Worth Street station

Worth Street was a local station on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. It is located at Lafayette Street and Worth Street, in Civic Center, Manhattan. The station opened on October 27, 1904 and closed on September 1, 1962 due to its proximity to the Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall station.

 Worth Street
 
Former New York City Subway station
Platform of the Worth Street station
Station statistics
AddressLafayette Street & Worth Street
New York, NY
BoroughManhattan
LocaleCivic Center
Coordinates40.7155°N 74.003°W / 40.7155; -74.003
DivisionA (IRT)
Line      IRT Lexington Avenue Line
ServicesNone (abandoned)
StructureUnderground
Platforms2 side platforms
Tracks4
Other information
OpenedOctober 27, 1904 (October 27, 1904)[1]
ClosedSeptember 1, 1962 (September 1, 1962)[2]
Station succession
Next northCanal Street
Next southBrooklyn Bridge–City Hall

History

Opening
Track layout
to Canal Street
to Brooklyn Bridge

Operation of the first subway began on October 27, 1904, with the opening of the original 28 stations of the New York City Subway from City Hall to 145th Street on the West Side Branch including the Worth Street station.[3][4]

Renovation

The station was lengthened twice. Like all the local stops, it was originally about 200 feet (61 m) long to accommodate five-car trains. The first door of the first car and last door of the last car were left past the platform ends and were not opened. Because of overcrowding, the Public Service Commission ordered the local platforms extended a few yards into the "manholes" at the ends, that is, the space left for access to equipment closets. Completed in 1910, this gave just enough room for six-car local trains with only a door of the first and last cars at the platform. The downtown platform was lengthened in 1948 by the Board of Transportation, providing for the full length of a ten-car, 514-foot-long (157 m) train.[5]:1585 The work was done only on the downtown side to save costs, and that platform was chosen for lengthening since it was the main unloading side in the business district.

Closure

On January 3, 1957, the New York City Transit Authority announced that this station would be closed within two years as part of a plan to improve the Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall station. As part of the project, the platforms at Brooklyn Bridge would be lengthened to accommodate ten-car trains, and the curved platform at Brooklyn Bridge would be eliminated. In order to achieve both of these goals, the platforms would be extended 250 feet (76 m) to the north. The Worth Street station would be closed as it would only be 600 feet (180 m) feet away from the platforms at Brooklyn Bridge. If the station were retained, service on the line would be slowed down, and there was no suitable signal system that could operate with such a short distance. The project would cost $4.4 million and was projected to take two years.[6] The station was closed on September 1, 1962 once the work at Brooklyn Bridge was completed.[2] After the Worth Street station's closure, Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall was named Brooklyn Bridge–Worth Street on platform signs until 1995.

Station layout
G Street level
P
Platform level		 Side platform, not in service
Northbound local ← do not stop here (Canal Street)
Northbound express ← do not stop here
Southbound express → do not stop here →
Southbound local → do not stop here (Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall) →
Side platform, not in service

This underground station has four tracks and two side platforms. It lies beneath the sidewalk on the west side of Foley Square. When the Federal Plaza Building was in the planning stages, it was found that, because of the existence of the station, the building could not extend out to Foley Square. As a result, that structure is set far back from the street, well beyond the station. The building's plaza and fountain lie directly above the station. The station's platforms are visible from the side windows of trains between Canal Street and Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall.

See also
  • 18th Street (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)
  • 91st Street (IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line)

References
  1. "Our Subway Open: 150,000 Try It; Mayor McClellan Runs the First Official Train". The New York Times. October 28, 1904. p. 1. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  2. Grutzner, Charles (September 1, 1962). "New Platform for IRT Locals At Brooklyn Bridge to End Jams". The New York Times. p. 42. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
  3. James Blaine Walker, Fifty Years of Rapid Transit, 1864-1917, published 1918, pp. 162-191
  4. "New York City subway opens - Oct 27, 1904". history.com. October 27, 1904. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
  5. Transportation, New York (N Y. ) Board of (1949). Proceedings ...
  6. "IRT Will Abandon Worth St. Station; Decision Based on Planned Extension of the Brooklyn Bridge Stop by 250 Feet" (PDF). Retrieved September 4, 2016.
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