Old Subway Cars Become Studios for London Artists

Ok so this is neat.  Erez, could I live here?  :)  Two more pics after the jump . . .

Take the Z,E,N Trains to Tunestown.

Here's a little rainy-day brilliance plucked (literally) from the geometry of the NYC subway system. The artist/musician Alexander Chen has made an "interactive string instrument" out of the MTA's actual schedule, operating in "realtime by spawning trains which departed in the last minute."

For those of you who are sticklers, or can't quite follow your line, the visuals are based on Massimo Vignelli's 1972 diagram (as above) which is fun and arty and easy to read, but does not represent the geography of the actual city as faithfully.


Conductor: www.mta.me from Alexander Chen on Vimeo.

I likey.

Take the 7 to NEW JERSEY??

Mayor Bloomberg has unveiled an amazing new proposal to run the 7 train from the far west side of Manhattan, under the Hudson and into Seacaucus, New Jersey -- where it will connect with New Jersey transit.  The move will double the capacity of the currently overstuffed trains that link the two states, and bring New Jersey directly to Times Square and the entirety of the NYC subway system.  The glorious new idea comes on the heels of NJ gov. Christie scrapping the heavily subsidised and already begun tunnel plan from his state, and the risk it seems is that he will get credit for "big bro" NYC picking up the slack and fixing his greedy tragedy.  From the NYTimes:

"Last month, Mr. Christie, a Republican, put an end to the long-planned Hudson rail tunnel project after the estimated cost climbed to at least $11 billion, from an initial $8.7 billion. The project would have created two new tracks for New Jersey Transit from Secaucus to a new station deep under 34th Street, near Pennsylvania Station. The federal Transportation Department had pledged $3 billion, as had the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. New Jersey was responsible for the rest."

So Christie thumbed his nose at 3 billion from the Federal Gov't, and might gladly accept a similar proposal . . . as long as NYC picks up the tab?  What thinly-veiled slickery.  And if you know Christie, you hardly want to see him thinly-veiled.

It's Time for BOROUGH QUIZ!! [gong!]

Back after another long winter hiatus, it's

Sights, Blights and Hi-lights from NYC's Fantastic Five!!

Any idea where these kids are discovering NYC's first NEW SUBWAY STATION in over 20 years? Answer and some more pix next week!

WHERE IS THAT SHINY NEW STATION?

Bronx
Brooklyn
Manhattan
Queens
Staten Island
France

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Emergency! - or - I still have no idea what to do with this ominous cord.

We all know what this scary-looking dangly is, but WHEN the heck do you use it?

MTA sign designer dies at 82

NYC subway signage is known the world over for its modern simplicity, Helvetica-esque Akzidenz Grotesk lettering, bold colored circles.  Yhe co-designer of the NYC MTA signage, Bob Noorda,  has died.  From Second Ave. Sagas:

"Underground, Massimo Vignelli is the superstar of the design of subway signs. He is largely credited with bringing a uniform design to the subway system shortly after the formation of the MTA in the late 1960s. Vignelli, who at the time was with the design firm Unimark International, did not work alone. He brought Bob Noorda, a leader in Modernist design with him, and Noorda was one of the driving forces behind Transit’s eventual use of its now-ubiquitious and familiar signs."

The ubiquitous signs have become a symbol of New York itself, and a lasting testiment to modernism.

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Stupid is the new black. (also the new pink, blue and green)

Any New Yorker who has hurried through subway connections this week, huddled against the cold weather, has seen these at every turn:

and I can't help but think that we've hit a new low. 

BE STUPID . . . do Americans need a reminder?

Stunning footage of the 7 train extension!

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