PHOTOS OF NEW YORK'S SUBWAY SYSTEM: "the most devastating event to the city’s subway system ever"

Tyler Durden summarizes the damage to New York's all-critical subway system:

As everyone who has been to New York City knows, without its underground arteries - the subway system - the city is if not dead, than certainly in an indefinite coma. By that logic, New York will not get out of the critical ward for many days, because hours ago the head of the New York City’s transit system just called Hurricane Sandy "the most devastating event to the city’s subway system ever."

At last check seven subway tunnels under the East River had flooded, as did the Queens Midtown Tunnel—and Metropolitan Transit Authority chairman Joseph Lhota said there is “no firm timeline” for when the system would be back up and running. According to other MTA employees it would take between 14 hours and 4 days just to pump the water out of the subway system. We'll take the over.

Gothamist has additional images:

And don't ask what happened to all of the rats.