Astor Place station
Astor Place M3, M8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Structure | Underground | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Platforms | 2 side platforms | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tracks | 4 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Opened | October 27, 1904[2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Opposite- direction transfer | No | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Former/other names | Astor Place–Cooper Union Cooper Union | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Traffic | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2023 | 3,717,074[3] ![]() | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rank | 84 out of 423[3] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Astor Place Subway Station (IRT) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
New York City Landmark No. 1096 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
MPS | New York City Subway System MPS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NRHP reference No. | 04001013[4] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NYCL No. | 1096 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Significant dates | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Added to NRHP | September 17, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Designated NYCL | October 23, 1979[5] |
The Astor Place station, also called Astor Place–Cooper Union on signs, is a local station on the
The Astor Place station was constructed for the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) as part of the city's first subway line, which was approved in 1900. Construction of the line segment that includes the Astor Place station started on September 12 of the same year. The station opened on October 27, 1904, as one of the original 28 stations of the New York City Subway. The station's platforms were lengthened in the late 1950s, and the station was renovated in the mid-1980s.
The Astor Place station contains two
History
Construction and opening
Planning for a subway line in New York City dates to 1864.[6]: 21 However, development of what would become the city's first subway line did not start until 1894, when the New York State Legislature passed the Rapid Transit Act.[6]: 139–140 The subway plans were drawn up by a team of engineers led by William Barclay Parsons, the Rapid Transit Commission's chief engineer. It called for a subway line from New York City Hall in lower Manhattan to the Upper West Side, where two branches would lead north into the Bronx.[5]: 3 A plan was formally adopted in 1897,[6]: 148 and all legal conflicts concerning the route alignment were resolved near the end of 1899.[6]: 161 The Rapid Transit Construction Company, organized by John B. McDonald and funded by August Belmont Jr., signed the initial Contract 1 with the Rapid Transit Commission in February 1900,[7] in which it would construct the subway and maintain a 50-year operating lease from the opening of the line.[6]: 165 In 1901, the firm of Heins & LaFarge was hired to design the underground stations.[5]: 4 Belmont incorporated the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) in April 1902 to operate the subway.[6]: 182
The Astor Place station was constructed as part of the route segment from
The Astor Place station opened on October 27, 1904, as one of the original 28 stations of the New York City Subway from
Service changes and station renovations
1900s to 1930s

Plans for the
To address overcrowding, in 1909, the
In December 1922, the Transit Commission approved a $3 million project to lengthen platforms at 14 local stations along the original IRT line, including Astor Place and seven other stations on the Lexington Avenue Line. Platform lengths at these stations would be increased from 225 to 436 feet (69 to 133 m).[26][27] The commission postponed the platform-lengthening project in September 1923, at which point the cost had risen to $5.6 million.[28][29]
1940s to 1960s
The city government took over the IRT's operations on June 12, 1940.[30][31] After the closure of the Wanamaker's department store in 1954, the northern building of the two-building complex was sold off and demolished. In July 1956, a fire gutted the building while it was being destroyed.[32] When the fire was being extinguished, some water pooled in the basement and into a subterranean river parallel to the tracks,[33][34] a likely tributary of Minetta Creek.[35] In the aftermath, the Astor Place station was flooded, causing service to be rerouted for one week.[35][36] The flood undermined the existing track bed, which was composed of a foot of concrete above a layer of earth. As a result, 275 yards (251 m) of new concrete track beds had to be installed.[37] The repairs cost roughly $250,000.[36]
In November 1959, the Warshaw Construction Company received a contract to remove fifteen entrance/exit kiosks on IRT lines, including two at the Astor Place station. This was part of a citywide initiative to remove the kiosks, which obstructed motorists' views of pedestrians.
1970s to present
In 1979, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the space within the boundaries of the original station, excluding expansions made after 1904, as a city landmark.[5] The station was designated along with eleven others on the original IRT.[5][41] The original interiors were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.[4]
The
By 1982, the Astor Place station was planned to be renovated for $2.25 million.
