After over 90 years of waiting for a train, New Yorkers got their first look at the Second Avenue Subway on New Year's Day—and it turned out like a giant block party, but underground.
Thousands of people: families, singles, people with small dogs, children, everyone, made the New Year holiday look like rush hour as they came to see the first new line added to the system in decades, and one filled with well-worth-the-visit art.
Even though many of us New Yorkers have been grumpy for years over delays in planning and building the line (first proposed over 90 years ago, and with construction started and stopped three times), everyone seemed in good spirits, sharing stories, posing for pictures, and taking pictures for others.
There was even a 'celebrity event' of sorts: At 96th Street, we spotted a crowd surrounding a man at a spot on the wall. After a few minutes trying to figure out what it was, I had to ask.
And the answer turned out to be an impromptu autograph session by the young voice actor (in red, hands up) who is one of the voices that remind us to "Stand clear of the doors, please!"
The new line, unfortunately, is what some have dubbed a 'stubway,' since it's only 1.5 miles of an eventual 8+-mile line that will run the length of Manhattan. It's desperately needed to relieve crowding on the parallel Lexington Avenue subway, the most heavily-used transit line anywhere.
In a monumental planning fail, the 2nd Avenue elevated line was torn down in 1942 to make construction of the new subway easier. Thirteen year, the 3rd Avenue el met the same fate, leaving the Lexington Avenue Subway as the only rapid transit line on the east side of Manhattan.
Plenty of staff on hand, including this 'platform controller' whose job is to keep the platforms safe and help get everyone aboard, arms and legs included.
The Lexington Avenue line now carries 1.2 million passengers a day, more passengers each day than the whole Boston and Washington systems. It's expected that the new line will take almost a quarter million riders a day out of that 1.2 million total.
Visitors and riders aplenty, and a visible reminder of how many people it takes to keep a huge system running. Extra staff out to prevent Day 1 glitches.
But for now: a closer look at the art in the larger-than-average and for now cleaner-than-average stations.
63rd Street Station
Jean Shin, a Korean-born New Yorker, got the commission for art at 63rd street. She used archival photographs of the 2nd and 3rd Avenue els and their passengers as the basis for works in tile, glass mosaic and laminated glass.
There's an additional section, in one of the entrances, that we missed; in that area, looking up as you go down into the station, are images of the old el's girders being dismantled above your head.
72nd Street Station
Easily our favorite, and the most lively and popular-seeming with others. This one features. This station was assigned to Brazil-born Vic Muniz, who filled the walls with 36 life-size mosaic portraits of people waiting for trains. Many are portraits of people he knows.
This is where most of the "take a picture of us with them happened; even I had my picture taken sharing a balloon with the little girl and her family.
But the best of the "picture with" opportunities was this one. The man with the saxophone (actually a Braithophone) is George Braith, the model for the mosaic.
The Braithophone, by the way, combines a soprano and an alto saxophone, allowing the artist more flexibility while playing in jazz combos. Curious? Here's George in performance.
86th Street Station
Twelve portraits, some in glass mosaic and some in ceramic tile, by Chuck Close are the exhibit at 86th street. Most are of celebrities, and one is a self portrait of Close (he's the one in the yellow parka).
The intricacy of the work, and the shifting impression as you change position, led to quite a few people taking extreme close-ups. I was intrigued and walked close also...and understood why.
96th Street Station
Sarah Sze was the artist for 96th street, and we definitely need to go back to see more of her work there. We weren't as impressed with what we saw when we got off, just below, but have since discovered that the objects depicted in the tiles only start with these slips of paper, and continue on into birds, trees, and more.
What we really did like of her work at the station was this giant blueprint along the wall of an exit and escalator going up to street level.
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