

Commuters as they walk across the platform to board an 'A' train at the 42nd Street subway station, 1930s. (Getty Images)

On September 10th, 1932 crowds gathered underground for the opening of the Independent Subway System (IND) along 8th Avenue in Manhattan. The NY Times reported on the opening, which occurred at 12:01 a.m. that morning, noting that there was no opening ceremony, but many turned up to ride the new trains. "The public's nickels began dropping into the turnstiles of the 28 stations along the 12 mile route between Chambers Street and 207th Street," they wrote, "with thousands of riders crowding into the commodious trains."

The Daily News was also there, reporting back that, "Nobody got excited. There was neither cheering nor jeering. Trains ran precisely on schedule." But there was at least one complaint, which the Times called the "first" on the line.

This first complaint was registered at Chambers Street, where one "indignant passenger declared he had to put two nickels in the turnstile before he could board a train. He argued for several minutes with the station agent, declared that it was 'a rotten subway' and then made a mad dash for the train platform."

The first complaint about the 8th Ave. subway arrived right after it opened, this day in 1932. http://t.co/zWIgtZbaCP pic.twitter.com/3fTsOuAZt3 — NYT Archives (@NYTArchives) September 10, 2015

Others were unenthused about the new trains—“Shucks, it’s just another subway!” declared Robert F. Sisk. “As subways go," Harry Keller told the News, “it is fair to middling. You’d think though, that on the opening day they’d give away free lunch, orchids, cigars or toys for the kiddies.” Since then, expectations have been managed to way below orchids.