Behind the Scenes: Profiling those who restore the subways

While many New Yorkers who ride the subways see decrepit stations with uneven floors, leaky walls and cracked tiles, hidden amongst the 105-year-old subway system are some gems of another era. Some of the original IRT stations featuring mosacis that date from the early 1900s and ceramic tiling from the same period. Rich in history and architectural, these aspects of the subway system are too valuable for the MTA to simply discard them during renovations. To that end, the agency often sends away ceramics for restoration. Bob Shenfeld, a Syracuse-based ceramic expert, is currently working on the 96th St. tiles, and Dick Case of Syracuse.com profiled Shenfeld and his restoration work.

Shenfeld says that he gets down to the city approximately once a week and that the MTA sends him carefully labeled shipments once a month. He has wall panels featuring sail boats that will return to Columbus Circle and has worked on a variety of stations up and down the West Side IRT line. His work can be seen at the under-construction 96th St. stop on the 1/2/3 in that station’s new tiling work. As Shenfled said, “They wanted to make the subway stations art gallers” 100 years ago, and today, someone has to keep the art in top shape. [Syracuse.com]