Post Thirty: New York City

Dear Readers,

This is my thirtieth post to your time stream, and I am rather proud of that. This means of communication survived several glitches, the frustrations of not being able to use the Internet fully, and an attempt at suppression by our Provost. Incidentally, Notaras now says he sees eye to eye with me. We shall see.

For this thirtieth post, I have decided to highlight a city that I was rather fond of when I was time-normal, New York City. The reason for this choice is that during your day today, someone from that city visited this blog from that city a large number of times, which of course made me happy.

Earlier today I had Augury try to pull some information from your time stream about New York City, in the days around when this post will go live. Since I have the advantage of you, temporally, I can write many posts at once, of course. I make some effort to appear as if I'm time-normal, though, so that this blog is not utterly befuddling.

What I got from Augury related to a recent roofing collapse on the "1" train line, or at least what I got from your specific time stream. The article they gave me, they believe came from the New York Times. It's quite interesting, and explains how the subway system developed in your time stream.

That's really what I want to write about. You see, in anachronistic studies of New York, one thing leaps out: the subway is remarkably stable. When I say "stable," I mean that it is present in many different time streams. It is not necessarily the same in these time streams, but most version of New York City have a subway in some way. In some it was abandoned for a variety of reasons, and in one its forsaken tunnels play host to a kingdom of outcast technocrats, scheming in dark alleys to regain their lost power. In others it becomes a safe haven when the surface is no longer inhabitable. In some, all the lines run diagonally across Manhattan Island.

I think the ones that most amuse me are the time streams where the subway freed itself from government control. In these wholly libertarian New Yorks, all sorts of dark, unbelievable projects take place. The records are truly astounding! Executives of corporations conduct clandestine research, living products of forgotten research wander tunnels, and enterprising private citizens build customized vehicles to carry them through the labyrinth. Perhaps I shall write you a story that gives a slice of life from such a time stream. Yes, I think I will.

Always,
Dr. John Skylar
Chairman
Department of Anachronism
University of Constantinople