Empire City Subway

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Empire City Subway Company, Ltd. <tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align:center; padding:16px 0 16px 0;">Image:Ecs.gif</td></tr>
Type	Holding of New York Telephone
Founded	1891
Headquarters	Image:Flag of the United States.svg New York, NY, USA <tr><th style="text-align:right; padding-right:0.75em;">Area served</th><td>New York, NY</td></tr><tr><th style="text-align:right; padding-right:0.75em;">Industry</th><td>Telecommunications</td></tr><tr><th style="text-align:right; padding-right:0.75em;">Products</th><td>Underground Conduits</td></tr><tr><th style="text-align:right; padding-right:0.75em;">Parent</th><td>New York Telephone</td></tr><tr><th style="text-align:right; padding-right:0.75em;">Website</th><td>www.empirecitysubway.com</td></tr>

Empire City Subway is a company in New York City which is responsible for maintaining underground conduits in Manhattan and The Bronx, and the manholes by which those conduits are accessed. The company was formed in 1891 as part of a plan for common utility ducts to consolidate all utilities underground. Incompatibility among the utilities brought the scheme to naught, so the company now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Verizon New York Telephone under a franchise from the city.

Manholes owned by Empire City Subway can be easily recognized by the abbreviation ECS (or ECS Co. LIM) cast into the metal covers.