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When it was created in 1968, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority inherited from the New York City Transit Authority, from when it was created in 1953, the subway system as created by two private companies (the IRT and BMT) and the city-owned IND. All three parts of the system had various forms of retail space scattered […]
a year ago

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More from Old Structures Engineering

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From Scientific American, December 8, 1894, an interesting view of two buildings: drawings that include both the above-ground portion of the buildings, more or less as you would see them, and the foundations as they could never be seen. The foundations are seen as if the earth had been turned transparent. The image of the […]

8 months ago 75 votes
Happy Christmas

I’m not so sure about that vest.

8 months ago 67 votes
Genteel

That’s the Hotel Marlborough at 36th Street and Broadway, shortly after 1900. The hotel opened in 1888 when the entertainment district on Broadway was further south; by the time it was demolished in 1922, that district had moved to Times Square, a few blocks to the north. It’s a story repeated for hundreds of buildings […]

8 months ago 69 votes
Once Again, In Plastic

The restoration of Notre Dame deserves all the praise that has been heaped upon it, but have I mentioned recently that my son and I have built the LEGO Notre Dame? We finished our small Notre Dame about a week after the official opening of the large one, but they had a head start on […]

8 months ago 63 votes
It Looked Familiar: Archetypical

From a graphic novel about art called Naked City: how do you capture the spirit of New York? A relentless grid and Old-Law tenements.

8 months ago 70 votes

More in architecture

Ford and the Birth of the Model T

Ford’s status as a large-volume car producer began with the predecessor to the Model T: the Model N, a four-cylinder, two-seater car initially priced at $500. At the time, the average car in the US cost more than $2,000, and it seemed nearly unimaginable that a car with the capabilities of the Model N could cost so littl

4 hours ago 1 votes
Trash to Treasure: A New Orleans Culture Re-Creation Story

The many ways residents and local institutions worked to bring the Crescent City back after a historic natural disaster.

yesterday 3 votes
The Other Stations (226 Garages and Service Stations, by Philip Butler)

Railway stations, bus stations and… filling stations? The first two have made frequent appearances on the pages of this website, the third far less often. Filling stations, and their close cousins garages and car showrooms, only occasionally attract significant architectural attention. Although it can happen from time to time (there’s a list of filling stations […]

3 days ago 10 votes
Did New Orleans Really Survive Katrina?

What almost happened instead…

3 days ago 7 votes
Reading List 08/23/25

Thermal energy storage, an adjustable allen wrench, the new race to the moon, the former world’s largest indoor water park, and more.

5 days ago 7 votes