Archinect - News 2024-12-24T13:29:33-05:00 https://archinect.com/news/article/150186751/influential-new-york-city-subway-map-designer-michael-hertz-has-died Influential New York City subway map designer Michael Hertz has died Alexander Walter 2020-02-26T14:42:00-05:00 >2024-10-25T04:07:38-04:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/e6/e6e77540d5e236f15b0dfd83baf6fc41.png?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><em><p>Michael Hertz, whose design firm produced one of the most consulted maps in human history, the curvy-lined chart that New York City subway riders peer at over one another&rsquo;s shoulders to figure out which stop they want, died on Feb. 18 in East Meadow, N.Y. He was 87.</p></em><br /><br /><p>In an effort to boost ridership, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, North America's largest public transportation network, formed a committee under the leadership of John Tauranac in the mid-1970s to create a new, more appealing map for the New York City subway system and replace the iconic, <a href="https://archinect.com/news/tag/41796/massimo-vignelli" target="_blank">Massimo Vignelli</a>-designed &mdash; yet impractical and not universally loved &mdash; map in service at the time. <br></p> <p>Michael Hertz Associates provided a new design, featuring more geographically correct lines, which was ultimately published in June 1979 in time for the subway's 75-year anniversary. It has remained the basis for all subsequent maps issued until today.<br></p> <figure><p><a href="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/f8/f8ae4eef5599bbcd2b6cefa683814d11.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&amp;enlarge=true&amp;w=1028" target="_blank"><img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/f8/f8ae4eef5599bbcd2b6cefa683814d11.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&amp;enlarge=true&amp;w=514"></a></p><figcaption>New York City Subway Map from July 2019. Courtesy of Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York.</figcaption></figure><p>"The map that Mr. Hertz&rsquo;s firm came up with included streets, neighborhoods and other surface reference points," writes Neil Genzlinger for the <em><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/25/nyregion/michael-hertz-dead.html" target="_blank">NYT</a></em>. "And it depicted the city and its signature elements like Central Park and th...</p>