Chambers Street–World Trade Center/Park Place (New York City Subway)
Chambers Street–World Trade Center/Park Place     | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York City Subway rapid transit station complex | |||||||||
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| Station statistics | |||||||||
| Address |
Church Street between Chambers Street & Vesey Street New York, NY 10007 | ||||||||
| Borough | Manhattan | ||||||||
| Locale | Financial District, Tribeca, World Trade Center | ||||||||
| Coordinates | 40°42′46″N 74°00′35″W / 40.712655°N 74.009657°WCoordinates: 40°42′46″N 74°00′35″W / 40.712655°N 74.009657°W | ||||||||
| Division | A (IRT), B (IND) | ||||||||
| Line |
IND Eighth Avenue Line IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line | ||||||||
| Services |
2  (all times) 3  (all except late nights) A (all times) C (all except late nights) E (all times) | ||||||||
| Transit connections |
 PATH: NWK–WTC, HOB–WTC (at World Trade Center) | ||||||||
| Structure | Underground | ||||||||
| Levels | 2 | ||||||||
| Other information | |||||||||
| Wireless service |
 [1] | ||||||||
| Traffic | |||||||||
| Passengers (2015) |
16,910,084 (station complex)[2]  5.1% | ||||||||
| Rank | 15 out of 422 | ||||||||
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Chambers Street–World Trade Center/Park Place is a New York City Subway station complex on the IND Eighth Avenue Line and IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line. Located on Church Street between Chambers and Vesey Streets in Lower Manhattan, it is served by the:
Station layout
| G | Street level | Exit/entrance |
| B1 | Mezzanine | Fare control, station agent (Elevator at SE corner of Church Street and Park Place. Note: Elevator out of service) |
| B2 | Northbound local | ← toward Jamaica Center–Parsons/Archer (Canal Street) |
| Island platform, doors will open on the left or right | ||
| Northbound local | ← toward Jamaica Center–Parsons/Archer (Canal Street) | |
| Northbound express | ← toward Inwood–207th Street (Canal Street) ← toward 168th Street (Canal Street) | |
| Island platform, doors will open on the left | ||
| Southbound express | → toward Lefferts Boulevard, Far Rockaway–Mott Avenue, or Rockaway Park–Beach 116th Street (Fulton Street) → → toward Euclid Avenue (Fulton Street) → | |
| B3 | Northbound | ← toward Wakefield–241st Street (Chambers Street) ← toward Harlem–148th Street (Chambers Street) |
| Island platform, doors will open on the left | ||
| Southbound | → toward Flatbush Avenue–Brooklyn College (Fulton Street) → → toward New Lots Avenue (Fulton Street) → | |
IND Eighth Avenue Line platforms
| Chambers Street–World Trade Center | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York City Subway rapid transit station | |||||||||
|
Express platform (Chambers Street) | |||||||||
| Station statistics | |||||||||
| Address |
Church Street between Chambers Street & Vesey Street New York, NY 10007 | ||||||||
| Borough | Manhattan | ||||||||
| Locale | Financial District | ||||||||
| Division | B (IND) | ||||||||
| Line | IND Eighth Avenue Line | ||||||||
| Services |
A (all times) C (all except late nights) E (all times) | ||||||||
| Platforms | 2 island platforms | ||||||||
| Tracks | 4 | ||||||||
| Other information | |||||||||
| Opened | September 10, 1932[3] | ||||||||
| Accessible |
 (Local platform only; elevator temporarily out of service due to construction) | ||||||||
| Former/other names | Chambers Street–Hudson Terminal | ||||||||
| Station succession | |||||||||
| Next north |
Canal Street: A C E | ||||||||
| Next south |
Fulton Street: A C (Terminal): E | ||||||||
| Notes | The MTA defines this platform set as two separate stations. | ||||||||
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Chambers Street–World Trade Center on the IND Eighth Avenue Line is an express station with four tracks and two island platforms, but in an unusual layout: the station has separate island platforms for express and local trains. Both island platforms can accommodate 600-foot (180 m) trains. There is a passenger connection between the two platforms at mezzanine level. This passageway also includes the in-system transfer to the IRT station. Both platforms opened just after midnight on September 10, 1932, as did the rest of the IND Eighth Avenue Line north to Inwood–207th Street.[3][4]
A late-1990s renovation saw prefabricated tile panels installed on the trackside wall of the express platform, with a tile band of Concord Violet bordered in black and "CHAMBERS" in white Copperplate lettering on black tiles on each panel, and on the local platform's walls the new tiles were installed in 3-foot by 2-foot sections with a slightly different shade of dark blue violet bordered in black; no station name captions were placed. The trim lines in the entryways and passages use the Concord Violet color rather than the blue violet.
