i miss the old map..

09 Mar, 2026

monday, march 9th 2026

i watched this video over my coffee: The Greatest Debate in Design History | The NYC Subway Map and it has me reflecting on the old map that was recently replaced. the hertz map. it had such a big influence on my conception of the city. especially as someone who splits between cycling and the subway. the subway map had enough detail and context to be a useful mental image of the city no matter my mode of transit. and now it serves better as a phone companion. but man i miss the old one.

i think it is partly nostalgia for a few years ago when the city was big, new, and un-knowable to me. i've created some grooves over the last few years. and they give me stability and comfort. but when i was visiting the city for the first time i would stare at the hertz map on the wall of the subway while making my way into the city with my skateboard. excited to just roll around and witness the spits of connection to culture i'd consumed over my life. witness the reality of the legend of the city of new york.

anyway I wanted to collect some of the maps for posterity and just to look at them side by side.

2007 map (with bus info)

2018 map

2025 geographic map (hertz style)

2025 map

unofficial digital map via subway now

subway map catalog

i feel like theres some amount of whimsy lost in the conversion to a more diagram angled map. on the old one it pulls me in to investigate like the map in the front of a fantasy book. i'm not sure why.

for comparison's sake, my neighborhood: