TRANSPORTATION: Lebensraum for the Straphanger

Followed by tail-coated plenipotentiaries, duck-bottomed Fiorello H. LaGuardia last week borrowed a nickel, pressed through the turnstiles into the subterranean maze. Donning a conductor's cap, he posed at the controls of a shiny new train, then settled back with proud satisfaction as it slithered off through the spotless white tunnel which even smelled clean. Manhattan's Sixth Avenue Subway had been opened.

For years most New Yorkers have agreed on a program for bettering the lot of the subway sardine: 1) unification of the city's three systems (Interborough Rapid Transit. Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit, the...

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