4 minute read
Last Subway: The Long Wait for the Next Train in New York City
REVIEW
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by Philip Mark Plotch
Review by Sophia Nelson
SOPHIA is a first-year Master’s student in city and regional planning, specializing in Transportation Planning. She is particularly interested in urban public transit systems and equitable community engagement. Sophia received her undergraduate degree from the University of Washington, where she studied urban planning, landscape architecture, and Geographic Information Systems
Cornell University Press, 2020, 360 pages
Over the last century, New York City has struggled to build a new subway line along Second Avenue. Since it was first proposed in 1903, some variation of the Second Avenue subway project has been in a continuous cycle of delay, cancellation, and reintroduction until the first phase finally opened in 2017.
In Last Subway: The Long Wait for the Next Train in New York City, author Philip Mark Plotch details the long and difficult journey to build “the most expensive subway in the world.” He presents the complex political, financial, and physical barriers to building a Second Avenue Subway, and why it took over a hundred years to finally open the first phase of the project. However, Last Subway is not simply a retelling of the history of New York City’s transportation system. It also serves as a warning to cities for what happens when politics become entangled with infrastructure megaprojects.
Plotch has explored the challenges of American transportation systems and brings his expertise in New York City politics and policy analysis to Last Subway. As a U.S. Fulbright Scholar, political science professor, journalist, and urban planner, he has played a key role in New York’s infrastructure planning and development. Particularly through his experience as the Manager of Planning and Policy at the MTA between 1992 and 2005, Plotch has first-hand knowledge of transportation projects such as the 7 Subway Extension and the infamous Second Avenue subway. His understanding of the internal dynamics and history of transportation planning in New York City deeply enriches the storytelling.
Plotch begins the story by setting the stage for New York City’s transportation system. He describes how the subway system transformed New York “From a Compact City into a Metropolis” in Chapter 1. In the 1920s, the subway system in New York was once considered one of the most modern and efficient public transit systems in the world. As decades marched on, the subway deteriorated, and the Second Avenue project seemed to be nothing more than an empty promise. Politics continued to complicate progress as the city was more concerned with keeping fares low than making long-term investments in infrastructure improvements. Although construction had finally begun on the project in the 1970s, the MTA eventually abandoned it again to focus on aging infrastructure and safety improvements in the 1980s. While Plotch’s historical storytelling is fascinating, the final chapters were the most captivating and effective for his argument. Ending with “Andrew Cuomo’s Finish Line,” we learn how the Second Avenue project was finally prioritized in New York City.
What makes Last Subway such an impressive book is the storytelling through different key figures in New York City over the last century. Plotch does an excellent job of personalizing transportation history through the description of significant planners and politicians. For example, Robert Moses and his steadfast determination to build an expansion highway network is a familiar story to many, but how did he acquire those funds? Why were some transportation projects prioritized over others? On the other hand, there were important figures who championed for the public transit system. For example, Mayor Fiorello La Guardia led an effort to unify the transit system. Later, Governor Nelson Rockefeller created the MTA. Planning leaders such as Richard Ravitch and Robert Kiley
developed capital programs and pushed for investment. And finally, Governor Andrew Cuomo—who was primarily concerned with pet projects that would portray him as an effective leader—received credit for making it happen. The power of politicians to promote support or shut down a particular project is thoroughly explored in Last Subway, which Plotch sums up nicely:
“One of the cynical lessons learned from the past century is that New York’s politicians benefit when they tell people that they are studying, planning, designing, and preparing for the Second Avenue subway. They do not have to actually start building it to reap rewards” (p. 268).
The historic storytelling in Last Subway is rich and colorful yet is sometimes difficult to follow. The complex history of the Second Avenue line necessitates detailed writing, but it is easy to get lost in the details. Telling a centuries’ worth of public transportation history in just one book is no easy feat, but sometimes I questioned the relevance of some minor details. Nonetheless, the different twists and turns in the history of the Second Avenue subway kept me engaged throughout the whole book.
Last Subway is an excellent read for anyone interested in the intersection of New York City transit, history, real estate, and politics. Transportation planners, engineers, or enthusiastic urbanists would benefit from learning about the Second Avenue subway. All in all, Last Subway is a thoughtful and engaging inside look at how transportation megaprojects can succeed or fail in American cities.
