Tomorrow night (Thursday) at the New York Public Library there's a free lecture on The Development of the New York City Subway System that sounds interesting.

Transit Historian Peter Derrick will discuss why New York City needed an extensive rapid transit system, the political and financial difficulties in getting new lines built, and the impact the subways had on the growth of the city and the well being of its population. The focus will be on the largest stage of subway expansion, the 1913 Dual System of Rapid Transit, under which most of the existing IRT and BMT lines were constructed.

Free. From 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM. Science, Industry and Business Library, 188 Madison Avenue, New York.