Upper West Side, 72nd Street at Broadway

Mary Sargent © 2008 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

Here's the new building, across the street from the old one. I remember watching as it went up, several years ago, and having expectations that there would be something inside, other than turnstiles and stairways. It is a larger than necessary building, built in the Beaux Arts style – I was thinking flower stalls and fruit stands. Shoe shine? Some amenities. But nothing. Just empty concrete space.

Barbara asked last night why did they build the new one? Mainly because people were practically falling onto the tracks, it was so crowded. Anyone who's been at that stop knows that the platform is unusually narrow, and that there were only 2 narrow stairways on each side. They extended the platform (served by the new building), and added 4 stairways and also made it possible to cross from uptown to downtown without paying another fare. They did NOT, however, widen the platform. Too expensive, says the MTA.

Anyone craving more pictures will find some nice ones here.