Crazy Stable

We've torn down a lot of walls and never found anything more interesting than a scrunched-up wad of 1940s newspaper.  Which was pretty cool, but not nearly as cool as this long-hidden NYC subway tile, revealed in a massive renovation on the uptown platform of the #1 IRT local at the 59th Street/Columbus Circle subway stop. I was so amazed by it that I snapped a picture as the train doors were closing:

And here it is, delicate as a dessert plate in all its demolition-derby context.

I'm not sure if the intrepid webmaster of Forgotten New York has covered this marvelous little discovery yet, but it sure had me curious. The story, I must admit, was nicely told in today's New York Times--it's the remnant of a sort of Subway Decor Expo, done in 1901, before the subway itself was completed. 

They've got photos, too, but mine are better!