After a ‘Terrible Silence,’ NYC subway musicians are returning
The departure of musicians from New York City’s subway was profound. That sprawling thoroughfare in the Times Square station where blues bands and gospel groups often entertained throngs of tourists was suddenly silent. And at Union Square station in Manhattan, which boasted an offbeat brass funk band and other acts that wowed even the hippest of New Yorkers, most musical acts disappeared as well. Now, after 14 months away, authorized performers have returned to New York’s train platforms to play for a reduced ridership. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has restarted its Music Under New York program. [nytimes.com]
The ghost Metro station in Paris where films come to life
Meryl Streep as Julia Child in Julie & Julia. Audrey Tautou as Amélie Poulain in Amélie (Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain). Steve Buscemi as a clueless American tourist in Paris je t’aime. Shot far from the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, and the glamour of the French capital, these scenes capture the gritty realism of Parisian life, albeit with a touch of movie magic. They were each filmed in a decommissioned subway station that’s been dedicated to film, television, and commercial productions for the past several decades. Yet Porte des Lilas remains something of an industry secret — even in the country where cinema was invented, and despite the fact that several films a year are shot there. [atlasobscura.com]
Toronto Union Station’s lost destinations
Union Station’s Great Hall is one of Toronto’s great indoor spaces. Work on Union Station began in 1914, with the grand headhouse completed in 1920. Work continued for nine more years, though a lavish official opening took place on August 6, 1927. Toronto’s Union Station became Canada’s busiest and most important railway hub, with direct trains to cities throughout six provinces and six American states, with through sleeper cars to even more US destinations via Buffalo. Up high, the names of 27 Canadian cities are carved into the walls. Today, just 14 of the 26 destinations proclaimed on the walls of Toronto’s Union Station can be reached by train. [seanmarshall.ca]
The Japanese train station with torii gates on its tracks
Yamaguchi Prefecture boasts the latest entry into Japan’s line-up of unusual train stations. There are 20 bright red torii gates standing above some tracks at Nagatoshi Station, set up when the Nagato/Hagi Liner started operating between Nagato City and Higashi-Hagi Station on the Sanin Main Line. The torii are placed 1.5 meters apart and increase in height by three-centimeter increments in order to create a 3-D effect in a short space. The gates are built on track that lies alongside a platform not currently in operation. The miniature torii were inspired by the nearby Motonosumi Shrine, a famous tourist sites, well-known for its series of stunning vermillion torii gates by the sea. [japantoday.com]
