When the New York City Subway

Was the Most Dangerous Place on

Earth
The New York City subway of today is what one might lightly call “starkly different”
from its predecessors. In the 1980s, over 250 felonies were committed every week
in the system, making the New York subway the most dangerous mass transit
system in the world. Over the course of a decade, New York public transportation
would lose over 300 million riders, largely due to its reputation as a hotbed of
crime and drug use. Take a look at the pictures below to notice what the New York
City subway System was like in the 1980s:
History of the New York City Subway
The first underground line of the New York City Subway opened on October 27,
1904, almost 35 years after the opening of the first elevated line in New York City,
which became the IRT Ninth Avenue Line. By the time the first subway opened, the
lines had been consolidated into two privately owned systems, the Brooklyn Rapid
Transit Company (BRT, later Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation, BMT) and
the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT). The city was closely involved: all
lines built for the IRT and most other lines built or improved for the BRT after 1913
were built by the city and leased to the companies. The first line of the city owned
and operated Independent Subway System (IND), and opened in 1932; this system
was intended to compete with the private systems and allow some of the elevated
railways to be torn down.
Unknown words:

1. Lightly: informally, casually

2. Starkly: frankly, plainly

3. Felony: crime, offense, low-breaking

4. Committed: dedicated

5. Riders: passengers

6. Hotbed: source, center, focus

7. Borough: district, division, area

8. Intend to: expect, propose, to have the purpose of

9. Tear down: destroy, demolish, remove

10. Core: center, main

Speaking Section

Answer the following questions below

1. What is the reading about?

2. Take a look at the pictures above, and describe what the subway system was
like in the 80´s.

3. Do you know what the New York Subway System is like today?

4. What’s the Transportation System like in your city?

5. How often do you use the Transportation System in your area?

6. Which differences are there between the Transportation System in your

country and Transportation System in developed countries?