August 17, 2006

Old City Hall subway station tour set for Sept. 9

Only six slots remain for the fall tour of the once-glamorous, long-shuttered Old City Hall subway station, according to the New York Transit Museum, which is leading the September 9 expedition for members only.

The museum offered two fast-sellout tours earlier this summer. The only other time it was open to the public since September 11, 2001 was for a few brief hours of the subway centennial celebration in 2004. The upcoming tour is the only other one currently on the schedule.

It's been closed to the public for decades due to both security risks (it sits under City Hall,) and the fact that the century-old platform is too short for a full length of the subway trains now in use.

Unofficially, the only other way to get a glimpse of the abandoned station is to cajole a train conductor to allow you to stay on the No. 6 train after the last stop at Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall. The train then makes the loop through the dark station, revealing the dusty chandeliers, special lightbulbs and curved archways leading upstairs to the skylight barely illuminating the ticket room. Wheels banshee-screech as the train turns back toward the first uptown stop at Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall.

The tour, if you can snare a spot, costs $20 per person, in addition to museum membership which costs as little as $40. To book, call (718) 694-1867.

Earlier: Forgotten NY calls on city to reopen first subway stop
NY's best (affordable) membership privileges
Open House NY 2006 set for October 7 and 8
First 28 subway stations celebrated at Forgotten NY
Old City Hall station opened to public on centennial

August 17, 2006 08:16 AM in Architecture, Downtown, History, Museums, Sightsology, Tours, Transportology

®Copyright 2006, All Rights Reserved