City Hall station (BMT Broadway Line)

The City Hall station is a local station on the BMT Broadway Line of the New York City Subway in Tribeca and Civic Center, Manhattan. It is served by the R train all times except late nights, when the N train takes over service. The W train serves this station on weekdays only.

Not to be confused with City Hall station (IRT Lexington Avenue Line).

 City Hall
 "R" train​"W" train
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
View from the northbound side of the platform towards the south end.
Station statistics
AddressMurray Street & Broadway
New York, NY 10007
BoroughManhattan
LocaleCivic Center, Tribeca
Coordinates40.71324°N 74.007082°W / 40.71324; -74.007082
DivisionB (BMT)[1]
Line   BMT Broadway Line
Services   N late nights (late nights)
​   R all except late nights (all except late nights)
​   W weekdays only (weekdays only)
TransitBus transport NYCT Bus: M9, M22, M55, M103, X27, X28
StructureUnderground
Levels2 (lower level not for passenger service)
Platforms2 island platforms (1 on upper level, 1 on lower level)
Tracks5 (2 on upper level, 3 on lower level)
Other information
OpenedJanuary 5, 1918 (1918-01-05)[2]
Opposite-
direction
transfer		Yes
Traffic
20191,710,380[3] Decrease 10.9%
Rank273 out of 424[3]
Services
Preceding station New York City Subway New York City Subway Following station
Canal Street
N late nights ​R all except late nights ​W weekdays only
via Lexington Avenue–59th Street
 Cortlandt Street
N late nights ​R all except late nights ​W weekdays only
via Whitehall Street–South Ferry
Location
City Hall station (BMT Broadway Line) is located in New York City Subway
City Hall station (BMT Broadway Line)
City Hall station (BMT Broadway Line) is located in New York City
City Hall station (BMT Broadway Line)
City Hall station (BMT Broadway Line) is located in New York
City Hall station (BMT Broadway Line)
Track layout

to Canal Street
Superimposed tracks
(Left tracks over right)
to Cortlandt Street
Lower level tracks
Lower unpowered tracks
Upper level tracks
Street map

Station service legend
Symbol Description
Stops all times except late nights Stops all times except late nights
Stops weekdays during the day Stops weekdays during the day
Stops late nights only Stops late nights only

History

The Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company's, later Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT)'s, Broadway Line was built as four tracks south to City Hall, where the local tracks were to terminate on the upper level, and the express tracks were to use the lower level, curving through Vesey Street into Church Street. However, the final plan had the express tracks splitting at Canal Street and passing under the northbound local track to the Manhattan Bridge. The tracks via Canal Street and the Manhattan Bridge were supposed to be a crosstown line continuing further west, but the Broadway Line connection allowed through operation from the BMT Fourth Avenue Line in Brooklyn to go into operation more than a year earlier than would otherwise have been possible.[4] As such, the express tracks north of Canal Street were connected to the Manhattan Bridge instead.[5] The tunnel south of City Hall was rebuilt to bring the upper local tracks down to the lower level north of Vesey Street, and the lower level at City Hall was never used for passenger service, instead being used for train storage.[5][6][7]

The Broadway Line, initially comprising a short section north of Canal Street, was extended south to Rector Street on January 5, 1918, including the City Hall station. Local service henceforth ran between Times Square and Rector Street.[8] The station's platforms originally could only fit six 67-foot-long (20 m) cars. In 1926, the New York City Board of Transportation received bids for the lengthening of platforms at nine stations on the Broadway Line, including the City Hall station, to accommodate eight-car trains. Edwards & Flood submitted a low bid of $101,775 for the project.[9] The platform-lengthening project was completed in 1927, bringing the length of the platforms to 535 feet (163 m).[10][11] The city government took over the BMT's operations on June 1, 1940.[12][13]

Station layout
G Street level Exit/entrance
B1
Upper platforms		 Northbound ← "R" train toward Forest Hills–71st Avenue (Canal Street)
← "W" train toward Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard weekdays (Canal Street)
← "N" train toward Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard late nights (Canal Street)
Island platform
Fare control, station agent, stairways to lower level
Island platform
Southbound → "R" train toward Bay Ridge–95th Street (Cortlandt Street) →
→ "W" train toward Whitehall Street–South Ferry weekdays (Cortlandt Street)→
→ "N" train toward Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue late nights (Cortlandt Street) →
B2 Mezzanine Storage area
B3
Lower platforms		 Track B4 → No passenger service
Uncompleted island platform, not in service
Track BM → No passenger service
Island platform, not in service
Track B3 → No passenger service

Upper level
The south end of the platform

There are two tracks and a very wide island platform. The northbound track is located under City Hall Park, while the southbound track is under the east side of Broadway.

