City hall subway Station which is currently deserted is a former terminal station at IRT Lexington Avenue line under city hall park. Since this was the first ever subway station in New York, the city hall subway was designed in an elegant European design with chandeliers and beautiful well-lit glasses and tiles.

Rise of city hall subway station

Plans of constructing a subway to connect New York City Hall (lower Manhattan) to the Upper West Side started long before the 1900s, it was until 1901 that the actual ground breaking for the construction was done. A local group of private contractors were therefore hired to spearhead the construction process and on top of it operate the line for 50 years. Although the 3 years of construction was not easy for some sections that had to be excluded due to inadequate funds, the contractors made sure that the station came out beautiful and classy. Elegance and beauty were key as at this time, railways were highly privatized and the better services you provided, you were likely to attract more people. This strategy worked as this was and still remains one of the best subway stations in the whole of the country.

Fall of the subway

City hall subway after 48 years of operation it was closed. This is because larger trains with more cars were not able to navigate through it. At the time (1901) it was constructed for trains with less than 5 cars (which were available). Later when new trains which were more advanced both in size and technology were introduced, they could not fit through the tunnel because it had sharp bends that could not be navigated. Due to this, it was avoided and by 1930, it was rarely used to an extent that many never knew it existed. In its final years before closure, City Hall Subway operated only at night. This discouraged locals who instead preferred Brooklyn Bridge Station. It closed officially on the last day of 1945.

Is City Hall Subway Station open to the public?

People are not allowed to go in through the subway because the state fears vandalism that may be brought on the station by visitors. City Hall Subway Station is listed on the national register of historic places and therefore tours in the station, though limited, are always offered once in a while by the New York transit museum.

What remains of the station?

The station is currently deserted and closed. Some trains (though rarely) use the tunnel to make turns while going back Uptown. No one is allowed on the train when it does this as the conductor makes sure all passengers are off. The government of New York had plans of renovating it but that never came to fruition due to unexplained circumstances. New York Transit Museum who are currently the managers, had a plea to turn it into a museum and later restaurant but all this never got to be implemented.