Imagine a New York City in the double python squeeze of political corruption and traffic congestion, where creative attempts to alleviate said congestion are thwarted at every turn by vested interests. This very contemporary-sounding condition was also very much in force in the late 1860s and early 1870s, when Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall ran the city, and an inventor named Alfred Beach built a short pneumatic-tube conveyance under Broadway, carrying dignitaries beneath the chaotic, horse-manured streets. This is the story of New York’s Secret Subway: The Underground Genius of Alfred Beach and the Origins of Mass Transit, as told by Matthew Algeo.

Show Notes

Imagine a New York City in the double python squeeze of political corruption and traffic congestion, where creative attempts to alleviate said congestion are thwarted at every turn by vested interests. This very contemporary-sounding condition was also very much in force in the late 1860s and early 1870s, when Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall ran the city, and an inventor named Alfred Beach built a short pneumatic-tube conveyance under Broadway, carrying dignitaries beneath the chaotic, horse-manured streets. This is the story of New York’s Secret Subway: The Underground Genius of Alfred Beach and the Origins of Mass Transit, as told by Matthew Algeo.

Intro/Outro:

“24 Hour Limes,” by The Cooper Vane

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Discussed:

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