Since the first subway opened in 1904, the New York Subway system and
its trains have provided millions of New Yorkers with cheap, fast, and
remarkably reliable transportation. The New York subway system lacks the
electronic complexity of such modern operations as the Washington, D.C.
Metro or San Francisco's BART, and New Yorkers have few qualms in
admitting that theirs is not the world's most beautiful subway. But as
it is in no other city on earth, the subway of New York is intimately
woven into the fabric and identity of the city itself.
Transportation expert Brian Cudahy recounts the history of the New York
subway systems in a book that is full of detail, historical anecdote,
and the wonders of twentieth - century technology. Tracing the system
from it first short IRT look to the extensive network of today, with
information about such fascinating sidelights as the city's traim
systems and the PATH trains linking New York and New Jersey, he has
produced a complete, thoroughly researched and annotated, and fully
illustrated history that will delight subway buffs, students of urban
affairs, and all those who love the city of New York.