The Subway

I am a die hard New Yorker, even though I live in a different part of the U.S. Where you ask? That's any other blog. This blog is about New York open 24/7. Where you don't need a car. You can ride the trains 24/7, and never come above ground. There are places to eat, yes eat. Remember the Steinfeld TV show episode, when he times the door closing. It was on in the 90s for a long time. It's Seinfeld - from the comedian and star of the show, Jerry Seinfeld. It was on every Thursday. He rans off the train to get someting to eat. Got back on before the doors closed. There's shopping, and you can sleep on the train. On a good day, you may be serenaded while you wait for your train. Some of the best musicians play the subway-students of Julliard, Lincoln Center, Preforming Art, etc.

The history of the subway system started with private companies, originally managing rapid transit routes and surface lines. Abraham Brower established New York City's first public transportation route in 1827, a 12-seat stagecoach called "Accommodation" that ran along Broadway from the Battery to Bleecker Street. By 1831, Brower had added the "Sociable" and "Omnibus." This according to MTA NYC Transit history.

The next year, John Mason organized the New York and Harlem Railroad, a street railway that used horse-drawn cars with metal wheels and ran on metal track. By 1855, 593 omnibuses traveled on 27 Manhattan routes and horse-drawn cars ran on street railways on Third, Fourth, Sixth, and Eighth Avenues.

The city's first regular elevated railway service began on February 14, 1870. The El ran along Greenwich Street and Ninth Avenue in Manhattan. Elevated train service expanded and dominated rapid transit for the next few decades.

Alfred E. Beach created a 312-foot tunnel under lower Broadway and ran a subway car from 1870-1873. The train was operated by "pneumatic pressure" - blown by a giant fan. On September 24, 1883, a Brooklyn Bridge cable-powered railway opened between Park Row, New York City, and Sands Street in the city of Brooklyn. New York City's first official subway system opened in Manhattan on October 27, 1904.

The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) operated the 9.1-mile long subway line that consisted of 28 stations from City Hall to 145th Street and Broadway. IRT service expanded to the Bronx in 1905, to Brooklyn in 1908, and to Queens in 1915. The Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) began subway service between Brooklyn and Manhattan in 1915. The Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT) took over the BRT a few years later.