These subway cars are on their way to become an artificial reef. (Photo: Steven Fine [CC BY-SA 4.0]/Wikimedia Commons) Hide Caption 1 of 5 The reef program began in 2001, at a time the MTA had an unusually large number of surplus cars. In "Redbird Reef," a fish swims through a subway car reef in the Atlantic Ocean. One concern: an article in the NYT says, “The reef, named after New York City’s famous Redbird subway cars, now supports more than 10,000 angler trips annually, up from fewer than 300 in 1997. New York photographer, Stephen Mallon, has been able to capture the process of transforming the city's subway cars into artificial coral reefs … For many, subway cars are a means of transportation, but for some fish, subway cars are home.. In fact, since 2001, over 2,500 New York subway cars have been dropped into the ocean; these cars form 15 underwater reefs that support the life of fish and crustaceans. Subway cars deployed at the Atlantic City Reef and other reefs along the East Coast are collapsing into a pile of rubble, after mere months in the water, and it likely is because the connections - such as rivets and spot welding, engineered for subway cars to haul commuters down a track - cannot hold up in a harsh marine environment. Photo Credit: Robert Martore/Courtesy of South Carolina Department of Natural Resources In 2001, the MTA launched a decade-long initiative to repurpose old, unused subway cars into coral reefs. Ever wonder where New York City's old subway cars go to die? Although dumping waste and scrap materials into the oceans is almost always thought of as a bad thing, in this situation it seems to have been beneficial for ocean life. The carriages were stripped of all toxic materials before they were dumped. Retired subway cars being transported to the ocean, where they will be dropped into the water to create an artificial reef In 2001, the New York City Transit Authority started disposing of retired subway cars by dumping them at sea to create artificial reefs , with the intention of promoting marine life. New York has 12 existing artificial reef sites, each giving new life to old equipment, like scraps from the old Tappan Zee Bridge, and in this case rail cars. Since 2001, retired subway cars have been dumped into the Atlantic Ocean -- known as the Redbird Reef -- … Photographer Stephen Mallon captured pictures of disused subway cars being loaded up onto a barge and thrown into the Atlantic Ocean to make an artificial coral reef.