In 1869, Alfred Ely Beach built his now famous pneumatic subway line beneath Broadway. It never remained more than a curiosity, however, as Beach ran out of money and the tunnel was closed by 1873.
But what if it it hadn't been? WI Beach had been able to turn his subway into a going concern, starting a revolution in mass public transit in American cities during the late nineteenth century? What might the New York subway system look like today?