Old City Hall Station: the history of the most beautiful closed subway station in New York City

The most beautiful subway station that officially doesn't exist

Underneath New York City Hall lies one of the most beautiful subway stations in the world. Built in 1904 as the jewel of the first line of the New York subway, closed since 1945, Old City Hall Station is an underground cathedral with tile vaults, brass chandeliers, and stained glass skylights. Most New Yorkers are unaware of its existence. And those who do know have one simple trick: just don't get off the train on the 6 line.

How the New York subway was created

By the end of the 19th century, New York was drowning in transportation chaos. Horse-drawn streetcars, elevated railroads, and speeding carriages created dangerous congestion at every intersection. In 1888, a massive snowstorm (Great Blizzard) paralyzed the city for a week, burying the elevated tracks under snow. It became clear: New York needed an underground railway.

Plans for the subway had been in development since the 1860s, but ongoing political disputes and competition between companies delayed construction for decades. It wasn't until 1894 that city residents voted in a referendum to build a subway funded by public money. In 1900, the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) won the contract to build and operate the first line.

Construction took four years (1900-1904). 12,000 workers, mostly Italians and Irish, dug a tunnel from City Hall through downtown Manhattan to Harlem and further to the Bronx. The total length of the first line was 14.5 km with 28 stations.

City Hall Station: the crown jewel

City Hall Station was meant to be the showcase of the new subway. It was located just beneath City Hall, in the very heart of political New York. The city wanted every politician, official, and journalist who got off here to be impressed. Therefore, no expense was spared in its design.

The architectural design was entrusted to Heins & LaFarge, one of the most prestigious architectural firms of the era. George Lewis Heins and Christopher G. LaFarge were known for designing the Cathedral of St. John the Divine on Morningside Heights. To realize the tile vaults, Rafael Guastavino, a Catalan architect and master of the ceramic vaulting technique, was invited, whose works adorn the interiors of Grand Central Terminal, Carnegie Hall, and Ellis Island, among others.

How it was built

The station was built on a curve, following an arc. This was not a coincidence, but a necessity: trains arrived from the north, had to turn around, and go back. Thus, the station also served as a turnaround loop.

The structure was based on Guastavino's tile vaulting technique. Instead of heavy steel beams, the vaults were constructed from many layers of flat, self-supporting ceramic tiles joined with a special mortar. This technique, derived from Catalan architectural tradition, provided extraordinary strength with minimal thickness. The arched vaults did not require steel supports, giving the interior a lightness reminiscent of a cathedral.

The tiles covering the walls and ceilings formed a mosaic in cream, green, and brown colors, with geometric and floral patterns. Each tile panel was individually designed. The floor was laid with ceramic tiles. Lighting was provided by brass chandeliers (the so-called light fixtures) suspended from chains beneath the vaults, as well as rows of round bulbs along the walls.

The most spectacular element was the skylights in the ceiling. The station was located shallow beneath the surface, allowing stained glass windows to be built into the ceiling, through which natural daylight from City Hall Park above flooded the interior. These colorful glass panels, surrounded by steel frames, bathed the platform in warm, golden light.

Opening day: October 27, 1904

The opening of the first line of the New York subway was a historic event. On October 27, 1904, at 2:00 PM, Mayor George B. McClellan Jr. (son of the famous general from the Civil War) personally drove the first train from City Hall Station. He was supposed to drive the train only to 103rd Street, but he enjoyed it so much that he refused to hand over the controls to the engineer and drove all the way to 145th Street in Harlem.

On the first day of opening, over 150,000 passengers used the subway. Tickets cost 5 cents (about $1.80 in today's money). City Hall Station, as the pearl of the system, attracted crowds. New Yorkers came specifically to admire its beauty. The press wrote about it as the "underground cathedral."

Why it was closed

For four decades, City Hall Station operated normally, but the city grew faster than anyone had anticipated. In the 1930s and 1940s, the IRT began lengthening trains from 5 to 10 cars to accommodate the growing number of passengers. And here the problem arose.

City Hall Station was built on a sharp curve. The platform was only about 60 meters long, which was sufficient for 5 old-style cars. Longer, modern trains could not fit on the platform. Worse still, the sharp curve of the track made it impossible to extend the platform. Renovating the station would have been extremely costly and technically complicated.

At the same time, the nearby Brooklyn Bridge station opened, just a few hundred meters away, with straight, long platforms suited for modern trains. Passenger traffic at City Hall Station declined, while the costs of maintaining the beautiful but maintenance-intensive interiors increased.

On December 31, 1945, on New Year's Eve, City Hall Station served its last passengers and was permanently closed. New York chose pragmatism over beauty.

What happened after the closure

Although the station ceased to serve passengers, the tracks were never dismantled. The 6 line still uses the City Hall loop to turn trains heading north from downtown. The train enters the station, travels through it on the curve, and returns to the tracks heading uptown. The entire maneuver takes about 2-3 minutes.

For decades, the station fell into disrepair. Tiles cracked, paint peeled, and dirt and moisture covered the vaults. But Guastavino's structure survived in surprisingly good condition. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, the station was placed under increased security oversight due to its proximity to City Hall.

In 2004, on the centennial of the New York subway, the New York Transit Museum began organizing tours of the closed station. Tickets sold out within minutes. Tours were conducted sporadically and were suspended for safety reasons, but they return from time to time.

