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Custom-made tiles by the Guastavino Construction Company (Beth Fertig/WNYC)

NEW YORK, NY October 27, 2004 —

» View photos of historic City Hall Station


It was one hundred years ago today that Mayor George McClellan rode the first New York subway train from City Hall to Harlem. Today, Mayor Bloomberg recreates that historic journey by climbing onboard a "nostalgia train" of vintage cars. The train will depart from the original City Hall station, which has been shuttered for over half a century. WNYC’s Beth Fertig recently got a look inside the landmark station.

ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, this is the last stop on this train. Everyone please leave the train.

That announcement is familiar to anyone who’s taken the number six train to its final stop at the Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall station. But it’s not the last station.

Once all the passengers are off, the six train goes a little farther and turns around inside the original 1904 City Hall subway station.

FOELL: We are directly under City Hall Park at this moment.

David Foell is design manager for the New York City Transit Authority and he’s spent a lot of time refurbishing this revered station for the centennial. There’s an arched ceiling with long windows providing a dapple of light from above. Two of the windows still have the original iron grillwork and ribbed glass, which is now cracked in places. About a dozen chandeliers light the platform. And the walls and the arches are covered with green and white custom made tiles.

FOELL: This was considered really the flagship station because it was under City Hall. It was ornamented more generously. And it employed the craftsmanship of Guastavino, who is quite a famous tile person who was sort of combination of engineer and tile setter and he did these ceiling tiles here.

The subway was designed at a time when grand public works were celebrated with equally grand architecture. As riders descended the stairs from street level they entered a mezzanine with a domed ceiling and round skylight. Foell says it was like a waiting room to the platform.

FOELL: They paid for a ticket at the ticket booth which is a beautiful oak construction in the mezzanine. They then waited behind a railing up in the mezzanine, until the train arrived and opened the doors. At that point there was a person in charge of the gate who would slide open the gate and allow everyone to come into the train.

The station was closed in 1945 when the subways began using longer, 10-car trains. The City Hall platform couldn’t be lengthened to accommodate the extra cars because of its tight curve. The curve is also responsible for the deafening screech the train wheels make as they enter the loop. The friction also produces a fine layer of black, steel dust.

For the past half century, only a few transit buffs and history tours have been able to see the station. Walking past City Hall you wouldn’t even know it was there. The Transit Museum lined up funds in the 1990s to turn the station into a satellite museum. A few renovations were made before Mayor Giuliani opposed the plan over security concerns. But with this year’s subway centennial, transit advocates hope the idea will catch on.

RUSSIANOFF: It’s like a cathedral. It would be great if it were accessible to the public

Gene Russianoff heads the Straphangers Campaign. He’s among a group of transit advocates and historians who wrote a letter to the mayor and the MTA urging them to reconsider the idea.

RUSSIANOFF: There are two tough questions about the museum, the first is money it would cost money – it costs money to rehab and make it so that you could be in there, there are trains going through there are noise and ventilation issues. And then there is the security issue which is really in the hands of the police department and the mayor’s security detail. My hope is they could find some way to open the museum that doesn’t create a security risk for the mayor and brings people and tourists to lower Manhattan and helps in the revival of downtown.

Publicly, the MTA says it’s still studying an assessment by the Police Department. But government sources say opening the station is unlikely in this post 9-11 climate. Meanwhile, invited members of the public and dignitaries will get to view the station at a ceremony later today. For WNYC I’m Beth Fertig.