N.Y. / REGION
A History Built on Culture, and Transport
Looking Back at New York City Culture and Transit
Bookshelf | by Sam Roberts
Last month’s death of William J. Ronan, the first chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, is reason enough to reflect on the history of public transit through From a Nickel to a Token: The Journey From Board of Transportation to MTA (Fordham University Press), by Andrew J. Sparberg.
Mr. Sparberg traces nearly three decades at the dawn of public ownership, from the city’s acquisition and unification of the subway system, to the demolition of the elevated lines, to the replacement of trolleys by buses, to the elimination of the politically sacrosanct nickel fare and the first air-conditioned subways.