The station's renovation started in June 1984 and was completed by May 1986.[50] The scope of the project included the restoration of the platform's glazed ceramic beaver plaques; refurbishing the 1950s platform extensions with a design similar to the original station; cleaning the ceiling; and adding new lighting, noise-abatement material, and brown floor tiles.[43]: 82–83 A new piece of porcelain steel artwork by Cooper Union alumnus Milton Glaser was installed and a cast-iron copy of one of the station's original kiosks was built.[43]: 82–83 [50] The MTA rejected Glaser's original proposal to include beaver representations in the artwork because the beavers too closely resembled rats.[43]: 3 Glaser's artwork was installed as a gift, and the kiosk was installed using leftover funding.[52] An underpass between the northbound and southbound platforms was closed and covered up in the 1980s renovation.[4]: 4 Sound-deadening panels were also installed in the station.[53] Following the completion of the project, architectural writer Paul Goldberger wrote that the Astor Place station's "value as architecture lies not in any generous space it offers, but in a series of pleasing details".[54]
Station layout
Ground | Street level | Entrances/exits |
Platform level | Side platform | |
Northbound local | ← ![]() ![]() ← ![]() | |
Northbound express | ← ![]() ![]() | |
Southbound express | ![]() ![]() | |
Southbound local | ![]() ![]() ![]() | |
Side platform |
Like other local stations, Astor Place has four tracks and two
Design
As with other stations built as part of the original IRT, the station was constructed using a
The
The walls in this station contain modern enamel artwork. The walls along the platforms near the fare control areas consist of a brick
The northbound platform contains doorways that formerly led to men's and women's restrooms, with corresponding marble lintels. A news and candy stand was in the former women's restroom, but it has been closed and walled off as of 2021. North of fare control is a rounded seating area.[4]: 6 The northbound platform was used as a cover image of Billy Joel's 1976 album Turnstiles.[64]
On the southbound side, the station has an entrance and windows into a store. The heavy brick-faced square columns on the southbound platform support the store above.
Also present on the southbound side is a sealed doorway with a marble lintel reading "Clinton Hall". This doorway once led to the New York Mercantile Library in the former Astor Opera House.[68][4]: 4–5
Exits
The station has one street entrance in each direction. The southbound platform's entrance is at the southwest corner of Astor Place and Lafayette Street.[69] The street staircase on the southbound side contains modern steel railings like those seen at most New York City Subway stations.[4]: 6
The northbound platform's entrance is in the traffic island bounded by Fourth Avenue, Lafayette Street, and Eighth Street.[69] Unlike the southbound entrance, the northbound entrance contains a highly decorative entrance, reminiscent of an entry kiosk seen on the original IRT.[4]: 7 The structure is an imitation of the IRT's original entrance and exit kiosks, extremely ornate structures made of cast iron and glass. The IRT kiosks were inspired by those on the Budapest Metro, which themselves were inspired by ornate summer houses called "kushks".[70]: 443 [71]: 66–67 The Astor Place entrance is a reproduction installed in the 1980s and was made at the same factory as the originals.[4]: 7 [51] The kiosk is 13 feet (4.0 m) wide, 22 feet (6.7 m) long, and 16 feet (4.9 m) tall.[51] The replica was largely based from photographs by renovating architect Rolf Ohlhausen.[43]: 81 Like the original entrance kiosks,[59]: 13 it has a domed roof with cast-iron shingles.[4]: 7 [51] Unlike the originals, the roof of the kiosk have clear tempered glass to allow natural light, while the original kiosks had translucent glass with chicken wire, which tended to become dirty over time. Additionally, the decorative pieces of the new kiosk were molded from fragments of the originals, but the new kiosk was made of lighter-weight material.[43]: 81
Points of interest
Several sites of historical and cultural importance are near the station, such as New York University and Cooper Union.[72] The Alamo, a cube sculpture in the traffic island above the northbound platform, is a popular visitor attraction in the area.[73] Other points of interest include:
- McSorley's Old Ale House[72]
- Cooper Union New Academic Building[72]
- Cooper Square Hotel[72]
- The Public Theater (formerly the Astor Library)[72]
- Astor Place Theatre (part of Colonnade Row; occupied by Blue Man Group)[72]
- Hamilton Fish House[72]
The Eighth Street–New York University station on the BMT Broadway Line is one block west of the station.[72]
References
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Wanamaker's Fire : The scene on the streets as firemen and firetrucks battle the 25-hour long blaze at the old Wanamaker's Department Store.
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- )
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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. OCLC 31901471.
External links
- nycsubway.org – IRT East Side Line: Astor Place
- nycsubway.org — Untitled Artwork by Milton Glaser (1986)
- Station Reporter — 6 Train
- Forgotten NY: Subways and Trains — Original 28 IRT subway stations
- MTA's Arts For Transit — Astor Place (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)
- Fourth Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View
- Lafayette Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
- Platforms from Google Maps Street View
- Lobby and Kmart entrance from Google Maps Street View