Station: City Hall (Broadway Line)
From nycsubway.org
| BMT Broadway Line |
Overview
Opened: 4/14/1918
Next up is City Hall, a station with one large, irregularly shaped island platform. The fare control is in the center of the platform, leaving the ends open for crossing over between directions. An active tower is at the north end. The trackside walls feature a mosaic rendering of the City Hall cupola.
Built along with the rest of the Dual Contract lines and opened in 1918, the active platform at City Hall Station was originally designed to be a stub terminal for local trains, following the pattern in which almost all of the Manhattan subway lines were built. Local trains were to terminate inside the borough while express trains would diverge and cross the river into Brooklyn. The IND 8th Avenue (locals terminate at World Trade Center), the IRT East Side (locals terminate at Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall), and IRT West Side (locals terminate at South Ferry) lines all follow this pattern, as does the IND Fulton Street line in Brooklyn as it was initially operated (locals terminated at Court Street).
To accommodate the express trains, therefore, City Hall station was designed with another set of tracks and platforms on a lower level. The plan was that the Brooklyn-bound express trains from upper Manhattan (and the Bronx, had a northern extension of the Broadway Subway been built) were to use the lower level, connecting to the subway running under Church Street and Trinity Place, and then to Brooklyn via the Montague Street Tunnel (as the line is operated today).
Plans were changed when it was decided to run subway trains over the Manhattan Bridge. The express trains were diverted from Broadway under Canal Street leaving only the local trains running south under Broadway to City Hall. The upper level platform was then converted into a through platform, which explains part of the irregular shape of the island platform on the upper level. The southbound side of the platform is straight as an arrow, and the northbound side is curved at the south end. But, the trackside wall on the northbound side is straight; there is a space between the wall and the track itself at the south end of the northbound side of the station. Immediately south of the station the tracks ramp down to meet the lower level grade to continue south along Vesey Street and into Church Street. The local tracks on the upper local sit above the outer tracks on the lower level. The columns on the platform delineate the tracks and platforms under them.
That change in plans rendered the lower level at City Hall unnecessary, and in fact, no service has ever been operated on the lower level. The fact that the Broadway line was never extended northward contributed to the fact that the lower level has never been used- there is simply not enough traffic on this line to support two river crossings and a Manhattan terminal. This may some day change if the BMT Broadway line is ever permanently served by either the 63rd Street tunnel or the 2nd Avenue subway.
The lower level was never even finished; there are no wall tiles on the lower level and the steel beamwork has a decidedly rough look to it. The platforms are narrow, and only the west one has a finished top and stairways to the upper level platforms. Stairways on the eastern side platform don't appear to ever have been "punched through" the floor on the upper level.
The lower level tracks are used for train storage; north of City Hall the lower and upper level tracks rise into a typical four-track express/local configuration but the "express tracks" are really just tail tracks; there are crossovers just prior to entering Canal Street; the center tracks themselves dead end at concrete bumper blocks about 2/3rds of the way into Canal Street station.
Track Map of the BMT Broadway Line in the City Hall area.
A persistant rumor concerns a plaque that might have been installed at City Hall honoring Beach's pneumatic subway. The New York Times even reported on its placement. No such plaque exists here or anywhere else in the subway system. It is unclear whether it was ever placed at all.
Photo Gallery - Upper Level
 Image 1224 (125k, 1044x788) Photo by: David Pirmann Location: City Hall |
 Image 1226 (121k, 1044x788) Photo by: David Pirmann Location: City Hall |
 Image 1227 (155k, 1044x714) Photo by: David Pirmann Location: City Hall |
 Image 31974 (138k, 820x620) Photo by: Richard Panse Location: City Hall |
 Image 31977 (91k, 820x620) Photo by: Richard Panse Location: City Hall |
 Image 31978 (104k, 820x620) Photo by: Richard Panse Location: City Hall |
 Image 71792 (200k, 1044x788) Photo by: Leonard Wilson Location: City Hall |
 Image 85732 (252k, 1044x788) Photo by: Leonard Wilson Location: City Hall |
 Image 85733 (251k, 1044x788) Photo by: Leonard Wilson Location: City Hall |
 Image 87101 (259k, 1044x791) Photo by: Aliandro Brathwaite Location: City Hall |
 Image 107218 (173k, 1044x700) Photo by: Zach Summer Location: City Hall |
 Image 108227 (256k, 788x1044) Photo by: Roberto C. Tobar Location: City Hall |
 Image 112856 (244k, 1044x700) Photo by: Zach Summer Location: City Hall |
 Image 131914 (357k, 1044x867) Photo by: Kevin Wong Location: City Hall |
 Image 136869 (284k, 1024x687) Photo by: Wilfredo Castillo Location: City Hall |
More Images: 1-31
Photo Gallery - Lower Level
 Image 1260 (131k, 1008x672) Photo by: Peter Dougherty Location: City Hall Lower Level |
 Image 1264 (124k, 1008x672) Photo by: Peter Dougherty Location: City Hall Lower Level |
 Image 1265 (147k, 1008x672) Photo by: Peter Dougherty Location: City Hall Lower Level |
 Image 1267 (126k, 1008x672) Photo by: Peter Dougherty Location: City Hall Lower Level |
 Image 31837 (140k, 701x1044) Photo by: David Pirmann Location: City Hall Lower Level |
 Image 31838 (152k, 1044x701) Photo by: David Pirmann Location: City Hall Lower Level |
 Image 31840 (154k, 1044x701) Photo by: David Pirmann Location: City Hall Lower Level |
 Image 31843 (131k, 701x1044) Photo by: David Pirmann Location: City Hall Lower Level |
 Image 31844 (170k, 1044x701) Photo by: David Pirmann Location: City Hall Lower Level |
 Image 31848 (134k, 701x1044) Photo by: David Pirmann Location: City Hall Lower Level |
 Image 31851 (147k, 1044x701) Photo by: David Pirmann Location: City Hall Lower Level |
 Image 31856 (127k, 1044x701) Photo by: David Pirmann Location: City Hall Lower Level |
 Image 31857 (149k, 1044x701) Photo by: David Pirmann Location: City Hall Lower Level |
 Image 31973 (119k, 820x620) Photo by: Richard Panse Location: City Hall Lower Level |
 Image 35690 (157k, 1044x708) Photo by: George Cuhaj Location: City Hall Lower Level |
More Images: 1-34