THE ART OF THE NEW YORK SUBWAY by Adrian Margaret Brune
(Frances Lincoln, 17 November 2026)
In 2020, during the height of the pandemic — already intrigued by the art she saw at the 42nd Street Subway Station — journalist Adrian Margaret Brune acted on her theory that every New York Subway station contained a piece of unique art. Over the course of a year, she trained for marathons (and visited subway stations along the way), went on USTA tennis referee gigs (and visited subway stations along the way) and otherwise dodged protestors and police and political unrest to capture the world’s largest underground art museum.
What began with an Instagram, turned into the Underground Art Substack, which has become the book and app Art of the New York Subway, a “stunning tribute to the artistry that transforms the New York subway from a transit system into a cultural landmark.” Throughout her exploration, Brune did the Virtual New York City Marathon from Rockaway Beach to Brooklyn, accidentally fell into the tracks trying to catch an angle and earned a ticket from a MTA Transit cop for jumping a turnstile. The result is a photographic chronicle of the 840-mile network featuring the elegant, original Beaux Arts terracotta signs of Heins and LaFarge, the Arts + Crafts signage of Renaissance man Squire Vickers, vibrant contemporary installations by icons like Roy Lichtenstein, Yayoi Kusama, Faith Ringgold and Nick Cave and lastly, mosaics, sculptures and murals from world-renowned and emerging artists.
Tracing nearly 200 stations of the subway, Art of the New York Subway celebrates the diversity that built America’s subways and contributed to its beauty. It’s also Brune’s love letter to New York, a city she called home for 20 years, and lastly a cri de coeur not only for more installations from emerging artists, but also for the preservation of the beautiful pieces already installed in the network.
PRAISE FOR THE ART OF THE NEW YORK SUBWAY
New York City might be defined by its skyscrapers, but in so many ways, its soul resides underground. The New York City subway is a madhouse, a marvel, and a miracle. As Adrian Brune reminds us in these exquisite photographs, it’s also a sprawling network of galleries, each space containing its own story and artist’s vision. This book made me want to visit each of these stations as if visiting a museum. Every New Yorker should own a copy.
-Meghan Daum, New York Times bestselling author of The Unspeakable and host of The Unspeakeasy podcast
For most people, the New York subway is simply a way to get somewhere else. You race down the stairs, pray the train arrives, stare at your phone, race back up the stairs. You’ve arrived, sure, but you’ve missed just about everything. Adrian Brune invites us to subway better. Look around, goddamnit! Rich with spectacular photography, irresistible stories, and enough history to make every station feel like a time capsule, Art of the New York Subway transforms the city’s underground utilitarian spaces into one of its greatest cultural treasures. Who knew one of the city’s best museums requires only a MetroCard—and might even make you root for the local train?
-Benoit Denizet-Lewis, contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, author of You’ve Changed: The Promise and Price of Self-Transformation
As a journalist, I'm drawn to the stories people miss. Adrian Brune found hundreds of these untold stories underground. Art of the New York Subway is a beautifully reported, gorgeously photographed tour of the mosaics, murals, and hidden masterpieces that thousands of New Yorkers rush past every day without a second glance.
-Mariana van Zeller, former host of NatGeo Channel's Emmy-winning Trafficked with Mariana Van Zeller and host of The Hidden Third Podcast
Art of the New York Subway is a beautiful exploration of the wonders of the often-seen, but sometimes overlooked museum-quality masterpieces that decorate the walls of the world’s largest subterranean museum/transit system. Flush with images of intricate tilework ranging from Beaux-Arts depictions of life in the early 20th century to contemporary commentaries on modern Mahattan, this volume helps the reader/commuter see the treasures below the surface of New York with fresh eyes.
-Charles Whitaker, dean of Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism and a former senior editor at Ebony magazine
ART OF THE NEW YORK SUBWAY
Available for purchase at:
Waterstone’s Bookstore in the UK
Barnes & Noble in the US
The Guardian Bookshop + Foyle’s
Your Local Independent Bookstores in the US and the UK