The MTA Distortion

I've never understood the modern MTA Map. Manhattan's fat, Brooklyn and Queens are a mushed-up blob, and the Bronx is squished beyond recognition. I can appreciate their reasons for doing so – namely for clarity so you can see the Subway better; But If you're not going to be geographically accurate, then why try at all? The old Vignelli Subway map from the 1970's understood this, and just represented the boroughs as simple shapes to show their relative placements. It didn't claim to be an accurate map of the city, only of the Subway.

There's a danger in presenting the map as geographically accurate when it isn't even close. It wouldn't surprise me at all if the majority of tourists (and locals) think the MTA map is how New York actually looks. Personally, I've found the MTA map to be rather useless ever since Google added the Subway lines to theirs.

Comments

[Kaitlin]

They're merely squished because they're important enough to qualify space, but not enough for actual specificity. Lame. Also, no one goes to Queens, Brooklyn or the Bronx, right? Right?