There is an active tower at the north end, with a window that lets any waiting passengers observe Transit Authority goings-on. The platform tapers off toward the southern end, where the northbound and southbound portions join. The station's configuration, and the wide-open staircases to the sky above, is responsible for another distinguishing feature: the number of birds that fly into and around the station.

This station was overhauled in the late 1970s, changing the station's structure and overall appearance. It replaced the original wall tiles, old signs, and incandescent lighting with more modern wall tiles, signs and fluorescent lights, as well as fixing staircases and platform edges.

Before the new City Hall master tower was built, there was a provision at the north end of the upper level for a diamond crossover (which has existed since the construction of this station, when the upper level platform was to be a terminal) which is now occupied by a relay room. At the south end of the station, the uptown track curves away from the wall; this dates from the original construction when the upper level was converted from a terminal, with presumably a straight line, to a through station with a single two-track tunnel.[14]

Immediately south of this station, the line utilizes a sharp reverse curve, first turning west under Vesey Street, then turning south under Church Street toward Cortlandt Street.[15]

Exits
The entrance at Murray Street

The fare control area is located in the center of the platform and fenced off from the rest of the platform area, has exits on either end. At the north end, two exits lead to the east side of Broadway at Warren Street, and at the south end, one exit leads to the east side of Broadway at Murray Street. Passengers enter from the sidewalk adjacent to City Hall Park directly onto the wide island platform on the upper level.[16]

An exit at the south end of the platform led to the Woolworth Building, but this was closed in 1982 due to concerns over crime.[17]

Lower level
Staircase leading to the lower level platform

The City Hall station is a bi-level station, with an unused two-island platform, three-track lower level reachable from a single staircase from about the center of the in-use upper platform. The staircase leads to the western platform; the eastern platform was never finished and does not have a usable stairway. The middle track in the lower level station was to be used for short turns from either direction depending on the service pattern, with a layout much like that at Whitehall Street–South Ferry station further south.[18]

It was initially intended that the local trains were to terminate on the upper level, while the express trains using the lower level would continue on through lower Manhattan and then through the Montague Street Tunnel. However, plans were changed before construction ended. As a result, the lower level of the station is unused (except for non-rush hour storage of trains), as are the stub-end center express tracks at Canal Street on its upper level (the connections to which were instead "temporarily" rerouted to the Manhattan Bridge for service across that bridge). Another effect of this change is that the southern end of the upper level station slopes downward. This is a result of platform lengthening and rerouting the upper level downward toward the south, rather than letting the lower level stay at the same elevation and continue south through lower Manhattan. The lower level floor continues south of the station until it disappears under the increasingly low ceiling under the ramps carrying the upper level downgrade.[19] The lower level was never used for passenger service or even finished with tiles and signage. Only the western platform was fully completed; the shorter eastern platform was never finished.[18]

The lower level is only long enough to store 480-foot-long (150 m) 8-car trains, with cars of 60 feet (18 m) lengths, like the platforms in the BMT Eastern Division. Only two of the three tracks are usable: the westernmost and the center tracks, which are used to store trains. The easternmost track on the lower level is unusable as it has no third rail; it was removed at an unknown date.[20]

Lower Manhattan transit
"1" train Franklin Street
Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall "4" train​"5" train ( "6" train)
"1" train​"2" train​"3" train Chambers Street
Chambers Street "J" train​"Z" train
"A" train​"C" train ( "E" train) Chambers Street–WTC
City Hall "R" train​"W" train
"2" train​"3" train Park Place
"1" train WTC Cortlandt
Cortlandt Street "R" train​"W" train
(  HOB   NWK ) World Trade Center
Fulton Street "2" train​"3" train​"4" train​"5" train​"A" train​"C" train​"J" train​"Z" train
"1" train Rector Street
Rector Street "R" train​"W" train
"4" train​"5" train Wall Street
Wall Street "2" train​"3" train
"4" train​"5" train Bowling Green
Broad Street ( "J" train​"Z" train)
"R" train ( "1" train "W" train) South Ferry/Whitehall Street
Whitehall Terminal
South Ferry loops

