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"EL" STATION:
SIXTH AVENUE LINES, DOWNTOWN SIDE The extension of the Ninth Avenue El up Columbus Avenue in 1879 was an integral part of the development of the Upper West Side. In its wake, a luxury apartment building--named the Dakota for its great distance from the heart of the city--was erected a block away. Its social and commercial success encouraged large-scale real estate speculation throughout the neighborhood. Tenements for servants and local businesses lined Columbus Avenue, dirty and noisy from the overhead El tracks. In 1940, the El was demolished in hope that its removal would revitalize the street. Abbott was fond of the Swiss-chalet style of the elevated train stations and photographed several of them. At 72nd Street and Columbus Avenue, she depicted the station's interior; in order to include the turnstiles, which dated from the 1920s, and the decorative border at ceiling height, she set up her camera above eye-level (O'Neal, 140). On a cold winter day, people waiting for a train preferred to huddle around the potbelly stove rather than wait outdoors on the platform. Although she disliked the harsh shadows caused by flash, Abbott used it on this occasion. Return to North of 59th Street |