The Canal Street station is a
New York City Subway station complex. It is located in the
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
neighborhoods of
Chinatown and
SoHo
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century.
The area was develo ...
, and is shared by the
BMT Broadway Line
The BMT Broadway Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway in Manhattan. , it is served by four services, all colored : the on the express tracks and the on the local tracks during weekdays (the N and Q train ...
, the
IRT Lexington Avenue Line
The IRT Lexington Avenue Line (also known as the IRT East Side Line and the IRT Lexington–Fourth Avenue Line) is one of the lines of the A Division of the New York City Subway, stretching from Lower Manhattan north to 125th Street in Eas ...
, and the
BMT Nassau Street Line
The BMT Nassau Street Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway system in Manhattan. It is a continuation of the BMT Jamaica Line in Brooklyn after crossing the Williamsburg Bridge into Manhattan; it continues to ...
. It is served by the
6,
J,
N, and
Q trains at all times; the
R train at all times except late nights; the
W train during weekdays; the
<6> train during weekdays in the peak direction; the
Z train during rush hours in the peak direction; and the
4 train during late nights.
The complex comprises four stations, all named Canal Street; the Broadway Line's local and express tracks stop at separate sets of platforms. The Lexington Avenue Line platforms were built for the
Interborough Rapid Transit Company
The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) was the private operator of New York City's original underground subway line that opened in 1904, as well as earlier elevated railways and additional rapid transit lines in New York City. The IRT ...
(IRT), and was a local station on the
city's first subway line. The station opened on October 27, 1904, as one of the original 28 stations of the New York City Subway. The other three stations were built for the
Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company
The Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) was a public transit holding company formed in 1896 to acquire and consolidate railway lines in Brooklyn and Queens, New York City, United States. It was a prominent corporation and industry leader using ...
(later the
Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation
The Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT) was an urban transit holding company, based in Brooklyn, New York City, United States, and incorporated in 1923. The system was sold to the city in 1940. Today, together with the IND subway ...
, or BRT) as part of the
Dual Contracts
The Dual Contracts, also known as the Dual Subway System, were contracts for the construction and/or rehabilitation and operation of rapid transit lines in the City of New York. The contracts were signed on March 19, 1913, by the Interborough Ra ...
. The Nassau Street Line station opened on August 4, 1913; the Broadway Line express station opened on September 4, 1917; and the Broadway Line local station opened on January 5, 1918. The IRT station was connected to the BMT stations in 1978. Several modifications have been made over the years, including a full renovation between 1999 and 2004.
The Lexington Avenue Line station, under
Lafayette Street
Lafayette Street is a major north-south street in New York City's Lower Manhattan. It originates at the intersection of Reade Street and Centre Street, one block north of Chambers Street. The one-way street then successively runs through Chi ...
, has two
side platform
A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platform ...
s and four tracks; express trains use the inner two tracks to bypass the station. The Nassau Street Line station, under
Centre Street, has two
island platform
An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...
s and three tracks, but only one platform and two tracks are in use. The Broadway local station, under
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
, has two side platforms and four tracks, the inner two of which are not in use. The Broadway express station, under
Canal Street, has two side platforms and two tracks, running at a lower level than the other three sets of platforms. The Lexington Avenue Line platforms contain elevators from the street, which make it compliant with the
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA () is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, ...
, but the other platforms do not have elevator access.
History
First subway
Planning for a
subway line in New York City dates to 1864.
However, development of what would become the
city's first subway line did not start until 1894, when the
New York State Legislature
The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an officia ...
authorized the Rapid Transit Act.
The subway plans were drawn up by a team of engineers led by
William Barclay Parsons
William Barclay Parsons (April 15, 1859 – May 9, 1932) was an American civil engineer. He founded Parsons Brinckerhoff, one of the largest American civil engineering firms.
Personal life
Parsons was the son of William Barclay Parsons (1828– ...
, chief engineer of the Rapid Transit Commission. It called for a subway line from
New York City Hall in
lower Manhattan to the
Upper West Side
The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...
, where two branches would lead north into
the Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
.
A plan was formally adopted in 1897,
and all legal conflicts concerning the route alignment were resolved near the end of 1899.
The Rapid Transit Construction Company, organized by
John B. McDonald and funded by
August Belmont Jr., signed the initial Contract 1 with the Rapid Transit Commission in February 1900,
in which it would construct the subway and maintain a 50-year operating lease from the opening of the line.
In 1901, the firm of
Heins & LaFarge
Heins & LaFarge was a New York-based architectural firm composed of the Philadelphia-born architect George Lewis Heins (1860–1907) and Christopher Grant LaFarge (1862–1938), the eldest son of the artist John La Farge. They were respons ...
was hired to design the underground stations.
