d'Adamo, Raleigh

R. Raleigh D'Adamo (b. 1931) is a Brooklyn-born transportation administrator best known for his contributions to the New York City subway system,  and particularly its map. In the mid-1960s, the construction of the Chrystie Street Connection in Chinatown, Manhattan, necessitated a redesign of George Salomon's existing map. The connection unified the BMT and IND divisions, rendering obsolete the three-colour network maps that had been in use since the 1930s. In 1964, the Transit Authority launched a competition for a new map design, which D'Adamo won. His groundbreaking proposal introduced, for the first time, distinct colours assigned to individual subway lines, replacing the outdated three-colour scheme tied to the original operating companies (IRT, BMT, IND). The map was officially issued in 1967 to coincide with the opening of the Chrystie Street Connection. D'Adamo's expertise later proved instrumental in the creation of Massimo Vignelli's iconic 1972 subway map; as Head of the Office of Inspection and Review at the MTA, he collaborated with Unimark International, offering critical input that helped shape Vignelli's modernist design.