Subway-Color-Archive: Prioritizing Parts
February 2024
I am posting this belated February leap year bulletin on a rainy Wednesday in the city. Third cup of coffee. Better late than never. It feels daunting to consolidate everything happening into a text post, especially when so much of what is unfolding is visual and sensory; further, it becomes complex contextualizing observations that are sometimes both in flux and without solid documentation. I am grateful for these moments when the weather tells me it’s worth staying in (if possible) to reflect and reorganize my mental and physical space. Moreover, I’ve grown increasingly aware that this project occupies a unique time in my life, allowing me to commit to the research and actively pursue a site that sometimes puts my body out of commission for a day or two. It won’t always be like this. I must extend the utmost gratitude to those who have supported this oddball project by spreading the word, providing feedback, submitting a memory, and refueling the project tank when energy was running low… you remind me why I do this. There are amazing things ahead.
The end of last month marks the halfway point in the 2023–4 Independent Projects grant year. Station walkthroughs and paint chip collection have coincidentally reached their midpoint; while this keeps a good pace, it will kick up in the next two months. The December bulletin closed out with a mention of disseminating tangible objects and printed archival material; from March onwards, this will be more prominent in the project’s development, focus, and funds. As I complete the station walkthroughs, this means prioritizing the elements of documentation and being decisive about what is necessary to collect at this time. I’m constantly reminding myself that the subway system as a site provides the luxury of being there if you need to revisit. I have had to embrace a constant state of filling in the blanks; there will always be so many unknowns.
However, among all the floating inconclusive elements in play, there are fascinating givens and steadfast documentation worth developing and investing more time and direction towards. It’s like I have gone on a few mushroom foraging expeditions, filled my basket each time, and gathered a nice collection… but the mushrooms are going a little bad, and I need to take in what I have before deciding what mushrooms to pursue next. The mushrooms on the table are all column paint chips of varying thickness, size, and chroma.
Almost half of the 17 paint chips collected have been dissected and are in their next stage of color analysis. Unlike the 2020 “Wet Paint” column analysis, the S-C-A 2023–4 study utilizes high-resolution digital photography under controlled and consistent lighting conditions to aid in the color identification of paint layers. I enjoyed mixing colors from scratch to match each layer in “Wet Paint”; should time permit later, and if it proves helpful, physical paint-matching studies will be employed. Due to the pacing of some printed deliverables, which will be announced in the next bulletin, express stations are currently prioritized.
Preliminary station-specific column palettes are taking form. These consider the sequencing of colors found in the physical paint chips and historical events and decisions that may have contributed to changes in color (station renovations/upgrades, increase of federal funds, ADA updates, natural disasters, etc.)¹. Color shifts are also identified through historical imagery; color photographs after the 1960s have proved useful but also inconsistent in abundance, and many images, while exciting and telling of their time, crop out the platform columns. Some stations have multiple photos from a single decade, anchoring a column’s color (sometimes dual-color) at a specific time.
Finding an old photograph of a place you have been to hundreds of times can be surreal, especially if its differences are emboldened next to the visual similarities. For example, these photos from 1929 reveal the dual-color columns of the 125th station before it opened to the public. This black and white survey photograph unknowingly notates the first phase of a canvas for many layers of future chromatic build-up, yet the color at this time must be inferred and imagined. 125th currently features the prevalent single-color column, re-matched to the green color of the art deco-inspired wall tiles designed by 8th Avenue IND architect Squire J. Vickers.
Old platform photos of West 4th Street, found about a month back, prompted me to adjust the collection methods of ongoing station surveys. Paint chips are now collected from perpendicular sides, whenever possible, to account for the potential situation of the outer column flange differing in color from the inner web. Likewise, paint chip samples are ideally taken from a column’s upper and lower half to account for the painted column scenario of 125th Street in 1929 (above). This can be difficult to implement if columns are recently repainted, if it is too cold outside (paint hardens in the winter but becomes semi-elastic in warmer temperatures), or if too many people occupy a platform when samples are extracted.
