A 17-year-old watches the destruction of the Third Ave El: PHOTOS

In 1955, a 17-year-old shutterbug named Sid Kaplan watched as the city brought down the Third Avenue Elevated line. Now his photographs documenting the vent are on display.

Kaplan shot from windows overlooking the train, providing an aerial view of removal project, which made Manhattan slightly less aggressively loud. Now 40 of his photographers are hanging at the NYC Transit Museum‘s Grand Central Gallery Annex, according to Gothamist.

The show is titled “Deconstruction of the Third Avenue El,” and also features artifacts from the line.

“The Third Avenue Elevated began its life as a steam- powered railroad in August of 1878, providing service from South Ferry to the Grand Central Depot,” the museum writes. “Through mergers and acquisitions, the Third Avenue El eventually extended to 133rd Street in the Bronx and in 1902 was leased by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) . With the 1904 opening of the IRT Lexington Avenue line, ridership began to decline and the towering steel structures of the elevated trains were regarded as obsolete eyesores that darkened neighborhoods and hindered real estate development.”

Check out the photos in person from March 24, 2017 – July 9, 2017.

Credit: Sid Kaplan and the NYC Transit Museum

Credit: Sid Kaplan and the NYC Transit Museum

[Gothamist] —Christopher Cameron