City Hall station (BMT Broadway Line)

City Hall   X28
Structure	Underground
Levels	2 (lower level not for passenger service)
Platforms	2 island platforms (1 on upper level, 1 on lower level)
Tracks	5 (2 on upper level, 3 on lower level)
Other information
Opened	January 5, 1918; 106 years ago (1918-01-05)[2]
Opposite- direction transfer	Yes
Traffic
2023	1,138,401[3]  20.5%
Rank	272 out of 423[3]
Services Preceding station New York City Subway Following station Canal Street N  ​R  ​W  via Lexington Avenue–59th Street Cortlandt Street N  ​R  ​W  via Whitehall Street–South Ferry
Location Show map of New York City Subway Show map of New York City Show map of New York
Track layout Legend 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 weekdays during the day Stops late nights only

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.

History

The

Station layout

G	Street level	Exit/entrance
B1 Upper platforms	Northbound	← toward Forest Hills–71st Avenue (Canal Street) ← toward Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard weekdays (Canal Street) ← toward Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard late nights (Canal Street)
	Island platform
	Fare control, station agent, stairways to lower level
	Island platform
	Southbound	→ toward Bay Ridge–95th Street (Cortlandt Street) → → toward Whitehall Street–South Ferry weekdays (Cortlandt Street)→ → 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

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

The

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

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

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]

v t e Lower Manhattan transit
Legend
Franklin Street Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall ​ ( ) ​​ Chambers Street Chambers Street ​ ​ ( ) Chambers Street–WTC City Hall ​ ​ Park Place WTC Cortlandt Cortlandt Street ​ (   NWK ) World Trade Center Fulton Street ​​​​​​​ Rector Street Rector Street ​ ​ Wall Street Wall Street ​ ​ Bowling Green Broad Street ( ​) ( ) South Ferry/Whitehall Street Whitehall Terminal South Ferry loops

In popular culture

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.

In Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (film) one of the final scenes is located in the 1920‘s subway station.

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. ^ ^{a b} "Annual Subway Ridership (2018–2023)". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
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. ^
   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. ISBN 978-0-8232-1618-5
   .
8. ISSN 0362-4331
   . Retrieved November 5, 2016.
9. ISSN 0362-4331
   . Retrieved April 28, 2023.
10. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved May 12, 2023.
11. ProQuest 1113704092
    .
12. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived
    from the original on July 19, 2021. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
13. ProQuest 1243059209
    .
14. ^ http://images.nycsubway.org/i1000/img_1228.jpg ^{[bare URL image file]}
15. OCLC 1056711733
    .
16. ^ "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Lower Manhattan" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2015. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
17. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved January 23, 2019.
18. ^ ^{a b} 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. 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.
  OCLC 31901471
  .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to City Hall (BMT Broadway Line).

• nycsubway.org – BMT Broadway Subway: City Hall
• Station Reporter — N Train
• Station Reporter — R Train
• Abandoned Stations — City Hall (BMT) lower level
• Broadway and Murray Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Broadway and Warren Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Platform from Google Maps Street View