Modern City · event 1 of 15

27 October 1904

The subway opens. Mayor George McClellan drives the first train from City Hall and enjoys it so much he refuses to hand over the controls. More than 100,000 people ride it that day. The system has essentially never stopped since.

The Modern City era

  1. 27 October 1904
  2. 25 March 1911
  3. 1916
  4. 1920
  5. 23 October 1929
  6. 1 May 1931
  7. 1934
  8. 28 June 1969
  9. 1969
  10. 4 April 1973
  11. 30 October 1975
  12. 11 September 2001
  13. 29 October 2012
  14. 1 January 2017
  15. 1 March 2020

See the full timeline or read the history of New York.