Hiroyuki Suzuki documents construction of LIRR/GCT tunnel in show at Transit Museum Gallery Annex (photo by Hiroyuki Suzuki)
New York Transit Museum Gallery Annex
Grand Central Terminal Shuttle Passage
Shuttle Passage next to the Station Masters’ Office
Open daily through October 27, free, 8:00/10:00 am – 6:00/8:00 pm
718-694-1600
www.grandcentralterminal.com
The New York Transit Museum Gallery Annex concludes its yearlong celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of Grand Central Terminal with a gorgeous exhibit that looks to the future. In “The Next Level: East Side Access Photographs by Hiroyuki Suzuki,” the Japanese photographer documents the construction of the tunnel that will link the Long Island Rail Road’s Main and Port Washington lines to a new portal eighteen stories beneath Grand Central, a project now expected to cost more than eight billion dollars and that won’t be completed until 2019. Suzuki — not to be confused with the world yo-yo champion of the same name — is a short-story writer and fashion-show producer (his wife is designer Junko Koshino) who turned to photography in 2006, previously documenting such construction sites as the Metro in Dubai, a downtown Tokyo expressway, the Tokyo Gate Bridge, natural gas production facilities in Qatar, and the rebuilding following the Tohoku earthquake. Using a Nikon D90, Suzuki ventured far below the ground to capture stunning black-and-white images of long, dark passageways with small circles of light and puddles of water, sandhogs either hard at work or taking a break, complicated equipment, and other mesmerizing scenes. Weaving your way through the exhibit, which includes fifty-five photographs, gives you the feeling that you’re underground with Suzuki, which is both thrilling and a little frightening. “The Next Level” is on view daily through October 27, and admission is free.