Belmont incorporated the
Interborough Rapid Transit Company
The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) was the private operator of New York City's original underground subway line that opened in 1904, as well as earlier elevated railways and additional rapid transit lines in New York City. The IRT ...
(IRT) in April 1902 to operate the subway.
The Canal Street station was constructed as part of the route segment from Chambers Street to Great Jones Street. Construction on this section of the line began on July 10, 1900, and was awarded to Degnon-McLean Contracting Company.
Near Canal Street the subway passed through quicksand and a drainage sewer; this was near the location of the old
Collect Pond
Collect Pond, or Fresh Water Pond,, p. 250. was a body of fresh water in what is now Chinatown in Lower Manhattan, New York City. For the first two centuries of European settlement in Manhattan, it was the main New York City water supply syste ...
.
The sewer, built to drain the Collect Pond, originally continued west to the Hudson River; with the IRT's construction, the sewer was redirected east into the East River. The new brick sewer was circular and measured five and a half feet across.
Pumps were used to keep the excavation clear of water while the work proceeded.
By late 1903, the subway was nearly complete, but the
IRT Powerhouse
The IRT Powerhouse, also known as the Interborough Rapid Transit Company Powerhouse, is a former power station of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT), which operated the New York City Subway's first line. The building fills a block bou ...
and the system's
electrical substations were still under construction, delaying the system's opening.
The Canal Street station opened on October 27, 1904, as one of the original 28 stations of the New York City Subway from
City Hall to
145th Street on the
Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line.
After the first subway line was completed in 1908,
the station was served by local trains along both the West Side (now the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line to
Van Cortlandt Park–242nd Street) and East Side (now the
Lenox Avenue Line). West Side local trains had their southern terminus at City Hall during rush hours and
South Ferry at other times, and had their northern terminus at 242nd Street. East Side local trains ran from City Hall to
Lenox Avenue (145th Street).
To address overcrowding, in 1909, the
New York Public Service Commission
The New York Public Service Commission is the public utilities commission of the New York state government that regulates and oversees the electric, gas, water, and telecommunication industries in New York as part of the Department of Public Servi ...
proposed lengthening platforms at stations along the original IRT subway.
As part of a modification to the IRT's construction contracts, made on January 18, 1910, the company was to lengthen station platforms to accommodate ten-car express and six-car local trains. In addition to $1.5 million (equivalent to $ million in ) spent on platform lengthening, $500,000 () was spent on building additional entrances and exits. It was anticipated that these improvements would increase capacity by 25 percent.
Platforms at local stations, such as the Canal Street station, were lengthened by between . Both platforms were extended to the north and south.
Six-car local trains began operating in October 1910.
Dual Contracts
After the original IRT opened, the city began planning new lines. The
Centre Street Loop (later the Nassau Street Line), approved on January 25, 1907, as a four-track line, was to connect the
Brooklyn Bridge,
Manhattan Bridge, and
Williamsburg Bridge
The Williamsburg Bridge is a suspension bridge in New York City across the East River connecting the Lower East Side of Manhattan at Delancey Street with the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn at Broadway near the Brooklyn-Queens Expressw ...
via
Centre Street,
Canal Street, and
Delancey Street
__NOTOC__
Delancey Street is one of the main thoroughfares of New York City's Lower East Side in Manhattan, running from the street's western terminus at the Bowery to its eastern end at FDR Drive, connecting to the Williamsburg Bridge and Broo ...
. Construction contracts for the Nassau Street Line were awarded in early 1907.
The
New York Public Service Commission
The New York Public Service Commission is the public utilities commission of the New York state government that regulates and oversees the electric, gas, water, and telecommunication industries in New York as part of the Department of Public Servi ...
also adopted plans for what was known as the Broadway–Lexington Avenue route (later the Broadway Main Line) on December 31, 1907.
A proposed Tri-borough system was adopted in early 1908, combining the Broadway–Lexington Avenue and Nassau Street lines; a Canal Street subway from the
Fourth Avenue Subway in Brooklyn via the Manhattan Bridge to the
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...
; and several other lines in Brooklyn. The lines were assigned to the
Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company
The Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) was a public transit holding company formed in 1896 to acquire and consolidate railway lines in Brooklyn and Queens, New York City, United States. It was a prominent corporation and industry leader using ...
(BRT) in the
Dual Contracts
The Dual Contracts, also known as the Dual Subway System, were contracts for the construction and/or rehabilitation and operation of rapid transit lines in the City of New York. The contracts were signed on March 19, 1913, by the Interborough Ra ...
, adopted on March 4, 1913.
The IRT made a failed proposal for the Canal Street subway in 1909.
