The Subway Above Ground
Harlem - 148 St
The following piece simulates a full ride on the 3 line of the NYC subway, where the quantity and power of the instruments at any given moment in the song correspond to the median household income of the neighborhood that you are passing through.
Instructions: if you would like to experience this offline and on a subway ride, download the media file via the button below the video. Once you start to play the file, find your station (you can use the track listing on this page as a guide), and listen to the song in the background as you ride the subway. The result is a meditative piece in which the dramatic contrasts of a song echo the dramatic differences of income in the city.
Download this video*
*Right click or long-press the button above and select "download link..." to save to your device
Track Listing
- New Lots Av $42,460 approx. median household income
- Van Siclen Av $44,856 approx. median household income
- Pennsylvania Av $32,956 approx. median household income
- Junius St $15,793 approx. median household income
- Rockaway Av $22,514 approx. median household income
- Saratoga Av $47,171 approx. median household income
- Sutter Av - Rutland Rd $20,160 approx. median household income
- Crown Hts - Utica Av $33,962 approx. median household income
- Kingston Av $67,755 approx. median household income
- Nostrand Av $61,741 approx. median household income
- Franklin Av $61,022 approx. median household income
- Eastern Pkwy - Brooklyn Museum $74,817 approx. median household income
- Grand Army Plaza $120,194 approx. median household income
- Bergen St $111,102 approx. median household income
- Atlantic Av - Barclays Ctr $86,835 approx. median household income
- Nevins St $113,941 approx. median household income
- Hoyt St $135,460 approx. median household income
- Borough Hall $144,507 approx. median household income
- Clark St $117,139 approx. median household income
- Wall St $167,227 approx. median household income
- Fulton St $198,005 approx. median household income
- Park Pl $241,097 approx. median household income
- Chambers St $246,843 approx. median household income
- 14 St $130,941 approx. median household income
- 34 St - Penn Station $149,645 approx. median household income
- Times Sq - 42 St $104,235 approx. median household income
- 72 St $122,581 approx. median household income
- 96 St $107,264 approx. median household income
- Central Park North (110 St) $41,964 approx. median household income
- 116 St $49,524 approx. median household income
- 125 St $58,470 approx. median household income
- 135 St $49,052 approx. median household income
- 145 St $46,061 approx. median household income
- Harlem - 148 St $38,160 approx. median household income
Created by Brian Foo using Median household income by census tract, 2017 ACS 5-year estimates (B19013) and MTA subway station data. Code is open source. This piece is part of the 2021 Data Through Design: Ground Truth Exhibition. You can also visit this piece's sister project that turns this same data into a 3D interactive map.