Tunneling to the Future

by Peter Derrick

"In 1910, New York City was bursting at the seams as more and more people crowded into a limited supply of housing in the tenement districts of Manhattan and the older areas of Brooklyn. Traffic could scarcely move on the narrow streets and passengers jammed into the subways like sardines. The Lower East Side of Manhattan had the highest population density in the world. Conditions in the tenements were horrendous, as documented by the photography of Jacob Riis. Crime rates were on the rise, and the effects of overcrowding posed a serious threat to public health.". "With no outlet for its exploding population, and the burgeoning social problems created by the overwhelming congestion, New York faced a serious crisis which city and state leaders addressed with dramatic measures. In March 1913, public officials and officers of the two existing rapid transit networks shook hands to seal a deal for a greatly expanded subway system which would more than double the size of the two existing tra