Nearly a century after the planning started, a New York subway arrives

LA Times ^ | January 1, 2017 | Barbara Demick

[C19fan]

When planning started for the Second Avenue subway, Woodrow Wilson was president of the United States and people were driving the Ford Model T. The subway fare was 5 cents.

On Sunday, nearly a century later, one of the most star-crossed infrastructure projects in the United States opened to gasps of disbelief.

[C19fan]

$4.5 billion for only two miles of line. The reason the subway on the East side of Manhattan is so congested is there is only one line, Lexington Ave line. There used to be elevated lines but those were torn down after WW II.

[zzwhale]

we sold the scrap metal from the third avenue elevated line to japan so they had thousands of tons of steel to fire back at us one bullet at a time in ww2...

nyc is a totally democrat cesspool/swamp where politics overrides the public welfare... and politicians beocme millionaires

hopefully trump will cut off all fed funds going to nyc and ny state for being an illegal sanctuary ...

[FrdmLvr]

I saw an interesting presentation on this on C-SPAN over the weekend. Well, it was part of a larger lecture on the Brooklyn Bridge.

[UB355]

The Great Bridge

The dramatic and enthralling story of the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, the world’s longest suspension bridge at the time, a tale of greed, corruption, and obstruction but also of optimism, heroism, and determination, told by master historian David McCullough.

[minnesota_bound]

Took nearly 100 years and $4.5 billion for 2 miles.
How fast could Donald Trump have built it and at how much savings? : )

[Stanwood_Dave]

Just a tid bit of trivia: think Scuba (Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus) Diving.

During the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, Caisson / Foundation(s,) the workers were suffering from the bends, at the time.

An eyewitness account of building the Brooklyn Bridge. ... the top of the caisson, the workers were threatened with the crippling and painful effects of the bends ...

Just thought maybe you would like to know. See: http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/brooklynbridge.htm