How to see the station today

There is one simple way to see Old City Hall for yourself, and it is completely legal and free:

• Get on the 6 line train (local, green) heading towards downtown (south).
• Travel to the last station: Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall.
• Do not get off. Stay in the car.
• The train will close the doors and move on. It will enter the City Hall loop, slowly passing through the abandoned Old City Hall station.
• Through the train windows, you will see Guastavino's tile vaults, remnants of chandeliers, and the distinctive arched platform.
• After completing the loop, the train will return to the tracks and head uptown (north). You can get off at the next station or continue riding.

Practical tips:

• Sit on the right side of the car (facing the direction of travel) for a better view of the platform.
• The station is not lit as it once was, but natural light still comes through the skylights in the ceiling (during the day).
• The train moves slowly (about 8 km/h), so you have several seconds to look around.
• Photos through the train window are legal, but the quality will be limited (dirty windows, motion, poor lighting).
• Conductors sometimes announce: “This is the last stop. Everyone must exit the train.” Some 6 line trains do indeed end their run, and you must get off. But many continue on the loop. If the conductor tells you to get off, do so and wait for the next train.
• Best time: weekday off-peak (10:00 AM – 3:00 PM), when trains are less likely to end their run at Brooklyn Bridge.

Rafael Guastavino: the genius of vaulting

Rafael Guastavino y Moreno (1842-1908) was a Catalan architect and builder who emigrated to the United States in 1881. He brought with him the ancient Catalan technique of building self-supporting vaults from thin layers of ceramic tiles (timbrel vaulting, Spanish: bóveda tabicada).

In America, Guastavino patented his version of this technique and founded the Guastavino Fireproof Construction Company. Over the next half-century, the company created vaults in over 1,000 buildings across the United States. Among them are some of the most recognizable interiors in New York:

• Grand Central Terminal – tile vaults in the main hall (Whispering Gallery)
• Carnegie Hall – vaults above the audience
• Ellis Island – main hall for immigrant registration
• Cathedral of St. John the Divine – vaults in the main nave
• Queensboro Bridge – tile vaults in the spans
• City Hall subway station – one of his last and most beautiful works

Guastavino died in 1908, just four years after the station opened. His son, Rafael Guastavino Jr., continued the company until 1962.

What the station holds

Even in its current state, Old City Hall dazzles with architectural richness:

• Guastavino vaults – arched, self-supporting vaults made of cream and greenish ceramic tiles. Each arch is a separate composition of geometric patterns.
• Skylights – round and semi-circular windows in the vault, originally filled with colored glass. They let in natural light from City Hall Park above.
• Brass chandeliers – original light fixtures, partially preserved. Three-armed, with decorative handles.
• Ceramic wall mosaics – patterns in cream, brown, and green. The inscription “CITY HALL” in tile plaques on the walls.
• Arched platform – the platform follows the curve of the track, creating an elegant, curved space.
• Columns and pilasters – steel columns with decorative capitals supporting the vault.

Will the station ever reopen?

For years, there have been ideas to reopen the station, most often as a museum, gallery, or event space. In 2013, there was a vision to transform the station into an underground transportation museum. In 2020, the MTA considered using the station for artistic purposes.

The main obstacles are:

• Security – the proximity to City Hall requires strict security protocols.
• Renovation costs – restoring the station to a visitable state would require a multi-million dollar investment.
• Operationality – the loop is still actively used by 6 line trains, complicating access.
• ADA compliance – the station lacks elevators or facilities for people with disabilities.

For now, the station remains closed but is visually accessible from passing trains. The New York Transit Museum organizes tours sporadically – it is worth following their website (nytransitmuseum.org) and signing up for the newsletter, as tickets sell out in minutes.

Interesting facts

• Old City Hall Station appears in many films and series, often as a backdrop for underground scenes. The most recognizable shot is from “Ghostbusters II” (1989), where the team swims through a river of slime beneath the city.
• In 1995, the station was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
• The station is the only station of the original IRT line from 1904 that has retained almost all of its original fixtures – chandeliers, tiles, skylights.
• Under City Hall, there is also the City Hall station MTA (operational), but it is a completely different station – modern, opened in 1945 as a replacement for the closed Old City Hall. Do not confuse!
• Mayor McClellan, who drove the first train, was the son of General George B. McClellan, commander of the Army of the Potomac during the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln's rival in the 1864 presidential election.
• The name “City Hall” is the official name of the station, but New Yorkers often refer to it as “Old City Hall” or “City Hall loop” to distinguish it from the operational station.
• The 6 line train travels the loop at a speed of about 8 km/h (5 mph) due to the sharp curve – the slowest segment in the entire NYC subway system.

Map and orientation

The station is located beneath City Hall Park, south of City Hall, between Broadway and Centre Street. The entrance to the loop is from Park Row. The nearest operational subway stations are:

• Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall (lines 4, 5, 6) – directly to the north
• City Hall (lines N, R, W) – across the park
• Chambers Street (lines J, Z) – to the west

Summary

Old City Hall is one of the most beautiful and best-kept secrets of New York City. Closed for 80 years, but still accessible to anyone who knows not to get off the train. It is a journey back in time: a 2-3 minute ride through a station from 1904, with tile vaults, natural light streaming through century-old skylights, and an atmosphere that makes you forget the chaos above. The fare is the same as a regular subway ride ($2.90). No other attraction in NYC offers such a value for experience to price.