Chambers Street
Chambers Street, the express platform, is a through station. Just north of Chambers Street station is a third track between the uptown and downtown express tracks, with connecting switches at both ends, which was used to turn trains when Chambers Street was used as a terminal, before the Broadway–Nassau Street (now Fulton Street) station opened on February 11, 1933. It is served by the A and C trains. Exits/entrances through turnstiles to Church Street are located in the mezzanine of this station, along with a few High Entrance-Exit Turnstiles (HEETs). This platform is not wheelchair-accessible, although it can possibly gain accessibility in the future because the elevator to the local platform leads to the mezzanine that is shared with this station. However, it is one block away from the Chambers Street station on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line, which is wheelchair-accessible.
World Trade Center
World Trade Center, the local platform, forms the terminus of the local service and is offset to the south of the express platform, at the northern edge of the World Trade Center site. It is served by the E train. Southbound local trains reach the platform by ramping underneath the express tracks south of Canal Street station. The northern end of the World Trade Center station has a signal tower and a diamond crossover switch that are roughly at the middle of the through-platform. The local tracks end at bumper blocks at the south end of the platform. In addition, there is a platform-level passageway on the western side of the station toward the platform's south end, evidence of a former half-length side platform for the western track;[5] while in passenger use as a connection to the rest of the station, the former platform is now fenced off from the rest of the local platform level, and passengers must now use the mezzanine to access the island platform. A connection to the Cortlandt Street station of the BMT Broadway Line is under construction at the station's south end; this, in turn, gives access to the Fulton Center (via the Dey Street Passageway), the World Trade Center PATH station, and the future Cortlandt Street station on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line.
The station was formerly named Hudson Terminal or H&M, after the nearby Hudson Terminal of the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad (now the PATH). Since 1973, this station has been named after the two World Trade Centers. Wall tiles reading "H AND M" remained on the walls of the World Trade Center station as late as December 1974,[6] a year after the first World Trade Center was completed. The tiles were initially painted over, but since the station's renovation, they have been covered over.
At the extreme southern end of the station is the future exit to the Cortlandt Street station, along with a few High Entrance-Exit Turnstiles (HEETs). Only this platform was ADA-accessible, and in the future, only this platform will be ADA-accessible. The doors and original ADA-accessible ramp, as well as the structure from the first World Trade Center leading into the station, survived the September 11 attacks. The station itself was not damaged, but it was covered by dust; the exit that led to the former World Trade Center has since been closed for renovation. The MTA's elevator to the local platform, at the southeast corner of Church Street and Park Place, connects to the local platform via a long ramp from the main mezzanine shared with Chambers Street, but it has been out of service from 2001 to 2016 due to long-term construction on the current World Trade Center. The World Trade Center station is not shown as an ADA-accessible station on New York City Subway maps. A free passageway at the southern end was planned as part of the Fulton Center project, which would have allowed for a free transfer between the local platform and the southbound Cortlandt Street station. However, a non-free transfer was to be made using the WTC Transportation Hub when the latter opened anyway, so the free transfer was then canceled.[7]
Presentation on maps
The station has been portrayed in a variety of ways on New York City Subway maps since 1932. Originally, it was shown as a single station called Chambers Street–Hudson Terminal. Starting in about 1948, two stations were shown, Chambers Street–Hudson Terminal for the express trains continuing to Brooklyn, and Hudson Terminal for the local trains terminating at the station. A 1959 map showed two stations enclosed in a box, but a single label. The 1964 and 1966 maps were similar.
On the 1972 map, it once again appeared to be a single station, with the label showing Chambers Street, Hudson Terminal, World Trade Center, and PATH, although the Hudson Terminal office building complex had already been demolished by this time.
On the current map[8] published by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, it is shown as two separate stations with a free transfer — Chambers Street (served by A and C trains) and World Trade Center (served by E trains).
January 23, 2005 fire
Around 2:00 p.m. on January 23, 2005, a fire destroyed the interlocking plant at Chambers Street. As a result, two of three A trains were canceled or rerouted, and all C service was completely suspended. Some newspaper articles have blamed the fire on a homeless person trying to keep warm, but that was not confirmed.[9]
The C in Brooklyn (east of Jay Street) was replaced by an extension of V service on weekdays. The upper level platforms of the Eighth Avenue Line at 50th Street are only served by the C at all times except late nights, when the A train replaces it, and were thus closed; the only uptown service to 50th Street was via the Queens Boulevard Line's connection (E service) into the lower level of the station. Additionally, the A, which normally uses the express tracks on the Eighth Avenue Line south of 168th Street (the C's northern terminus), switched to local at 145th Street, serving the two local stations that are only served by the C during the day (155th Street and 163rd Street–Amsterdam Avenue). The A also used the local tracks in Brooklyn, serving all stations. Direct rush-hour A trips to Rockaway Park–Beach 116th Street were suspended in favor of the always-running Rockaway Park Shuttle.
