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City Hall (IRT East Side Line)

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"City Hall Subway Station: This line is operated by the Interborough Rapid Transit Co., which runs two tracks of local and two tracks of express trains.Total length of route, 25.7 miles, having 81.9 miles of tracks." (Early Postcard)

City Hall Station · Opened 10/27/1904 · Closed 12/31/1945

City Hall Station, situated on a loop of track in front of City Hall, was the original southern terminal of the Interborough Rapid Transit subway. The site of the 1900 groundbreaking, this station was designed to be the showpiece of the new subway. Unusually elegant in architectural style, it is unique among the original IRT stations. The platform and mezzanine feature Guastavino arches and skylights, colored glass tilework, and brass chandeliers.

The curved platform is about 400' feet long, which is the length of a five car IRT train minus the front and rear doors as was the IRT's standard design for a local station when it was constructed. In the center of the platform is an archway over stairs leading to the mezzanine. On each side of the stairway, there is a glass tile "City Hall" sign, and a third is on the archway above the stairs. No other signs like these were placed in the other IRT. stations of the era; the lettering is quite unique, as is the deep blue and tan glass tiling. The arched ceiling of the platform area has simple brass light fixtures along its length.

When City Hall Station opened, plaques were hung on the track-side wall commemorating the Interborough Rapid Transit company and honoring the Rapid Transit Subway Construction Co.. The plaques listed the directors, engineers, and financiers, including August Belmont, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and John D. McDonald. These plaques were removed when the station was closed, and relocated to the Brooklyn Bridge station, where they hung near a token booth until 1995. As of early 1996, the plaques are back in their original positions on the trackside wall. Contrary to popular rumor, there was no plaque here honoring Alfred Ely Beach's early pneumatic subway.

The mezzanine featured a wooden ticket booth and two stairways to the street. The ticket booth is long gone. The complex green, tan, and white tiling pattern on the ceiling meets in the four corners of the vault over the mezzanine.

City Hall Station opened along with the rest of the Interborough's first subway line on October 27, 1904. It was immediately clear that expansion of the subway system would be necessary and additional lines were built. But ever-increasing ridership eventually required the Interborough's five-car local stations to be lengthened to accommodate longer trains, and so the IRT underwent an extensive program of station lengthening in the 1940s and early 1950s.

City Hall, due to its architecture and its being situated on a tight curve, was deemed impractical for lengthening. The new longer trains had center doors on each car, and at City Hall's tight curve, it was dangerous to open them. It was decided to abandon the station in favor of the nearby Brooklyn Bridge station, and so City Hall was closed to passenger service on December 31, 1945. The street entrances were sealed and the skylights covered over.

City Hall Station was never really an important one in terms of passenger use even when it was open; the nearby Brooklyn Bridge station was heavily used as it served both local and express trains, and the Brooklyn Bridge streetcar terminal was above.

While the station may be closed, and very few straphangers have actually seen it, the track on which City Hall Station is located is not abandoned. The #6 trains still pass through it on their way northbound, reversing direction using the loop for the journey back to the Bronx. In fact, to get to City Hall station, one must ride on an out-of-service #6 train. To get out, the motorman would key open a a single end door to allow visitors to step carefully out onto the platform. First-time visitors are awe-struck at the station's huge glass and brick arches and tiling. From time to time the NY Transit Museum has tours of this station, but these have been suspended due to perceived security risks in the area around City Hall.

Plans to open the station as an extension of the New York Transit Museum were mostly shelved due to recent security measures restricting access to the areas around City Hall. (These measures were in fact in place prior to 9/11/2001.) The station was spruced up for the October, 2004 IRT Centennial celebration. The skylights were uncovered, lighting fixed or replaced, and a stairway to the street reopened. A VIP ceremony was held there on October 27, 2004, and for a few hours after, the station was open to the public once again. It has remained closed since.

More information about City Hall Station:

Diagram of City Hall Station
Diagram from the I.R.T. commemorative book The New York Subway: Its Construction and Equipment, shows the relative locations of Brooklyn Bridge and City Hall stations. Another diagram of the Brooklyn Bridge and City Hall loop and station elevations.

