," are another makeup of the subway's identity, from the Standard Lo-Vs to the iconic Redbirds.
Designers had to keep in mind efficiency, capacity and speed.
"The IRT, when it was opened, prided themselves on speed. You can get from City Hall to Harlem in 15 minutes," Shapiro said.
"I think it's fair to say that when you do things in New York City, the over-under that it's going to become iconic is actually pretty high," Bencivenga said.
The system has now grown to include 472 stations, more than 6,000 cars, and over 800 track miles, according to the MTA. Those rails pieced together, experts say, would stretch to from New York City to Chicago.
A lot has advanced in the aging system. Most notably the 7 train was extended to 34th Street in 2015, and just two years later, phase one of the Second Avenue subway became a reality, extending the Q to the Upper East Side.
This system has been running for 120 years, and it might give some perspective on why modernizing it is not so cut and cover.
"It'll humble people"
New Yorkers will tell you their city's heart does not beat without its subway trains.
"They've changed lives. They make relationships. They make romance," said Lisa Daglian, president of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA.
"It'll humble people. If you think you're better than somebody else, get on the train," native New Yorker Led Black said.
"The New York City subway system is, there's so many words to describe it," Brooklyn resident Nathan Blake said. "My favorite part about the system is the trains, of course. Oh my, these machines!"
Whether you love it or see room for improvement, it's an engineering marvel sometimes taken for granted.