Before the fire, on weekday nights from 9 p.m. to midnight, the C was the only service on the local tracks north of 59th Street; the D was switched to local to cover this. The A was switched to local service on weekends to compensate for the resulting lack of local service. During rush hour, extra B trains were added, starting by January 28.
Until the morning of January 28, the MTA rerouted the A to the connected IND Sixth Avenue Line, Rutgers Street Tunnel, and IND Culver Line (the route used by regular F service) from West Fourth Street to Jay Street between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., in order to perform critical repairs. The last suspended service, rush-hour trips to Beach 116th Street, was restored on February 14, 2005; until then, those trips required a transfer to the Rockaway Park Shuttle.
Initial estimates gave a time of three to five years to restore full service, due to the rarity of the destroyed equipment.[10] That was later cut back to six to nine months to bring back normal operations. However, C service and 70% of A service was restored at 5 a.m. on February 2, 2005, only ten days after the fire. On April 21, full service was restored. However, effects of the fire continued into 2006 because the equipment had not been replaced.[10]
IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line platform
| Park Place | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York City Subway rapid transit station | |||||||||
 | |||||||||
| Station statistics | |||||||||
| Address |
Park Place & Broadway New York, NY 10007 | ||||||||
| Borough | Manhattan | ||||||||
| Locale | Financial District | ||||||||
| Division | A (IRT) | ||||||||
| Line | IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line | ||||||||
| Services |
2 (all times) 3 (all except late nights) | ||||||||
| Platforms | 1 island platform | ||||||||
| Tracks | 2 | ||||||||
| Other information | |||||||||
| Opened | August 1, 1918 | ||||||||
| Station succession | |||||||||
| Next north |
Chambers Street: 2 3 | ||||||||
| Next south |
Fulton Street: 2 3 | ||||||||
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Park Place on the Brooklyn branch of the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line is located on Park Place between Broadway and Church Street. This underground station is relatively deep because the line underpins the BMT Broadway Line and IRT Lexington Avenue Line, which were already built when it opened on August 1, 1918.[11]
During the 1964–1965 fiscal year, the platforms at Park Place, along with those at four other stations on the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line, were lengthened to 525 feet to accommodate a ten-car train of 51-foot IRT cars.[12]
It has two tracks and a single island platform with a line of blue i-beam columns with alternating ones having the standard black name plate in white lettering. Both track walls have a mostly gold trim line along with the "P" tablets at regular intervals.
The station has a mezzanine at each end. Towards the western end of the platform, two long staircases lead up to an intermediate landing where another, shorter staircase leads up to the main IND mezzanine near the full Oculus mosaic. From here, there is a bank of turnstiles leading to the street stair that goes to the northwest corner of Park Place and Church Street. A staircase in this mezzanine leads down to the very southern end of the IND express platform. To reach the local platform, passengers must walk down the express platform to the last staircase, go up to a different part of the mezzanine, crossover, and then go down a staircase the northern end of the local platform. This complex transfer is to allow a continued underground mezzanine outside of fare control from the southern end at the World Trade Center site (originally an entrance to the World Trade Center concourse and then the temporary PATH station from 2003 to 2009) to the most northern street stairs at Chambers and Church Street, which is just one block east of the Chambers Street station of the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line. The total length of the mezzanine is seven blocks.
The IRT platform has its own entrance/exit at its extreme eastern (railroad south) end. Here, a staircase and two escalators, none of which are together, lead up to a mezzanine just beneath the street. The staircase splits into two separate staircases at an initial landing and each of those have another intermediate landing. On this mezzanine, there are turnstiles, both regular and HEET (from when the mezzanine had a part-time token booth and the regular turnstiles could not be left unstaffed). A single street stair leads out to the northwest corner of Broadway and Park Place. The signage for this entrance is the only one in the complex that says "Park Place" with bullets only for the 2 and 3 trains. A short staircase in the mezzanine once led to an entrance to the lobby of the Woolworth Building. It has been closed since the September 11 attacks.
North of the station, the tracks of this station become the express tracks of the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line. The station is very close to Chambers Street which is north of the station.
