The NYC Subway: Ghost Station

It’s common knowledge that the subway is dirty. Decades of grime and filth left untouched by the city. One station in particular is dirty; dusty even. It is also the most beautiful. Hundreds of people walk over it every day. The few who actually pass through it probably don’t appreciate it. The City Hall Station is the epitome of art-deco within the NYC transit system. Ornamented with delicate glass tiles, ceramic inlays, chandeliers and left abandoned. For a short while, the MTA spoke of reopening the station. The cost was too high so the project was abandoned. A crime if you ask me. The only people who still find themselves passing through it are the conductors and operators of trains that use the station to turn around for the reverse run. While its current condition is shameful, the station was abandoned for a tangible reason: it was too small. The decision to switch to a longer subway car that would accommodate more passengers meant that the tight curve of the City Hall Station would result in large gaps between the train and the platform itself. It remains there, silent and dark; once a symbol of the wealth and power of the city, now reduced to a fiscal disaster.