A history of New York subway passengers as they navigated the system’s constraints while striving for individuality, or at least a smooth ride.

When the subway first opened with much fanfare on October 27, 1904, New York became a city of underground passengers almost overnight. In this book, Stefan H hne examines how the experiences of subway passengers in New York City were intertwined with cultural changes in urban mass society throughout the twentieth century. H hne argues that underground transportation–which early passengers found both exhilarating and distressing–changed perceptions, interactions, and the organization of everyday life.