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Track wall mosaic
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Entrance at Park Place & Broadway
Oculus
There are over 300 mosaics dispersed throughout the station, which are part of the 1998 installation Oculus created by Kristin Jones and Andrew Ginzel. These eyes were modeled on photographs of the eyes of hundreds of New Yorkers.[13]
According to Jones and Ginzel,
| “ | Oculus is a constellation of stone and glass mosaics in the underground labyrinth of interconnected subway stations of lower Manhattan. Over three hundred mosaic eyes, drawn from a photographic study of more than twelve hundred young New Yorkers, are set into the white tile walls of the World Trade Center/Park Place/Chamber Street Stations. The work’s centerpiece is a large exquisitely detailed, elliptical glass and stone mosaic floor (38 ft 8 in x 20’8”) at the heart of the Park Place Station. The continents of the earth, interwoven with the City of New York amidst an ultramarine pool, surround a large eye in the middle of the mosaic. The mosaic is at once a vision of the world, a reflecting pool of water and a representation New York City in its proper geographical orientation.
 The eyes of "Oculus" The work’s detailed renderings of the eye–the most telling, fragile and vulnerable human feature–offer a profound sense of intimacy within a public place. Together, the images create a sense of unity and flow: animating, orienting and humanizing the station. Oculus invites a dialogue between the site and those who move through it. The former World Trade Center Station is situated at the northeast corner of the site. The station was flooded and closed to the public following the September 11, 2001 attack. The site was damaged but not destroyed, and it reopened eight months later with the work mostly intact. Oculus was recognized as “an unexpected monument” by the Wall Street Journal on September 11, 2003. Oculus was realized in collaboration with the Roman mosaicist, Rinaldo Piras, Sectile.[14] |
” |
Nearby points of interest
- Brookfield Place (formerly World Financial Center)[15]
- Battery Park City[15]
- Century 21 (also near the adjacent Fulton Street station)[15]
- Church Street Post Office[15]
- New York Public Library New Amsterdam Branch[15]
- Saks Fifth Avenue Downtown division[15]
- St. Paul's Chapel[15]
- Trinity Church[15]
- Woolworth Building[15]
- World Trade Center buildings (see also World Trade Center site)[15]
References
- ↑ "NYC Subway Wireless – Active Stations". Transit Wireless Wifi. Retrieved 2016-05-18.
- ↑ "Facts and Figures: Annual Subway Ridership". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
- 1 2 New York Times, List of the 28 Stations on the New Eighth Ave Line, September 10, 1932, page 6
- ↑ Crowell, Paul (September 10, 1932). "Gay Midnight Crowd Rides First Trains In The New Subway: Throngs at Station an Hour Before Time, Rush Turnstiles When Chains are Dropped". New York Times. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
- ↑ Photo of side platform in use, dated September 1, 1990
- ↑ NYCSubway.org: Photograph of H&M/World Trade Center station dated December 12, 1974
- ↑ Yee, Vivian (2014-11-09). "Out of Dust and Debris, a New Jewel Rises". The New York Times.
- ↑ "Subway Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. November 2016. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
- ↑ "Signal Room Fire Reroutes Trains on 3 Subway Lines". The New York Times. 24 January 2005. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
- 1 2 Chan, Sewell (2006-01-25). "Year After Subway Fire, Damaged Equipment Is Still Not Replaced". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-10-27.
- ↑ "ALL ROADS NOW LEAD TO TIMES SQUARE; Old Tube the Base of the New. The Fifth Spoke in the Hub. How the "H" Is Formed. Difficulties of the Work. Much Depends on the Public.". Retrieved 2016-07-04.
- ↑ Annual Report 1964–1965. New York City Transit Authority. 1965.
- ↑ "www.nycsubway.org: IND 8th Avenue Line". www.nycsubway.org. Retrieved 2016-07-04.
- ↑ Jones, Kristin; Ginzel, Andrew, Oculus, retrieved 2012-06-04
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Lower Manhattan" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2015. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chambers Street – World Trade Center / Park Place (New York City Subway). |
- nycsubway.org – IRT West Side Line: Park Place
- nycsubway.org – IND 8th Avenue: Chambers Street/World Trade Center
- nycsubway.org – New York City Subway Historical Maps:
- nycsubway.org – Oculus Artwork by Jones and Ginzel (1998)
- Station Reporter – World Trade Center Complex
- The Subway Nut – Chambers Street–Park Place–World Trade Center (A, C, E)
- The Subway Nut – Park Place (2, 3)
- A/C/V service updates after the fire (Internet Archive)
- MTA's Arts For Transit – Chambers Street/Park Place
- Chambers Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
- Warren Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
- Murray Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
- Park Place and Church Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
- Barclay Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
- Vesey Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
- Park Place and Broadway entrance from Google Maps Street View
- IND local platform from Google Maps Street View
- IND express platform from Google Maps Street View
- IRT platform from Google Maps Street View