Faerie lore:
The Fair folk are unable to exist on the island Manhattan due to the steel used in skyscrapers, the steel in the bridges that cross the rivers to enter the island and the subways underground whose rails create invisible barriers against the Fae. Additionally Soho was built as a safe haven from Fae in the 1870s with the cast iron facades that keep them from entering the buildings. This is all intentional as the NYPD has been waging a secret war on the Fae for nearly 70 years
Is that why the other boroughs are the way they are?
The Fae never go to Staten Island as they find it to be a bore
So the reduction of well-kept rails in favor of *asphalt* highways is Fae strategy to un-iron the US?
Actually no, the Fae love the earth, they are beings of nature and as a result are supporters of rail, they just want it to be built elevated so they can walk under it instead of being built at grade or underground where they cannot pass.