Celebrating the Subway's Centennial

In the late 1890s, Financier August Belmont, Jr., and contractor John B. McDonald sought to create a profitable alternative to the city’s trolley and the elevated train systems. The most modern safety features imaginable were incorporated into the design of the new subway, but the promise of much higher speeds captured the public imagination.

One hundred years after the first New York City subway train rumbled into passenger service, on October 27, 1904, New York City transit employees in 1800s costume greeted the crowd assembling to mark the Subway Centennial. A handful of newsboys (and a “newsgirl”) also in period costume hawked The New York Post among them and a Barbershop Quartet sang vintage songs. After remarks by MTA Chair Peter Kalikow and Mayor Michael Bloomberg (who called the subway the finest in the world and later said that “it worked a hundred years ago and works now, taking millions of people to and from work and to all the entertainment, sports, and cultural events this great city is noted for”), a train of fully restored early IRT subway cars left the old City Hall station to re-enact that historic trip.

The string of restored subway cars made the slow loop around City Hall before making the dash up the Lexington Avenue Line then over to the shuttle tracks at Grand Central. Aboard were Mayor Michael R, Bloomberg, who drove the train for a short time, under the watchful eye of a trained subway motorman. and Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Peter S. Kalikow, MTA Executive Director Katherine N. Lapp, NYC Transit President Lawrence G. Reuter, and other dignitaries including Mary O. Donohue, Lieutenant Governor of New York State.

The ride took centennial celebrants up the Lexington Avenue Line, and into the Shuttle. Both of these segments were part of the original subway, which actually turned north at Times Square and terminated at 145th Street and Broadway.

One Hundred Years Ago

Cheering crowds gathered in front of City Hall. Inside, 600 dignitaries and guests listened to speech after speech. Finally August Belmont, President of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company, concluded: “This great metropolis has now rid itself of the bonds that have heretofore limited and impeded its growth.”

At 2:19 on Thursday, October 27, 1904 the audience left City Hall to board the first eight-car train. Mayor George B. McClellan, using a ceremonial silver controller, unexpectedly operated the train himself until Broadway and 103rd Street, where a motorman thankfully took over. Free rides were given to thousands of invited guests during the day and at 7 p.m. the subway opened to the public: over 150,000 people paid five cents each.

That first ride from City Hall to 145th Street – a little over 9 miles -- took 26 minutes and it brought New York City into an era of explosive growth.

City Hall Station

The starting point of the new subway was a jewel of a station built on a tight horseshoe curve in lower Manhattan. Now serving as the turnaround loop for the No. 6 Local, the City Hall Station was always more of an architectural treasure than a subway station. Chandeliers and leaded skylights combined with a unique ceiling design and decorative tile work blended to create a piece of municipal artwork. With a platform long enough to handle only five cars, however, the stop was decommissioned in 1945 when the system went to longer trains.

For the Centennial celebration, the City Hall Station was scrubbed and brightened so that for a few hours, New Yorkers could travel back to the early days of the subway system. The Lo-V subway cars, veterans of more than five decades of service before they were retired in the 1960s, were restored to like-new condition for the day’s event. Though not the same car class as those used during the subway’s initial run, the Lo-Vs nonetheless served to illustrate just how far subway car technology has advanced over the past 100 years.

Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

The original line has proven to be a sturdy anchor point for a system that would eventually expand to encompass more than 230 route miles, 26 lines, and 468 stations. But even 100 years later, the system is still a work very much in progress: it is set to grow several miles longer with construction soon to begin on a pair of major subway extension projects. “With planning well underway for the construction of the vitally important Second Ave. Subway, as well as the Flushing Line extension, we are continuing the legacy that was begun a century ago,” said Peter S. Kalikow, Chairman of the MTA.

NYC Transit President Lawrence G. Reuter emphasized the ongoing effort that is needed to keep the system responsive to riders’ needs: “As we celebrate the past, we also have a clear vision of the future and we are well on our way with a fleet of state-of-the-art cars, a modern signal system now being installed on the Canarsie Line, and the continuation of our station rehabilitation program. More than 150 stations have already been rehabilitated under the NYC Transit’s Station Rehabilitation Program, 51 of them made accessible to the physically challenged.”

Long-term Employees Honored

The subway would not be the success it is without the hundreds of thousands of workers who over the decades have made their careers in the system. And so, the celebration of the first subway ride also honored the contributions of two veteran New York City Transit Department of Subway employees who have each contributed over 50 years of service to the New York City subways.

Anthony “Rocky” DiGraziano, a subway car inspector working out of the Pitkin Avenue Maintenance Shop began his subway career in 1946 with the old City Board of Transportation. Thomas Merrick, a Superintendent in the Stations Division Command Center began his career in 1948 as a Railroad Clerk. These very special NYC Transit employees have worked in the subway for more than half the time that there has been a subway.

Art for the Centennial

As part of this year’s Centennial Celebration, “Subway Centennial,” a poster created by folk artist Kathy Jakobsen, is on display on the platforms of the subway. Ms. Jakobsen’s original artwork depicts commuters in the busy environment of the Times Square complex as well as images of the hundredth year anniversary of the subway.

“Full of energy, the Times Square Complex is a central New York City location with multitudes of commuters passing through the station daily to catch their trains,” Ms. Jakobsen said. In creating artwork for the Centennial, I strove to capture the spirit of the subway environment.”

Ms. Jakobsen’s original oil painting, reproduced as posters, portrays over 300 people. She included 1904 historic elements such as the mosiac Times Square sign; a five-cent ticket; a ticket window; MTA 1904 logo as well as the 2004 MTA logo. The Mineola, the private subway car built for the financer of the IRT, August Belmont is also included. Modern items include the Metrocard, a token booth and Automated Vending Machines.

Jakobsen’s paintings are included in various permanent collections including the American Folk Art Museum and the Smithsonian. She is also an illustrator of children's books such as Johnny Appleseed by Reeve Lindbergh, This Land is Your Land, based on the Woody Guthrie song, and her latest book, My New York, New Anniversary Edition.

A new Centennial Art Card created by artist Sloane Tanen and photographer Stefan Hagen is also on display inside subway cars. It portrays tiny yellow chicks celebrating the opening day of the subway.

Tanen and Hagen based their creation on the historic day in October 1904 when Mayor McClellan drove the first subway car from the City Hall Station. Their artwork is populated with musicians, reporters, spectators, vendors, and politicians, all of whom participated in the celebration of this momentous occasion.

Tanen and Hagen said, “Every attempt was made to replicate, in 3/4 scale, the spectacular space, complete with parquet floors, chandeliers and marble benches. Great care was also taken to capture the mood and excitement of that long-forgotten day.”

Through Arts for Transit’s Art Card and Poster programs, artists are selected each year to create transit-related artworks, which are reproduced into posters for display in unused advertising space on the platforms of subway stations or long strip posters for display inside of subway cars. Both the Art Card and Poster programs are administered to increase the attractiveness of transit facilities for customers.

Both the “Subway Centennial” poster and the car card are available for purchase at the New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn and the Transit Museum Gallery and Store in Grand Central Terminal.