Monday, October 5, 2009 6:30 pm

In Person: Julie Andrews

Transforming the Underground City Next Stop: The 21st Century

An Exploration of Eight Current, Massive Underground Transportation and Water Projects
That Will Modernize New York,

through November 2009
at
The Science, Industry and Business Library’s Healy Hall, at 188 Madison Avenue
and
the New York Transit Museum Gallery Annex and Store at Grand Central Terminal.

Construction on East Side Access.
Photo by Patrick Cashin

Good news for New Yorkers and visitors to New York.

Enjoy a cocktail at Grand Central Station and then learn about the planned improvements in the  transportation network!!

The vast underground network of tunnels in New York City is the focus of a historic exhibition allowing visitors into a world unknown, featuring the much-discussed, but little understood, mega-projects bringing the City’s transportation infrastructure into the 21st Century. The exhibition, titled The Future Beneath Us: 8 Great Projects Under New York, is the result of a unique collaboration between The New York Public Library and the New York Transit Museum, custodian of the most extensive collection of urban transportation materials in the United States. The exhibit is in two locations in Midtown Manhattan: The Science, Industry and Business Library’s Healy Hall, at 188 Madison Avenue, and the New York Transit Museum Gallery Annex and Store at Grand Central Terminal. The exhibition has been extended to November 1, 2009. Admission is free.

The Science, Industry and Business Library has drawn on The New York Public Library’s impressive resources in an exhibit focusing on the construction of City Water Tunnel #3, a 60-mile water tunnel from the Catskills to New York City; the massive water filtration plant being built in The Bronx’s Van Cortlandt Park; the new Trans-Hudson Express (THE) Tunnel, which will double rail capacity between New York City and New Jersey; and the transportation and infrastructure undertakings at the World Trade Center Site.

The images on view include an anonymous lithograph from the October 13, 1842 Croton Water Celebration. The lithograph, which comes from the Phelps Stokes Collection at the Miriam and Ira D. Wallace Division of Art, Prints and Photographs at The New York Public Library, was featured on the cover of the sheet music for the “Croton Ode,” sung during the celebration. Other images include a historical view of City Tunnel #2, along with a current map showing the existing portions of Water Tunnel #3 and the proposed tunneling for the remainder of the project.
The exhibition features historical photos of the construction of the numbers 1 and 9 subway lines in 1916, along with a current exterior rendering of the Oculus designed by Santiago Calatrava to cover the entrance to the World Trade Center Hub. It also includes a historic photo of the Jersey Tunnel Portal in 1905, featuring the Pennsylvania twin tunnels entering Bergen Hill at the south end of the Palisade, along with a current rendering of the modern New York Penn Station, depicting the network of escalators that will alleviate crowding.

“New York City’s transit and vast infrastructure are key focuses in the collections at SIBL,” said John Ganly, Assistant Director for SIBL Collections. “Our ability to document the past allows for a unique perspective into the future. We welcome the opportunity to present a joint exhibit with the New York Transit Museum on current efforts that impact the development of our great City."
At the Transit Museum’s Grand Central Gallery, four mega-projects that will dramatically change the face of New York City’s transportation system are highlighted: the East Side Access project connecting Long Island Rail Road’s Main and Port Washington lines to a new terminal beneath Grand Central; the first phase of the Second Avenue Subway project, which will eventually provide a long-anticipated two track line from 125th Street to Lower Manhattan; the new Fulton Street Transit Center uniting six existing Lower Manhattan subway stations; and the ambitious extension of the Number 7 subway line to the Hudson Yards. Stories of each of these mammoth undertakings are told with archival materials, objects from the Transit Museum’s vast collection, along with models, architectural drawings, video and photographs of the impressive construction as it takes place many stories below ground.

The two exhibitions are located just 9 city blocks apart, each in a historic landmarked building – Grand Central Terminal and the former Altman’s department store that now houses The Science, Industry and Business Library. In addition to including current status and design information, the exhibit illustrates the future impact these projects will have on the quality of life and economic and social well-being of New Yorkers. Combined, these mega-projects comprise the greatest infrastructure advancements seen in generations. This joint exhibit will speak to experts and laymen alike.

editor, July 2009