In 1869, visionary inventor Alfred Ely Beach secretly built the city’s very first underground train beneath the bustling streets of New York City. Convinced that subterranean travel was the cure for the city’s overwhelming street congestion, Beach defied political roadblocks and built a pneumatic subway. Hundreds of thousands of people lined up to ride his futuristic prototype, more than three decades before New York’s first official subway line opened.

Discover this hidden chapter of transit history with Matthew Algeo, author of New York’s Secret Subway: The Underground Genius of Alfred Beach and the Origins of Mass Transit, as he reveals the clandestine creation of the nation’s first operational subway.

Purchase your copy of the book from the New York Transit Museum Store.

Please Note: This event will take place online. Upon registration, all participants will receive two emails - one will be a receipt and the other will include a Zoom link with instructions on how to participate. We encourage you to download the Zoom app in advance for the best user experience.

You will have the option to turn on automatic captions for this virtual program. Staff will share instructions for how to do so at the start of the event. Please email access@nytransitmuseum.org for any accessibility-related questions. Please contact programs@nytransitmuseum.org for general inquiries.

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