NYC NOW - October 25, 2024: Evening Roundup

Episode Date: October 25, 2024

Early voting starts this Saturday in New York and New Jersey. Plus, WNYC’s Sean Carlson gets a subway history lesson from Jodi Shapiro, curator at the New York Transit Museum. And finally, Public Transportation Magazine hosts a party on the Staten Island Ferry.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. I'm Jenae Pierre. Let's start off with some important news you can use. Early voting starts this Saturday in New York and New Jersey. In New York, polls are open from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. on the weekend. And 8 in the morning to 8 at night, Monday through Friday. In New Jersey, the polls will be open on weekdays and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and on Sunday from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. This Saturday is also the last day to register to vote in New York.

And it's the final day for New Yorkers to apply online or by mail for a mail-in ballot. In New Jersey, the deadline is this coming Tuesday. In both states, the nine-day early voting period ends on Sunday, November 3rd. Election Day is Tuesday, November 5th. Lawyers for New York City Mayor Eric Adams are doubling down on accusations that the federal government leaked sensitive information potentially jeopardizing his federal bribery case. WNYC's Brittany Cricstein has more. In the latest episode of a weeks-long legal back-in-force, the mayor's attorneys are calling for a hearing to determine who leaked details about the investigation to news outlets. They say those leaks could have tainted the grand jury that indicted Adams last month.

Legal experts say these kinds of leaks, and accusations about them, are common in white-collar cases like this one. Representatives from the agencies and news outlets allegedly involved in the leaks have not commented on the accusations. This Sunday marks 120 years since the first subway line opened in New York City. After the break, we'll get a little subway history lesson.

Stick around for the conversation. Shen Zay Zay Ting, NYC now. New York City's subway system is turning 120 years old this Sunday. And the New York Transit Museum is celebrating with a new exhibit called The Subway Is. My colleague, Sean Carlson, got a subway history lesson from the museum's curator, Jody Shapiro. Can you start by telling us about the city's first subway line that opened on October 27, 1904, from City Hall to Grand Central? Like, tell us about the line, what inspired that line.

When the first subway line was planned out, New York City had been trying to expand its transit system since 1860. So between 1864 and 1902, there are about 16 different companies who are trying to figure out how to construct an underground railway. Finally, in 1894, something called the Rapid Transit Commission is established. And they are the people who first conceive of the route that the first subway line takes. And that line covers parts of what is now the two, three, four, five, and six lines. What was the public transit system like before the subway existed? And how did the subway transform the neighborhoods that it went through? You know, on October 26th, the city is one way and people are getting around via a streetcar and horse car. And there's some elevated railways, which go above ground. But on October 27th, there is a new underground rapid transit system. When it first opened, it showed people that they did not have to live and work in the same.

neighborhood any longer because it would be a lot shorter trip for them time-wise. So people could live down below 14th Street and possibly work above 42nd Street if they wanted to and it would only take them about 10 or 15 minutes to get there. Previous to that, you know, street cars and horse cars were a little bit slower than that and so the trips like that could conceivably take a half an hour or more. So what it did in that way was shrunk the city to a more manageable size for people who could take the subway. And as the subway expanded, it basically created some of those neighborhoods. Even though it happened about a decade later, the IRT Flushing line is built into Queens and starts making Queens a more populous place to live.

How long did it take to build all of those underground trains? And do you know what the experience was like for the thousands of people who built the actual subway? So the first subway line, which is parts of today's 456, and the one, the two, and the three. So those tunnels took about four years to build, and they were built largely by hand with people who had pickaxes and shovels and used dynamite to loosen boulders. And there were no tunnel-boring machines at that time. that is a way that modern subway tunnels are made. And a lot of the same techniques used to build the first subway are still used to build the subway today. Let's talk about the subway of today.

Like the city subway system was built over the first half of the 20th century, but over the last 60 years, it's hardly been expanded. Why do you think the subway stopped growing? When the first subway line was built and subsequent expansion in the 19-teens through the 1930s and 40s, there was a lot less going. going on above ground and underground. So in 1900, when they started digging the first tunnels, there's not a lot of infrastructure underneath for buildings like skyscrapers and things of that nature. Nowadays, there are so many things in the built environment

above ground that figuring out the best way to tunnel and the best places to tunnel is a little bit more difficult because there's so much more at stake above ground. Underpinning, which is a technique to shore up buildings from underneath their foundations is a really expensive process and it's really difficult. And so that's something that current construction tries to avoid. And the other thing about that is that the rock formation underneath Manhattan or Queens, Brooklyn, anywhere that you would want a tunnel, the geological formations make it difficult also.

And that was a big challenge for the people who built the first subway. Tell us more about the Transit Museum's new exhibit. So the new exhibit at the New York Transit Museum is called The Subway is, and it is not a chronological show. It is an exhibit that answers the question what the subway is in several different sections. So there's so many ways to complete the sentence the Subway is. So the Subway is inspiring. That is a section where we talk about how art has been inspired by our transit system. there is a section called the subway is people,

where we get to talk about the people who built the system and the people who still work on it and maintain it. And there's a couple of more, and there's lots of cool artifacts that people can look at and invite people to figure out how they would like to complete the sentence the subway is. That's New York Transit Museum curator Jody Shapiro, talking with WMYC's Sean Carlson. If you've ever wanted to say,

see a stand-up show on the Staten Island ferry, now's your chance. An unusual magazine is holding a party there on Saturday to celebrate its latest issue. Here's WMYC's Ryan Kylav. Public Transportation magazine is the brainchild of Al Mullen, a comedian who plants

copies of the self-published zine all over the transit system. He's left issues on subways and buses in four boroughs. But issue five, with contributions from comedians David Cross, Jack Handy and others, will be the first to Staten Island. He'll be on the 2 p.m. Saturday ferry leaving Manhattan. I will have a little flag

like a tour guide and contributors from this issue will be performing stand-up and some music. With the Statue of Liberty in the background, it's going to be pretty cool. Soto, a high fly ball to center. Thomas backing up. Thomas at the track. And one! A three. The New York Yankees are back in the World Series. The Los Angeles Dodgers will host games one and two of the best of seven Friday and Saturday nights. Then next week, the series will shift to the Bronx from Monday through Wednesday. And you can watch the game for free at the World Trade Center. Fans can enjoy the games on a large screen at the North Oculus Plaza,

with nearby food and drink options from the Oculus Beer Garden and Westfield World Trade Center shops. The viewings will continue for all scheduled games, rain or shine, but plans may change in the event of severe weather. First pitch for all games is a little after eight. Thanks for listening to NYC Now from WMYC. Before we go, got to shout out our production team. It includes Sean Bowdage, Amber Bruce, Owen Kaplan, Audrey Cooper, Leorne Noam Cravitz, Jared Marcel and Wayne Showmeister, with help from all of my colleagues in the WNYC Newsroom.

Our show art was designed by the people at Buck, and our music was composed by Alexis Quadrato. I'm Jenae Pierre. Have a great weekend. See you on Monday.