The downtown/city hall Chambers Street station is one of the oldest, and perhaps, ugliest of all the subway stations in all of New York City. It is also one of my favorite subway stations, for it carries much unadulterated history. The real prize, the original city hall station is sealed off from the regular public, but this station also has much to offer.
This station is still in service using the inner platforms, but the two outer platforms have been out of service since the 1930's. This platform is fully visible, while the one on the opposite side of the station has long since been walled in.
A nice little piece of New York City Subwaycana...Long before there was the MTA (Metropolitain Transit Authority), there was the IRT (Inter-borough Rapid Transit Corp), BMT (Brooklyn-Manhattan Rapid Transit Corp), and the Independent Subway System.
3 comments:
This brings to mind the section of Illinois St under Union Station in Indy.
Until the late 60's it was dock space on either side, with trucks loading/unloading cases of produce or other items.
I remember the buzzy green mercury vapor lights dimly illuminating the street and the somewhat brighter incandescent lights back in the docks, and the smells of ripe produce (and some less savory odors, to be honest).
That all got walled-over when the retail renovation took place.
Nice pics. I keep expecting the Matrix 4 to break out when I look at them.
Love the look of this thing, even with the grime accumulated over the years. It reminds me of the old Blue and White gas station of Lafayette Road. Thal's all gone except for the sign still there.
Too bad most things in America are renovated every fifteen years. We have a lot of structures that are this old but the old look is completely gone and replaced with recent blandness. The next generation grows up without a history.
Post a Comment