42nd Street and 5th Ave Under Bryant Park

Above the hallway leading to the platforms at the 42nd Street 5th Ave subway reads Goethe, "The unnatural, too, is natural."  As one continues down the hall gold glass mosaic in the shape of tree roots break from the ceiling and cut through the glass tile stretching to reach bedrock, searching for water.

This particular evening a violinist plays Pacholbel's canon in D minor.

"The unnatural, too, is natural..."   Everyday about 13 million gallons of water are pumped out of the subway tunnels.  This is just the water that is already there.  When it rains, the number can be twice or three times the amount.  Once, before man pierced the sky with towers of stone, glass, and steel, before Pacholbel wrote his canon, Manhattan was 27 square miles of porous ground punctuated by living roots.  The trees, plants, and streams (more than forty ) provided for an abundance of wildlife, all of which have been virtually extinguished in the quest to transform an island; to conquer nature.

But nature is patient.

At the end of the hallway stands a fantastic glass mosaic installation showing the victory of nature over this tunnel. In granite reads Jung, "Nature must not win the game, but she cannot lose."

Within 36 hours of the pumps stopping the entire subway system will fill with water.  Nature will reclaim its ancient underground streams. Within 20 years, the steel columns that support the East Side Lexington Avenue line, by now rusted through from nature's relentless assault, will begin to buckle.  The street will cave in.  Lexington Ave will once again become a river.

Nature always wins the game.

Union Square 14th Street Station

Union Square 14th Street

 

Borough Hall Faience

The tile work in the Borough Hall station is a  celebration of the subway's arrival into Brooklyn (January 9th, 1908) just 10 years after Brooklyn joined New York City.   Grand, bas relief wreaths set into deep mosiac freize frame the BH monogram.  Above the monogram a green egg and dart moulding caps the wall. The large intricate name panels hang like tapestries and are almost identical to the ones found in Times Square.

The medallions themselves were produced by Grueby Pottery out of South Boston.  Grueby is the most collectible and desirable of American potteries, and for that reason difficult to find, with the exception of the NYC subway stations Astor Place, Bleeker Street, 28th Street, Columbus Circle, and many of the stations along the Lexington Ave Line.  One can also find Grueby tiles on the crossing floor at the Catherdral of St John the Devine on Amsterdam Ave, installed around 1910.

Grueby first introduced his matte green glaze in 1897 which quickly became a symbol of the Arts and Crafts movement and garnered world wide acclaim.  It was sold throughout the United States and Europe by Gustav Stickley, Tiffany & Co., and Marshall Fields.  Today it still remains the most sought after pottery from the Arts and Crafts period.