When most mass think of the subway in the 1980s , they think of scary thing . A few year ago The New York Times likened the res publica of the metropolis to “ a house of horror . ” But as a newly published set of nearly 500 photograph show , New York City ’s resistance was n’t always so horrific . It ’s bizarrely beautiful in all its squalor .
The imagescome from contribution to NYCsubway.org , a two - decennary - older site devoted to anything and everything subway system - interrelate . It ’s true that the subway was jumpy in the 1980s — the system experience 250 felony per workweek , on average . However , it ’s just as remarkable how much the subway was a hotbed of culture and innovation . New gearing designs were being tested out , including the anti - graffiti Redbird cars . Those birds are nowquite rarefied . Meanwhile , graffiti itself carry on to change the human beings ’s understanding of American art . It still does .
But it ’s perhaps the most routine photos from this unexampled hardening that are most touching . A world talks on a payphone . ( Remember those ? ) A conductor smirks out the window of her gear . A worker mop the floor of a dirty car . A missing R train sign , supervene upon by a piece of paper . A cleaning woman wears a red dress . It ’s almost peaceful , this small glimpse it a sometimes misunderstood chapter of our urban account . convey as a whole the photo set is blue-blooded reminder of how we ’re all in this together . [ NYCsubway.org ]

All images via NYCsubway.org
CitiesNew York Cityurbanism
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