PLATFORM VIEWS


(image 95278) (338k, 1044x701)
Country: United States
City: New York
System: New York City Transit
Line: IRT East Side Line
Location: City Hall
Photo by: Fred Guenther
Date: 1/11/2009
Viewed (this week/total): 77 / 12705


(image 95274) (278k, 1044x701)
Country: United States
City: New York
System: New York City Transit
Line: IRT East Side Line
Location: City Hall
Photo by: Fred Guenther
Date: 1/11/2009
Viewed (this week/total): 29 / 5281


(image 95275) (314k, 1044x701)
Country: United States
City: New York
System: New York City Transit
Line: IRT East Side Line
Location: City Hall
Photo by: Fred Guenther
Date: 1/11/2009
Viewed (this week/total): 54 / 8092


(image 95280) (215k, 1044x701)
Country: United States
City: New York
System: New York City Transit
Line: IRT East Side Line
Location: City Hall
Photo by: Fred Guenther
Date: 1/11/2009
Viewed (this week/total): 41 / 7025


(image 95276) (308k, 1044x701)
Country: United States
City: New York
System: New York City Transit
Line: IRT East Side Line
Location: City Hall
Photo by: Fred Guenther
Date: 1/11/2009
Viewed (this week/total): 20 / 3771


(image 95277) (329k, 1044x701)
Country: United States
City: New York
System: New York City Transit
Line: IRT East Side Line
Location: City Hall
Photo by: Fred Guenther
Date: 1/11/2009
Viewed (this week/total): 35 / 5561


(image 83210) (227k, 1044x703)
Country: United States
City: New York
System: New York City Transit
Line: IRT East Side Line
Location: City Hall
Photo by: John-Paul Palescandolo
Date: 3/15/2008
Viewed (this week/total): 52 / 16056


(image 77944) (149k, 1044x596)
Country: United States
City: New York
System: New York City Transit
Line: IRT East Side Line
Location: City Hall
Route: 6
Car: R-142A 7303
Photo by: Danny Molina
Date: 11/19/2007
Viewed (this week/total): 18 / 8882


More Images: 1-8 9-16 17-24 25-32 33-40 41-48 49-56 57-61

MEZZANINE VIEWS


(image 112347) (30k, 640x480)
Country: United States
City: New York
System: New York City Transit
Line: IRT East Side Line
Location: City Hall
Photo by: David Blair
Date: 6/19/2010
Notes: Stairs to street.
Viewed (this week/total): 16 / 265


(image 112349) (39k, 640x480)
Country: United States
City: New York
System: New York City Transit
Line: IRT East Side Line
Location: City Hall
Photo by: David Blair
Date: 6/19/2010
Notes: Stairs to street.
Viewed (this week/total): 14 / 281


(image 112344) (50k, 640x480)
Country: United States
City: New York
System: New York City Transit
Line: IRT East Side Line
Location: City Hall
Photo by: David Blair
Date: 6/19/2010
Notes: Stairs to street.
Viewed (this week/total): 10 / 259


(image 112348) (51k, 640x480)
Country: United States
City: New York
System: New York City Transit
Line: IRT East Side Line
Location: City Hall
Photo by: David Blair
Date: 6/19/2010
Notes: Stairs to street.
Viewed (this week/total): 17 / 290


(image 112345) (39k, 640x480)
Country: United States
City: New York
System: New York City Transit
Line: IRT East Side Line
Location: City Hall
Photo by: David Blair
Date: 6/19/2010
Notes: Stairs to street.
Viewed (this week/total): 26 / 363


(image 112346) (27k, 640x480)
Country: United States
City: New York
System: New York City Transit
Line: IRT East Side Line
Location: City Hall
Photo by: David Blair
Date: 6/19/2010
Notes: Stairs to street.
Viewed (this week/total): 16 / 225


(image 95279) (308k, 1044x701)
Country: United States
City: New York
System: New York City Transit
Line: IRT East Side Line
Location: City Hall
Photo by: Fred Guenther
Date: 1/11/2009
Viewed (this week/total): 27 / 3901


(image 59156) (93k, 1044x788)
Country: United States
City: New York
System: New York City Transit
Line: IRT East Side Line
Location: City Hall
Photo by: David Kobayashi
Date: 2/4/2007
Notes: Transit Museum tour.
Viewed (this week/total): 13 / 8911


More Images: 1-8 9-16 17-24 25-27

COMMEMORATION


(image 7575) (220k, 1044x705)
Country: United States
City: New York
System: New York City Transit
Line: IRT East Side Line
Location: City Hall
Photo by: Peter Dougherty
Date: 7/1996
Notes: Rapid Transit Construction Company commemorative plaque
Viewed (this week/total): 4 / 9711


