Former NY Gov. David Paterson and James Murphy attend a Heineken party on June 23, 2015 in NYC. (Getty)
It's been a long road for James Murphy and his musical subway turnstile. While the LCD Soundsystem frontman and wine bar operator hoped to bring the turnstiles—which feature a pleasant sound when you swipe your MetroCard—to the subway system, the MTA told us last year, "we won't mess with them—much less take the turnstiles out of service and risk disabling them for an art project.” With a little help from Heineken, however, he will be able to install them in the Lowline, an underground park that isn't quite finished yet.
We learned about this development last year, when Ralph Rijks, vice president of marketing at Heineken USA, declared: "We're excited to give visitors a chance to try out the Subway Symphony project in this stunning environment."
The new news on all of this is that Murphy and luxury lifestyle website Nowness have now produced a precious video, narrated by Nancy Whang, to promote the Subway Symphony project further, and put it into context with the Lowline.
"For centuries people from around the world have made the Lower East Side their home," Whang declares, going on to describe the park—whose board includes investment bankers, CEOs, real estate developers, and a former SVP at Brookfield Properties—as an experimental project that brings many species of plants to an abandoned space in the area. An area that many, actually, can no longer afford to call their home. As pointed out by the Awl's Kevin Sweeting last year, "What seems left unconsidered is how it would fit into the future of a changing Lower East Side — and whose priorities 'the world’s first underground park' would service."
Here's a look at what money can buy:
