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Secrets of the New York City Subways

Join Oscar Israelowitz for a virtual tour of the history, architecture and artwork of the New York City Subways. We start with a palatial City Hall station (opened on October 27, 1904)–a masterpiece with its Guastavino tile arched ceiling, stained-glass skylights and brass chadeliers. The tour continues with terra-cotta bas reliefs of American bald eagles at the 33rd Street station. There is a view of the grand steel arched viaduct above the 125th Street valley in Harlem which rises over sixty feet. There are gorgeous stained-glass windows on elevated lines, sculptures of “little creatures” on the 14th Street (A, C, E and L) lines, including a brass alligator coming out of a manhole. There is a discussion of the Rockaway line, part of which may become the Queens edition of the High Line. We will talk about the original elevated lines which crossed over the Brooklyn Bridge, the Malbone Street train wreck during the Great Influenza Epidemic of 1918 and the old Sheepshead Bay Race Track. Some the original glass mosaic tiles in a Bay Ridge subway station resemble the works of artist Diego Rivera and Ben Shahn.

Apr 13, 2021 07:00 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)