The Routes Not Taken: A Trip Through New York City's Unbuilt Subway System

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Delves deep into the underbelly of the NYC subway system to reveal the tunnels and stations that might have been Robert A Van Wyck, mayor of the greater city of New York, broke ground for the first subway line by City Hall on March 24, 1900 It took four years, six months, and twenty three days to build the line from City Hall to West 145th Street in Harlem Things rarely went that quickly ever again TheRoutes Not Taken explores the often dramatic stories behind the unbuilt or unfinished subway lines, shedding light on a significant part of New York City s history that has been almost completely ignored until now Home to one of the world s largest subway systems, New York City made constant efforts to expand its underground labyrinth, efforts that were often met with unexpected obstacles financial shortfalls, clashing agendas of mayors and borough presidents, battles with local community groups, and much After discovering a copy of the 1929 subway expansion map, author Joseph Raskin began his own investigation into the city s underbelly Using research from libraries, historical societies, and transit agencies throughout the New York metropolitan area, Raskin provides a fascinating history of the Big Apple s unfinished business that until now has been only tantalizing stories retold by public transit experts The Routes Not Taken sheds light on the tunnels and stations that were completed for lines that were never fulfilled the efforts to expand the Hudson tubes into a fullfledged subway the Flushing line, and why it never made it past Flushing a platform underneath Brooklyn s Nevins Street station that has remained unused for than a century and the 2nd Avenue line long the symbol of dashed dreams deferred countless times since the original plans were presented in 1929 Raskin also reveals the figures and personalities involved, including why Fiorello LaGuardia could not grasp the importance of subway lines and why Robert Moses found them to be old and boring By focusing on the unbuilt lines, Raskin illustrates how the existing subway system is actually a Herculean feat of countless political compromises Filled with illustrations of the extravagant expansion plans, The Routes Not Taken provides an enduring contribution to the transportation history of New York City. New Download The Routes Not Taken: A Trip Through New York City's Unbuilt Subway System Author Joseph B. Raskin For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr This was some dense, solid stuff It was really well researched, but really dry as well The author gets into the nittiest of the gritty to explain pretty much every thwarted subway expansion plan in NYC It is a trenchant account, but not one that I found terribly interesting, even given my weird interest in the NYC metro I guess I would have preferred a gestalt assessment of New York s needs and its failure to minister to those needs, or maybe just a less chronological account of the repeated This was some dense, solid stuff It was really well researched, but really dry as well The author gets into the nittiest of the gritty to explain pretty much every thwarted subway expansion plan in NYC It is a trenchant account, but not one that I found terribly interesting, even given my weird interest in the NYC metro I guess I would have preferred a gestalt a...I loved it then again, I wrote it.An amazingly comprehensive account about the construction and non construction of New York s Subway system You will learn that NYC was seemingly always having a fiscal crisis Why the Flushing line only goes to Main ...TIL that Co op City in the Bronx is built on land originally planned by Curtiss Wright to be an airport oops, LGA and JFK instead p 92 and then a racetrack for horses p 233.Bring your own map of New York A particularly perplexing, meticulously detailed passage, concerning a proposed line in Queens Both groups preferred a subway through their area but would accept an el The route they wanted ran along Amity Street to Boerum Avenue now 150th Street , south to Madison Avenue now 41st TIL that Co op City in the Bronx is built on land originally planned by Curtiss Wright to ...Joseph B Raskin The Routes Not Taken, A Trip Through New York City s Unbuilt Subway System Een boek over metrolijnen die niet gebouwd zijn, in New York, voor ondergetekende interessant, het zal u of een ander wellicht minder aanspreken.Raskin begint meteen goed, want in zijn inleiding schrijft hij direct dat de selectie die hij gemaakt heeft ten behoeve van dit boek, slechts een zeer beperkte is Klaarblijkelijk zijn er nog veel meer plannen gemaakt en niet uitgevoerd.Voorop staat dat rond Joseph B Raskin The Routes Not Taken, A Trip Through New York City s Unbuilt Subway System Een boek over metrolijnen die niet gebouwd zijn, in New York, voor ondergetekende interessant, het zal u of een ander wellicht minder aanspreken.Raskin begint meteen goed, want in zijn inleiding schrijft hij direct dat ...Interesting historyFantastic review of subway projects in NYC It gets a little detail heavy at points and hard to follow.Though the author did try to keep this light, he was quickly bogged down in the details and governmental bureaucracy of the time Between the maze of street names most unknown to any non New Yorker and a blow by blow recount of every punch thrown between one unknown politician and a...RNT s best quality is the abundance of period quotes from the people movers and neighborhood shakers tasked with planning transit for the city Less successful is the dense and repetitive composite of figures, dates and names those quotes appear in, which may complete the picture bu...Slow read, but as a massive subway geek I enjoyed it

The Routes Not Taken: A Trip Through New York City's Unbuilt Subway System
  • English
  • 15 March 2019
  • Hardcover
  • 336 pages
  • 0823253694
  • Joseph B. Raskin
  • The Routes Not Taken: A Trip Through New York City's Unbuilt Subway System