Clifton Hood

The New York subway system, much like the city itself, mocks hyperbole. The tracks, if stretched end to end, would travel from New York City to Chicago. It has its own police force of 4,250 employees, larger than that of Atlanta of Boston, and it has 469 stations. Forty-six percent of New Yorkers use it to travel to work and Wall Street would cease to function without it.

The book recounts the numerous physical and political barriers that need to be surmounted in accomplishing the huge feat. show more It's hard to overestimate the impact the system had on the city which relied on surface transport provided mostly by horse=drawn trolleys, making at best three to five miles per hour. The streets were incredibly congested. Crossing the street was a risky proposition.

Beyond the edge of transportation availability was a rural wasteland, and much of the impetus for building the subway network was from those who feared the middle class might leave New York City. Land surrounding the new stations became quite valuable and -- no surprise -- many fortunes were made by those who knew the routes ahead of time and could purchase land before the prices skyrocketed.

The New York City Transit Authority was created to reconcile the conflicting desires of the public: low fares yet high quality service. The NYCTA was supposed to bring management principles and eliminate the need for public subsidies. Ironically, Hood blames the systems decline during the sixties on "the ideology of business management, insulating transit management from the public, and lessening the accountability of top elected officials for transit decisions."

This is a fascinating book that illuminates the political and engineering feats required to complete the system. show less

This book was a very pleasant surprise - I wasn't sure what to expect, bought it on a whim, but it is a very well researched, very well written history of the NYC transit system, how it all started and came about, the political pitfalls, the good, bad and ugly. Ends with the 1960's-70's but that time frame captures most of the history. It would be interesting to read about what has happened to the system in the 1980's to today. Sequel, anyone? Thanks

Book received from NetGalley.

Freebie challenge for Emojiathon.

This was a very interesting book on the upper class in New York, particularly New York City from the late 1700's to present day. It gives the history of what they did to make New York the metropolis it is and how they brought new business opportunities and jobs to the state. It also gives you an idea of just how far off they are from the average working joes, and the lack of understanding they have about how the working class show more lives. I really liked it and will be looking for a finished copy for my history shelves. show less

I really wanted to like this book, but it fell short of what I was hoping for. It focused entirely on the local politics that lead to the building of the subway, rather than a split between the politics and the engineering. Maybe as an engineer I'm just expecting too much from my histories, but I was really excited to learn how such a large subway with so many water-crossings was built.
Worth a read if you're curious, but if you struggle with nonfiction it may be hard to get through.