(image 7576) (233k, 1044x695)
Country: United States
City: New York
System: New York City Transit
Line: IRT East Side Line
Location: City Hall
Photo by: Peter Dougherty
Date: 7/1996
Notes: City of New York commemorative plaque
Viewed (this week/total): 6 / 11238


(image 7577) (242k, 1044x696)
Country: United States
City: New York
System: New York City Transit
Line: IRT East Side Line
Location: City Hall
Photo by: David Pirmann
Date: 9/24/1995
Notes: Commemorative plaque on platform floor awaiting re-installation
Viewed (this week/total): 4 / 10563

 

SURFACE VIEWS


(image 34020) (127k, 640x480)
Country: United States
City: New York
System: New York City Transit
Line: IRT East Side Line
Location: City Hall
Photo by: Gonzea Kersting
Date: 10/9/2004
Notes: New entrance railings around City Hall IRT station-- installed for the centennial celebration.
Viewed (this week/total): 34 / 21120


(image 34021) (126k, 640x480)
Country: United States
City: New York
System: New York City Transit
Line: IRT East Side Line
Location: City Hall
Photo by: Gonzea Kersting
Date: 10/9/2004
Notes: New entrance railings around City Hall IRT station-- installed for the centennial celebration.
Viewed (this week/total): 20 / 15167


(image 32208) (306k, 1024x806)
Country: United States
City: New York
System: New York City Transit
Line: IRT East Side Line
Location: City Hall
Photo by: The Independent, Oct. 1904
Date: 1904
Notes: Entrance to Subway, City Hall Park. Post Office Shown at the Left. Copyright, 1904, Pierre P. Pullis
Viewed (this week/total): 17 / 13681


(image 28842) (58k, 481x378)
Country: United States
City: New York
System: New York City Transit
Line: IRT East Side Line
Location: City Hall
Collection of: Charles A. Warren
Notes: View of City Hall and station kiosks
Viewed (this week/total): 18 / 14258


(image 108975) (114k, 650x450)
Country: United States
City: New York
System: New York City Transit
Line: IRT East Side Line
Location: City Hall
Viewed (this week/total): 7 / 625

     

POSTCARD VIEWS


(image 32432) (214k, 825x524)
Country: United States
City: New York
System: New York City Transit
Line: IRT East Side Line
Location: City Hall
Collection of: Ed Levine
Notes: Postcard: "City Hall Subway Station, New York"
Viewed (this week/total): 4 / 7623


(image 32510) (115k, 576x621)
Country: United States
City: New York
System: New York City Transit
Line: IRT East Side Line
Location: City Hall
Collection of: George Cuhaj
Viewed (this week/total): 1 / 4375


(image 32431) (161k, 525x834)
Country: United States
City: New York
System: New York City Transit
Line: IRT East Side Line
Location: City Hall
Collection of: Ed Levine
Notes: Postcard: "City Hall Showing Underground R. R., N. Y., "October 28/04, Speeding through the subway, with love, Cousin John""
Viewed (this week/total): 2 / 4265


(image 32433) (185k, 795x505)
Country: United States
City: New York
System: New York City Transit
Line: IRT East Side Line
Location: City Hall
Collection of: Ed Levine
Notes: Postcard: "City Hall Subway Station, New York"
Viewed (this week/total): 4 / 6548


(image 32434) (132k, 830x522)
Country: United States
City: New York
System: New York City Transit
Line: IRT East Side Line
Location: City Hall
Collection of: Ed Levine
Notes: Postcard: "No. 156-City Hall Ticket Office, the Subway, N. Y."
Viewed (this week/total): 2 / 6002


(image 32422) (145k, 754x507)
Country: United States
City: New York
System: New York City Transit
Line: IRT East Side Line
Location: City Hall
Collection of: Ed Levine
Notes: Postcard: "Entrance to Subway, New York; City Hall Decorated, From Stereograph Copyright 1905 by Underwood & Underwood"
Viewed (this week/total): 1 / 6140


(image 32423) (184k, 507x790)
Country: United States
City: New York
System: New York City Transit
Line: IRT East Side Line
Location: City Hall
Collection of: Ed Levine
Notes: Postcard: "Subway Station under City Hall, New York"
Viewed (this week/total): 4 / 6726


(image 32424) (434k, 657x1024)
Country: United States
City: New York
System: New York City Transit
Line: IRT East Side Line
Location: City Hall
Collection of: Chris Leverett
Notes: Postcard: "City Hall & Subway Station, New York"
Viewed (this week/total): 3 / 5320


More Images: 1-8 9-16 17
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