Ms. Shin, a Brooklyn artist who has created public works for the Long Island Rail Road and a Battery Park City elementary and middle school, has designed pieces in mosaic and glass for the 63rd Street station, which will be expanded to accommodate the Second Avenue line.

WSJ: Subway Depths, Lit by Art

"The Second Avenue subway line is going to be amazing, " Ms. Kohorn added.

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Using archival photographs from the New York Historical Society and Transit Museum, Ms. Shin will depict the 1942 dismantling of the Second Avenue elevated line and the opening of the sky over an area accustomed to rumbling and shadows.

WSJ: Subway Depths, Lit by Art

Dubbed the "The Line That Time Forgot, " the Second Avenue Subway has been a New York City dream since the 1920s.

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