Gothamist

A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.

Gothamist

WNYC Listen Live

Donate

Arts & Entertainment

A Look Back At The "Frightful" Subway In The Early 1980s

Jen Carlson

Published Jan 27, 2016

Modified Jan 27, 2016

FacebookTwitterRedditEmail

Never miss a story

Email address

By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .

Jen Carlson

Published Jan 27, 2016

Modified Jan 27, 2016

FacebookTwitterRedditEmail

We rely on your support to make local news available to all

Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

In December of 1981, author Paul Theroux spent a week journeying through the NYC subway system, writing eloquently about what he saw. The NY Times published a lengthy piece from him on his experience in January 1982, in which he explores our underground and "discovers an 'alien land' that is 'beat up,' with patches of beauty... futuristic in a ruined and uncompromising way."

You can read the full story here, but below are some of the best quotes, mixed in with some photos and videos from inside the 1980s subway system.

(Photo via NYC Subway)

"The subway is frightful looking. It has paint and signatures all over its aged face. It has been vandalized from end to end. It smells so hideous you want to put a clothespin on your nose, and it is so noisy the sound actually hurts."
A nod to low ridership: "'I haven't been down there in years,' is a common enough remark from a city dweller."
"You can wait a long time for some trains... you see behind every face the mental emptiness deepen, leaving only the growing terror of nothing to think about." (That's a line he quoted from T.S. Eliot's "East Coker.")
"Is it dangerous? Ask anyone, and, without thinking, he will tell you there must be about two murders a day on the subway."

An undercover police officer on the subway, 1980. (Photo by Bruce Davidson)

"New York's one-price token system is one of the fairest and most sensible in the world; London's multifare structure is clumsy... Tokyo's, while just as complicated, is run by computers which spit tickets at you and then belch out your change." (RIP Tokens.)
"The subway is full of surprises. It has what are probably the longest rides of any subway in the world..." (True/False?)
"The MTA is over a year late in finishing, but at least they know there's a problem."
"It has the filthiest trains, the most bizarre graffiti, the noisiest wheels, the craziest passengers, the most macabre crimes."

(Photo via NYC Subway)

"The subway looks like a deathtrap."
"The New York subway is a serious matter — the rackety train, the silent passengers, the occasional scream."
"No one speaks... Avoiding the stranger's gaze is what the subway passenger does best. Most sit bolt upright, with fixed expressions, ready for anything."
"You have to look as if you're the one with the meat cleaver. You have to go in with your eyes flashing."
"The subway is like a complex — and diseased — circulatory system. Some people liken it to a sewer and others hunch up their shoulders and mutter about being in the bowels of the earth."

Michael Jackson stands in a subway car during the filming of his music video "Bad," directed by Martin Scorsese. (Getty)

A powerful smell. A rat. Twice the size of rats I've seen elsewhere."
"Rule One is: don't ride the subway if you don't have to."
"The subway is New York City's best hope. The streets are impossible; the highways are a failure; there is nowhere to park. The private automobile has no future in this city whatsoever." (LOL)
"The subway is frightening — and what makes it even more frightening is the fact that it is so very easy for a passenger to get lost on it."
"In every detail it is like a nightmare, complete with rats and a tunnel and a low ceiling. It is manifest suffocation straight out of Poe."

(Photo by Paul Wright)

"There is decay everywhere, but there is also a real determination to reverse that trend and get it going right."
"'The smell of urine — it's really horrible at some stations,' said Robert Huber of the Transit Authority."
"The most-mugged man in New York must be the white-haired creakylooking fellow in Bedford-Stuyvesant who has had as many as 30 mugging attempts made on him in a single year. And he still rides the subway trains." "The New York subway system is wearing out, and certain sections are worn out; a large part of it looks hopeless."

Travel back to that magical time...

Tagged

1980s

1982

Paul Theroux

subway

original

Jen Carlson

Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

MORE arts-entertainment

Ever wish you could get paid to walk through a stranger’s house? ‘The Scout’ is for you.

A new film focuses on the strange career of a location scout in New York City.

Sonia Rao

Published Sep 26, 2026

There are 100s of places to visit during Open House New York. Here's 5 of our favorites.

See the entire lineup for the weekend when the city opens its doors.

Hannah Frishberg

Arts & Entertainment

There are 100s of places to visit during Open House New York. Here's 5 of our favorites.

See the entire lineup for the weekend when the city opens its doors.

Hannah Frishberg

A massive MTA archive ended up in a Virginia warehouse. A Brooklyn man brought it home.

Hannah Frishberg

How a Harry Styles pop-up in the East Village led to a nearby bookstore owner's arrest

Sonia Rao

NYC’s creative workers are increasingly self-employed, report says

Hannah Frishberg

Never miss a story

Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.

Sign upEmail address

By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .