Stephen Mallon's Sea Train: Subway Reef Photos at Grand Central Terminal

The New York Transit Museum presents 'Sea Train: Subway Reef Photos' at Grand Central Terminal from March 20, featuring 19 large-format photographs by British photographer Stephen Mallon. The images document the final phase of the MTA's subway car reefing program, which from 2001 to 2010 deployed over 2,500 retired subway cars off the East Coast to create artificial reefs. Mallon, who learned of the project in 2008, spent two years capturing the process: cars cleaned per EPA protocols, barged via the Harlem River, and GPS-deployed off Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, and South Carolina. The program, which saved the MTA $30 million in disposal costs, involved 1,229 carbon-steel 'Redbird' cars (2001-2003) and 1,311 stainless-steel 'B-Division/Brightliner' cars (2008-2010). The cleaned shells now host thriving marine life including sea bass, tuna, mackerel, flounder, blue mussels, sponges, and corals. Mallon described photographing the cars as 'a blow to the heart,' but found solace in the fish finding new homes in 'steel condominiums.' The exhibition runs at the Transit Museum's Grand Central Gallery.