The Subway Story

When you look at a map of the NYC subway, that goulash of color lines, there's always a little voice in the back of your head asking, "How the hell did the subways wind up like this?"

In short: business.

Before the MTA took complete control, the subways were a collection of different private companies that ran service through different parts of the city. You might recognize some of the names: the IRT, BMT, BRT, IND, etc. The subway lines evolved, not in an organic, planned, logical manner, but in ways the padded the bottom lines for these companies. There was competition and collusion, big plans for various subways lines that includes stories of false starts, incomplete construction, and outright abandonment.

And, of course, there was the Great Depression.

Most of the subway was built in the early 20th century but, when the Depression hit, the money for new construction dried up. Then, of course, there was the Second World War, halting further construction. And, of course, there was Robert Moses, the powerful city planner who believed that highways and cars were the future of NYC, not more subway lines.

It's a wild story of money, politics, egos, and historical events -- and millions of New Yorkers grapple with the legacy of that every day in their commutes.