In Chuck Hogan and Guillermo del Toro's novel The Strain, it is by trekking through the disused City Hall station's lower levels that Dr. Goodweather, Setrakian and Fet find their way towards the Master's lair.[21] Though not mentioned by name, the station also appears in episode 11 of the TV series' first season.

References
  1. "Glossary". Second Avenue Subway Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) (PDF). Vol. 1. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. March 4, 2003. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 26, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  2. The New York Times, Open New Subway to Times Square, January 6, 1918
  3. "Facts and Figures: Annual Subway Ridership 2014–2019". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  4. Report of the Public Service Commission for the First District of the State of New York. The Public Service Commission for the First District of the State of New York. 1918. p. 74.
  5. "B.R.T. Plan Cuts Into Express Runs; Trains To and From Brooklyn Interrupt Service at 59th and Canal Streets". The New York Times. December 10, 1913. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  6. Report of the Public Service Commission of The First District of the State Of New York For The Year Ending December 31, 1915. New York State Public Service Commission. January 1, 1916.
  7. Cudahy, Brian J. (January 1, 1995). Under the Sidewalks of New York: The Story of the Greatest Subway System in the World. Fordham University Press. p. 132. ISBN 978-0-8232-1618-5.
  8. "Open New Subway To Times Square; Brooklyn Directly Connected with Wholesale and Shopping Districts of New York. Nickel Zone Is Extended. First Train in Broadway Tube Makes Run from Rector Street in 17 Minutes. Cost About $20,000,000 Rapid Transit from Downtown to Hotel and Theatre Sections Expected to Affect Surface Lines. Increases Five-Cent Zone. First Trip to Times Square. Benefits to Brooklyn" (PDF). The New York Times. January 6, 1918. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
  9. "Bids for B.M.T. Stations; Platforms South of Fourteenth Street to Be Lengthened". The New York Times. July 8, 1926. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  10. "B.M.T. to Operate Eight-car Trains; Platforms in Forty Stations Are Lengthened, Increasing Capacity 33 1-3%". The New York Times. August 2, 1927. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  11. "B. M, T. Station Lengthening Is Nearly Finished: 76 Platforms Are Extended 3,186 Feet to Make Room for 126.000 Additional Passengers in Rush Hours City Carried Out Work I.R.T. Changes Planned, but That Company Refuses to Pay Its Share of Costs". New-York Tribune. August 2, 1927. p. 32. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1113704092.
  12. "B.M.T. Lines Pass to City Ownership; $175,000,000 Deal Completed at City Hall Ceremony-- Mayor 'Motorman No. 1'". The New York Times. June 2, 1940. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 19, 2021. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  13. "City Takes Over B. M. T. System; Mayor Skippers Midnight Train". New York Herald Tribune. June 2, 1940. p. 1. ProQuest 1243059209.
  14. http://images.nycsubway.org/i1000/img_1228.jpg
  15. Dougherty, Peter (2020). Tracks of the New York City Subway 2020 (16th ed.). Dougherty. OCLC 1056711733.
  16. "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Lower Manhattan" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2015. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  17. Buder, Leonard (June 26, 1983). "Coping with Crime in Office Buildings". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  18. Joseph Brennan, Abandoned Stations: City Hall (BMT) lower level, accessed March 21, 2007
  19. "Tomb of the Unnamed + Repent Tunnel". June 16, 2014.
  20. "Showing Image 31845".
  21. Chuck Hogan & Guillermo del Toro, The Strain. ISBN 006-1-5582-3-0. 2009, pp. 360—385

Further reading
  • Stookey, Lee (1994). Subway ceramics : a history and iconography of mosaic and bas relief signs and plaques in the New York City subway system. Brattleboro, Vt: L. Stookey. ISBN 978-0-9635486-1-0. OCLC 31901471.
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