Concrete is the most widely used man-made material in the world. It is hidden under the surface of the city: forming the foundations of skyscrapers, snaking underground as tunnels, retaining tons of earth laterally to clear space for inhabitation, or anchoring the steel structure of the elevated train lines. New York is, after all, the concrete jungle.

Did you know that the construction of the IRT Flushing line (known as the Corona Line until 1925) was the catalyst for real estate development that transformed the rural areas of Queens into vibrant neighborhoods?

Tunnel Under Construction in Long Island City,1916. The Hunter’s Point station opened in February of 1916, and in this photograph workers are building the tracks that lead out of the Steinway Tunnel to the next station, Court Square. The building under construction to the left was known for a time as the Queens Subway Building, where the County Seat was located, as well as the Degnon Contracting Company, who controlled the freight terminal nearby. The building was later taken over by Paragon Oil, and is currently a storage facility.