program for action

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority of New York was founded in 1968 with the mission of unifying all transit facilities under one roof. To reverse decades of under-investment of mass transit, the MTA released their ambitious Program for Action, a multiphase rehabilitation and expansion of the subways and commuter rail. At the core of the program was the 63rd St Tunnel and 2nd Ave Subway. Elevated lines in the Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn would be replaced by subways, and existing lines would be extended deeper into the outer boroughs. The LIRR would be extended to Midtown East and Lower Manhattan, while electrification would be expanded on Long Island and the Hudson Valley.

The ambitions of the new agency immediately ran into the harsh reality of decades of disinvestment. The costs of simply fixing what existed proved vastly more expensive than originally thought. The City of New York had been over spending on services at the same time as the tax base dwindled. Within 6 years, most of these plans were quietly shelved. Work on the 2nd Ave Subway was halted (only to be restarted in 2007). Only the 63rd St Tunnel, which had advanced too far to cancel, and the Archer Ave Subway in Jamaica, which was being built with Federal funds, limped along. Both would only open in the late 1980s.

This print is a recreation of a promotion brochure from 1969. A more in depth history, with additional maps, can be found on my blog.

The map is printed at 16″x20″ on Satin finish 80# cover stock – 220 GSM. Made in the USA! Framed prints at the same size are also available. Standard production time is 5 Days. Please add more time for framing and shipping.