66. Chambers Street Subway Station (Dual System IRT)
Location: Under West Broadway, between Warren, Chambers, and Reade Streets
Built: 1917-1918
Architect: Squire J. Vickers
National Register Number: 5000674
Listed: July 6, 2005
Visited: May 8 and 12, 2008
Did I say that I knew the Park Row Building more intimately than any other landmark? Yeah, I did. But as this station was part of my daily commute for nearly eight years, it comes close. Back when there was a World Trade Center, this place served as a transfer point for express and local trains going to and from Penn Station and the Cortlandt Street station that was a short walk to Tower Two. I used to take a combo of express and local trains, thinking that'd be quicker than the other two options: taking the local train exclusively, or taking the express and walking a third of a mile. It rarely worked that way. Evenings were usually OK, but in the mornings I'd be stuck here, waiting, waiting for the local train to come by, waiting and waiting and waiting as express train after express train kept dumping people off. I'm sorry, it must be boring to read that--it bores me to even type. The wait at this station was one of the quotidian parts of my life that, for a brief time every day, would be at the forefront of my thoughts (WHY is the TRAIN not HERE? WHAT the HELL is WRONG? I'm GOING to be LATE GRRRRR etc. etc.), then it'd slink away, happily forgotten and purged. Whoever you are, you likely go through similar.
Funny, for all the time spent in the station, I didn't actually explore it or anything. I'd just stand in a spot, maybe pace. Read a book. Wouldn't go upstairs, wouldn't notice the tile work. It took me years to realize the tile border plaques in here and other stations functioned as something beyond a mere generic decoration. According to nycsubway.oreg, the building depicted above was part of King's College--later known as Columbia University--and stood on Park Place before it was demolished in 1857. I think I'd prefer having the college building still standing to the subway station, all things considered.
Built: 1917-1918
Architect: Squire J. Vickers
National Register Number: 5000674
Listed: July 6, 2005
Visited: May 8 and 12, 2008
Did I say that I knew the Park Row Building more intimately than any other landmark? Yeah, I did. But as this station was part of my daily commute for nearly eight years, it comes close. Back when there was a World Trade Center, this place served as a transfer point for express and local trains going to and from Penn Station and the Cortlandt Street station that was a short walk to Tower Two. I used to take a combo of express and local trains, thinking that'd be quicker than the other two options: taking the local train exclusively, or taking the express and walking a third of a mile. It rarely worked that way. Evenings were usually OK, but in the mornings I'd be stuck here, waiting, waiting for the local train to come by, waiting and waiting and waiting as express train after express train kept dumping people off. I'm sorry, it must be boring to read that--it bores me to even type. The wait at this station was one of the quotidian parts of my life that, for a brief time every day, would be at the forefront of my thoughts (WHY is the TRAIN not HERE? WHAT the HELL is WRONG? I'm GOING to be LATE GRRRRR etc. etc.), then it'd slink away, happily forgotten and purged. Whoever you are, you likely go through similar.
Funny, for all the time spent in the station, I didn't actually explore it or anything. I'd just stand in a spot, maybe pace. Read a book. Wouldn't go upstairs, wouldn't notice the tile work. It took me years to realize the tile border plaques in here and other stations functioned as something beyond a mere generic decoration. According to nycsubway.oreg, the building depicted above was part of King's College--later known as Columbia University--and stood on Park Place before it was demolished in 1857. I think I'd prefer having the college building still standing to the subway station, all things considered.
posted by Michael at
1:13 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home