This photograph of the subsoil of the Big Apple rewrites reality in such a perfect and orderly way that it can be considered a work of art. It tells a story that goes beyond the route taken by the trains.īecause that famous map – which the New York Times has documented in detail – was years in the making. Its creation took into account political, environmental and aesthetic factors, and resulted in a transport guide that was truly user-friendly. This massive infrastructure ( 245 miles or 394 kilometres of track and over 5 million people transported every week day) has become a icon of the city not only for its functionality, but also because of the image on its map. These and many other colours make up one of the best-known maps in the world.

U ptown and the Bronx Downtown and Brooklyn. Millions of people have found themselves at least once in their lives standing on the platform looking at New York City’s colour-coded subway signs. The green one runs from Wall Street to Harlem and beyond the yellow runs through Time Square the orange leads from Manhattan to Queens.

Nyc metro map