The City's Own Subway Finally Opens

Just after midnight on September 10, 1932, the city-owned Independent Subway System opened its Eighth Avenue Line from 207th Street down to Chambers Street, the first stretch of a system New York built specifically so it would not have to depend on the privately run IRT and BMT anymore. The plan had been pushed for years by Mayor John Hylan, who wanted rapid transit fully owned and operated by the city itself. Ground had been broken back on March 14, 1925, at 123rd Street and St. Nicholas Avenue, and the project ate up roughly a million cubic yards of concrete and 150,000 tons of steel before a single fare box rang. There was no ribbon and no speech. Acting Mayor Joseph McKee, who'd only just taken over after Jimmy Walker resigned in a corruption scandal, skipped the ceremonial inspection run entirely.