Political & Social

This book is a study of the impact of citizen action on crime and on the fear of crime. The author obtained the consent and cooperation of the Guardian Angels to use their activities in Harlem and the Bronx as a model in determining the effectiveness of such operations. In addition, on-site interviews were conducted with 2,700 nighttime subway riders. Contradicting many previously held beliefs, these data show that actual incidents of subway crime are remarkably low and that fear of crime among nighttime riders, while high, is not exceptional when compared to fear previously found in above ground settings.

A look at the people aspects of the city subway: employees, jobs, skills, and stories via interviews with MTA employees and others. Includes an overview of the Transit Authority and curriculum ideas for teachers.

A thorough academic study of labor relations and of this strike in particular; the confrontations between Mayor John Lindsay and union leader Michael Quill in the strike that paralyzed a city.

Part of a series called "A Tale of Ten Cities", "Rolling Thunder: The Elevated Railroad and the Urbanization of New York" is a social history of the El which examines the role it played in expanding the urban boundaries of Greater New York.

Amazon.com Writeup: Now, as the subway celebrates its centennial anniversary, the creator of The New York Times's award-winning "Tunnel Vision" column leads us on an extended tour of this storied subterranean land, revealing its inhabitants, its wildlife, its taboos and its secret histories.

A non-technical, somewhat fantastic analysis of the homeless living in subway tunnels and other underground structures of New York City. For an interesting analysis of this book, visit: Fantasy in The Mole People.

While Robert Moses was the antithesis to rapid transit in New York, this Pulitzer Prize-winning book is a detailed chronicle of his life, and a good history of politics and urban planning in 20th Century New York City. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Biography.

This is a first-hand photo-documentary account of one of the oldest surviving homeless communities in New York City, which has existed in an underground train tunnel for over 20 years.

Inspired partly by Subway Lives, this book is a slightly more academic study of the folklore and experiences of New York's subway and bus workers. Over 100 transit workers were interviewed (including some recognizable names from SubTalk). Normally unappreciated, you can get to know some of your transit workers through this book.

Music and politics in the subways of New York. Kirkus Reviews calls it a "history of street entertainment in New York."

A look at life on the subway from a conductor's point of view, and from that of a woman in a (at the time) mostly male occupation.