1954 Hagstrom Map of New York City Subway Construction Projects

This is a 1954 Hagstrom map of New York City Subway construction projects. It illustrates developments, such as the 2nd Avenue Line, that are only now coming to fruition.

A Plan to Improve the New York City Subway

In 1954, the New York City Transit Authority proposed a $658 million construction program. Most of these improvements are detailed here, using red to highlight proposed new construction and blue to illustrate which lines would see improved service. Red circles contain blurbs promoting what each project would provide, such as increased service by as many as 18 trains per hour on certain lines and 34 trains per hour (both local and express service) along the proposed 2nd Avenue line. (The first section of the 2nd Avenue line finally opened in 2017 with proposals to build almost the entire line as illustrated here still pending). Only two of the proposed projects were under construction when this map was published. The first was the 60th Street Tunnel Connection (which opened on December 1, 1955) and the second was the IND Rockaway Line, which opened on June 28, 1956.

An Incredible Amount of Detail

Apart from highlighting the proposed improvements to the New York Subway, the entire subway network is illustrated with all stops labeled. Major streets and avenues are illustrated and identified as well. The tunnels under the East River and Hudson River appear pictorially, with train cars or passenger vehicles (in the case of the Holland Tunnel and the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel) drawn within. Parks, museums, government buildings, and even New York's zoos are labeled.

Publication History and Census

This map was created by Hagstrom and published by the New York City Transit Authority in 1954 in the NYCTA's 1st Annual Report. The separate map is not cataloged in OCLC and rarely appears on the private market. The full report is cataloged in OCLC as being part of 30 institutional collections throughout the United States and the United Kingdom.