The Abandoned City Hall's Subway Station
Designed as part of the City Beautiful Movement, by architects Heins and LaFarge, New York City's first-ever subway station is an underground chapel with chandeliers, leaded-glass skylights, and Guastavino-tiled, vaulted ceilings; and in 1904 it only cost five cents for a ride.
On the day it opened, 150,000 people passed through the old City Hall station, labeled as the “Jewel in the Crown” by the NY Transit Museum. By the end of the week, one million people had used the Romanesque-Revival station. It was a huge event for the city - church bells, guns, sirens, and horns went off all day. People bought tickets to throw 'subway parties' and hang on the tracks watching the train pass by.
Although now commonly thought of as abandoned, the old City Hall station is still considered an active part of the subway system. No. 6 trains use the track as a turnaround, screeching around the sharp curve about every eight minutes or so, 24 hours a day.
IASON ROUVAS represents a convergence of art, precision, and history. A collection of pieces that, much like the station, combine careful attention to detail with an eye for style and charm.
*Photos by Alexandra Charitan
On the day it opened, 150,000 people passed through the old City Hall station, labeled as the “Jewel in the Crown” by the NY Transit Museum. By the end of the week, one million people had used the Romanesque-Revival station. It was a huge event for the city - church bells, guns, sirens, and horns went off all day. People bought tickets to throw 'subway parties' and hang on the tracks watching the train pass by.
Although now commonly thought of as abandoned, the old City Hall station is still considered an active part of the subway system. No. 6 trains use the track as a turnaround, screeching around the sharp curve about every eight minutes or so, 24 hours a day.
IASON ROUVAS represents a convergence of art, precision, and history. A collection of pieces that, much like the station, combine careful attention to detail with an eye for style and charm.
*Photos by Alexandra Charitan