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NYC Has the Oldest Subway (Plans) in the World

By Rain Noe - April 23, 2007

in Object Culture

Summer's coming, and while all of us are looking forward to getting outdoors, New Yorkers will, as usual, dread having to take the subway. Poor ventilation makes temperatures on some of the underground platforms feel something like being in the center of the sun. A notable exception to this is last year's unveiling of air-conditioned platforms at Grand Central, but the coolness could only be felt if you stood directly underneath the huge (and hugely inefficient) blowers.

Now there's hope! Well, sort of; folks at the MTA are talking about installing glass-edged platforms on the upcoming 2nd Avenue line, like they kind they currently have on the Airtrain to JFK platforms and in Hong Kong's Kowloon, pictured above. This would enable air conditioning to be "locked in" to the platforms.

The reason we say "sort of" is because city officials have been talking about building a 2nd Avenue subway line since, wait for it...1929. The original schematics were probably drawn on a piece of slate with a rock.

In the meantime, we broil.

o

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Scott

17 years ago

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Those panels also stop would-be suicides, which, while not a large problem in New York, would save more than a few lives in Tokyo.
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P0pp3e

17 years ago

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Singapore was the first mass transit system to close off the platforms so that the air conditoning would be most efficient in the year-round tropical climate. The first section of the Singapore MRT was completed in 1987.
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Adam

17 years ago

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I loved Hong Kong's subway system! It was beautiful and safe. No chance of falling onto tracks with sliding glass barriers that only open once the train arrives.
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