The dual-color columns of the 1970s and 80s seem almost intricate by today’s standards. I imagine maintaining the station columns with two colors would be a pain if one supply ran lower than the other. Likewise, I wonder if colors shifted due to supply chain and supplier changes.²
These preliminary column palettes will translate to an accessible printed medium in the months ahead. A distribution in July will focus on express/ transfer stations:
207th Street*
168th Street
145th Street
125th Street
59th Street-Columbus Circle
42nd Street-Port Authority Bus Terminal
34th Street-Penn Station
14th Street
West 4th Street-Washington Square
Canal Street
Fulton Street (Broadway/Nassau Street)
Jay St.-Metrotech (Borough Hall)
*Not an express/transfer stop but will be included.
This first distribution (more details to come) is a precursor to the 8th Avenue archival mailer. 1st edition mailer prints, including express and local stops, will be available in August 2024. The endeavor to translate these paint chip studies into an accessible graphic reference + tool offers an incredible opportunity to collaborate with fellow creatives. Some extraordinary minds are hopping on board the S-C-A train in the months ahead… stay tuned!
Last, I would be remiss if I did not mention Hochul’s decision today to deploy the National Guard to NYC subways and Adams’ additional 1,000 city police officers in response to rising violent crime. This is a complicated and layered subject in itself, and it pains me that it has to be mentioned in the context of this project. Nowadays, I spend much time underground in different stations and many neighborhoods along the project route. Observing and documenting these places is my honor because they are all unique and emblematic of this city. I cannot deny, however, moments when I have felt unsafe or uncomfortable. Sometimes, this stems from the presence of police, who make me feel uneasy… sometimes it is a person frantic on a platform, nearly pleading for help but unable to convey themselves. One of the biggest pitfalls of the current gubernatorial and mayoral administrations is their inability to trace problems to the source. Crime doesn’t usually start underground but thrives when the world above is dysfunctional. It hurts to hear stories like the one today of an MTA worker smashed in the head with a glass bottle; physical violence is undeniably on the rise. However, Eric Adams has yet to prove that increased subway policing during his term has helped. Malcolm Gladwell outlines it well in The Tipping Point. Poor, misguided, and quick solutions exacerbate epidemics. It’s time to invest in long-term endeavors. Such initiatives take time to build up but eventually offer legitimate refuge for people needing a safe space in a city that has grown increasingly inaccessible and relentless toward the less financially privileged. These long-term visions: investing in and making accessible mental health care, decent shelter for unhoused people, drug rehabilitation services, etc. are less appealing to politicians who aim to boost their approval ratings or are seeking reelection. Many city dwellers are perceptive of this; I’m just stating the obvious! The sad reality is that increased violence in the subway system probably won’t change until the mayoral administration does. We shall see…
To receive the S-C-A 8th Avenue print memorabilia mailer in August 2024, send your contact information to subway.color.archive@gmail.com (Your info will not be distributed.) If you support the archive with a newsstand order, you automatically sign up for the 2023–24 mailer.
The 2023–24 route is supported by the 2023 Architecture + Design Independent Projects program, a grant partnership of the New York State Council on the Arts and The Architectural League of New York. Independent Project grants are made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State legislature.
This project is not monitored by or affiliated with the MTA.
A study of 8th Avenue will hopefully build the framework for future chroma investigations that branch into other boroughs and neighborhoods — pending additional funding.
Questions, comments, thoughts? Please send them to subway.color.archive@gmail.com
¹ These events, typically documented through text and MTA (public) documents, will eventually visually connect to these column palettes. For these preliminary palette manifestations, I side with ambiguity. They focus on the colors found and the general duration of each. Versions with higher specificity will come with further cross-referencing and fact-checking.
² Recalling media headlines when the Barbie movie caused a shortage of pink paint https://www.npr.org/2023/06/05/1180133265/barbie-movie-pink-paint-shortage.
³ Not to mention the robot! https://nypost.com/2024/02/04/metro/nypd-robot-no-longer-patrolling-times-square-station/
