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Forget Taylor Swift, a 120-year-old subway station is NYC’s hottest ticket
By Alex Mitchell Published Oct. 20, 2023, 4:44 p.m. ET
(Having lived in Manhattan for 21 years, I'd love to see this. However at this point, I have no desire to set foot in there.)
It’s not fare.
New Yorkers are clamoring to get a peak at the splendid Old City Hall subway station that that served the city from 1904 to 1945.
But, the only way to get a good look is via tours offered solely to members of the New York Transit Museum. They go on sale three times a year and sell out in minutes.
“It really is like Taylor Swift tickets,” said Phil Carracci, a 66-year-old retiree who lives in Murray Hill and has been trying to see the station for years without success. “So few people have seen it.”
Last August, Carracci finally snagged a ticket for a fall tour by making sure he was at his computer at 9:59 a.m., prepared to click at 10 a.m.
A chance to see the Old City Hall subway station is the hottest ticket in town. It’s also one of the hardest to get your hands on.
Patrick Cashin/MTA NYC Transit
It’s a good thing he was at the ready.
This fall’s 16 tours sold out in 20 minutes.
It was even crazier for the spring tours, which sold out in seven minutes.
The first car of the 6 train transports tour goers to the hidden stop.
Courtesy of the New Yrk Transit Museum
“It’s like trying to win the lottery, it’s almost impossible,” said Sindi Schorr, a real estate broker from the Upper East Side who managed to snag a ticket for a fall tour.
Even tour guides are sympathetic to the fact that a trip to the station is more exclusive than field level seats for the World Series.
“People will come up to me and say ‘I tried the last three offerings you’ve had and I haven’t been able to [get tickets]’ and they’ll give me all their sob stories,” museum tour guide and transit expert Polly Desjarlais told The Post.
The rounded staircase for Old City Hall station is shown.
The Old City Hall station is a destination for many New Yorkers.
Patrick Cashin/MTA NYC Transit
“I feel for them, I really do.”
The stunning stop — one of the original 28 — is the only station to feature arched tile ceilings and one of just a few with skylights. Other notable features include chandeliers and a distinctly rounded platform.
Architects George Heins and Christopher LaFarge, along with Spanish artisan Rafael Guastavino, had just designed the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Morningside Heights when recruited for the station.
Old City Hall is the only station to feature arched tile ceilings.
Marc A. Hermann/MTA NYC Transit
They incorporated some of the Byzantine-Romanesque elements they’d used uptown.
“It just gives you just a wonderful feeling when you walk in, especially when daylight pools through the skylights on the platform,” Desjarlais said.
“It’s a very romantic subway station.”
Old City Hall station was a filming location for “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.”
While striking, the station wan’t very practical, and it was one of the least popular stops.
The 250-foot curved platform could not be used by cars with center doors without modifications, and the platform’s shortness meant those in the back of the train had to walk forward.
Another inconvenience was that those who wished to travel south beyond City Hall or into Brooklyn would have to stop at the nearby, currently existing Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall station, go upstairs and transfer to another train to make their way.
Tour goers also get to explore the upper platform of the station.
Marc A. Hermann/MTA NYC Transit
Since the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall stop was so close, it made sense for people just to walk there.
By 1923 Old City Hall was one of the few stations not to have turnstiles.
It was decommissioned in 1946 in favor of more modern stations.
Passengers are seen boarding a train at Old City Hall during its original use in a black and white picture.
Old City Hall station operated from 1904 to 1945.
New York Transit Collection
But, its beauty continues to enthrall.
It was featured in a magical duel in 2016 “Fantastic Beasts” and inspired the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” hideout.
Tours begin above ground at Broadway and Warren Street — where a guide like Desjarlais will give a detailed history of the NYC subway — before heading underground at the current City Hall.
There, guests pile into the first car of a 6 train which will take them a few klicks down-track to the olden station, where they can get off and walk around the curved platform for about a half hour.
Then, everyone heads up a round, arched staircase to see the former control house, ticket booth zone, and entrance area.
(Above ground, that entrance is now a bulkhead exit in Steve Flanders Square that’s closed off and used only for emergencies.)
The journey ends by catching the subway from Old City Hall and heading uptown to the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall stop.
“It was pretty awesome,” said Caracci, who toured the station earlier this week.
“The care, the design and the engineering of this is amazing.”
For Schorr, it was a truly transformative experience.
“It feels like there are spirits down there and they’re like wearing their clothes of the time and top hats,” she said.
“That train is like a time machine.”
Tours cost $50 and the necessary memberships begin at $65.
A director’s circle membership, costing $250 to $1,000, earns a priority presale for the tickets.
Corporate partner members, who must contribute at least $1,000, get a private tour of Old City Hall.
Some intrepid New Yorkers who can’t snag a ticket make use of a hack to get a glimpse.
Since the 6 train terminates at Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall, it uses the old station as a turnaround point to go uptown.
Conductors typically call for “last stop” and ask all passengers to disembark, but if you remain on the train, you will get a quick glimpse of Old City Hall.
Staying on the train is within the rules of New York City Transit, an MTA spokesperson confirmed to The Post.
“I often joke that it’s like the worst kept secret in the city that you could actually do this now,” Desjarlais said.
“It really is this beautiful thing just hiding beneath your feet.
https://nypost.com/2023/10/20/old-city-hall-subway-station-is-nycs-hottest-ticket/
Inspiration has to come from somewhere. Not sure about Garbage Pail Kids.
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