The Centre Street Loop station, including a bridge over the Canal Street subway, was completed at the end of 1909. The station remained closed because the
Chambers Street station, the terminal for the Centre Street Loop, was not complete. The BRT submitted a proposal to the Commission, dated March 2, 1911, to operate the Tri-borough system (but under Church Street instead of Greenwich Street), as well as a branch along Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 59th Street from Ninth Street north and east to the
Queensboro Bridge. The Canal Street subway was to merge with the Broadway Line instead of continuing to the Hudson River.
In the old plan, the Broadway Main Line's center tracks were to have continued up Broadway, fed by traffic from
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
and the
Montague Street Tunnel
The Montague Street Tunnel is a rail tunnel of the New York City Subway under the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn, connecting the BMT Broadway Line and BMT Fourth Avenue Line. The R uses the tunnel at all times, the N u ...
. Local service was to have terminated at the upper level of the Broadway Line's
City Hall station, with express service using City Hall's upper level. The new plan favored local service via City Hall's upper level and express service via the
Manhattan Bridge; the center tracks of the Main Line station were abandoned, as they would feed into the unused lower level platforms at City Hall. Two segments of the Broadway Line around Canal Street were placed under contract early in 1912. The contract for Section 2, between Murray Street and Canal Street, was awarded to the Degnon Contracting Company that January. Two months later, the contract for Section 2A, between Canal and Howard Streets, was contracted to the O'Rourke Engineering Construction Company.
The Nassau Street Line platforms opened on August 4, 1913, providing service to northern Brooklyn via the Williamsburg Bridge.
The Bridge Line platforms opened on September 4, 1917, as part of the first section of the Broadway Line from Canal Street to
14th Street–Union Square. On January 5, 1918, the Main Line platforms opened when the Broadway Line was extended north to
Times Square–42nd Street and south to
Rector Street. The Lexington Avenue Line opened north of
Grand Central–42nd Street in 1918, thereby dividing the original line into an "H"-shaped system. All local trains were sent via the Lexington Avenue Line, running along the
Pelham Line in
the Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
.
In December 1922, the Transit Commission approved a $3 million project to lengthen platforms at 14 local stations along the original IRT line, including Canal Street and seven other stations on the Lexington Avenue Line. Platform lengths at these stations would be increased from .
The commission postponed the platform-lengthening project in September 1923, at which point the cost had risen to $5.6 million.
Modifications and transfers
The city government took over the BMT's operations on June 1, 1940,
and the IRT's operations on June 12, 1940.
In late 1959, contracts were awarded to extend the platforms at , , , Canal Street, , , , , , and to .
In April 1960, work began on a $3,509,000 project (equivalent to $ million in ) to lengthen platforms at seven of these stations to accommodate ten-car trains. The northbound platforms at Canal Street, Spring Street, Bleecker Street, and Astor Place were lengthened from ; the platform extensions at these stations opened on February 19, 1962.
In the late 1960s, New York City Transit extended the Broadway Main Line platforms for ten-car trains. The Broadway Main Line and Bridge Line stations were overhauled in the late 1970s. The original trim lines were replaced with white cinderblock tiles, except for small recesses in the walls, which contained blue-painted cinderblock tiles. The staircases were repaired and new platform edges were installed. The blue cinderblock field contained the station-name signs and white text pointing to the exits. The renovation also replaced
incandescent lighting
An incandescent light bulb, incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe is an electric light with a wire filament heated until it glows. The filament is enclosed in a glass bulb with a vacuum or inert gas to protect the filament from oxid ...
with
fluorescent lighting
A fluorescent lamp, or fluorescent tube, is a low-pressure mercury-vapor gas-discharge lamp that uses fluorescence to produce visible light. An electric current in the gas excites mercury vapor, which produces short-wave ultraviolet ligh ...
.
On January 16, 1978, the transfer between the Lexington Avenue Line and the BMT platforms was placed inside fare control.
With the exception of three months in 1990, train service to the Bridge Line platforms was suspended from 1988 to 2001 during the
Manhattan Bridge reconstruction project. The platforms remained open for passengers transferring between the other routes, since they were the only connections between the other platforms in the complex. Service between Manhattan and Brooklyn was redirected to the Main Line platforms and used the
Montague Street Tunnel
The Montague Street Tunnel is a rail tunnel of the New York City Subway under the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn, connecting the BMT Broadway Line and BMT Fourth Avenue Line. The R uses the tunnel at all times, the N u ...
. The three-month period was supposed to have allowed train service while work on the bridge was not being done, but on December 27, 1990, the discovery of missing steel plates and corrosion that threatened the bridge's integrity halted this service.
In 1997, a temporary art exhibit known as the ''Canal Street Canal'' by
Alexander Brodsky, was installed on the northbound trackway. It consisted of a large waterproof tub filled with water, with
Venetian canal boats floating inside.
![Canal St Chinese vc](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Canal_St_Chinese_vc.jpg)
The complex was fully renovated between 1999 and 2004. The original mosaics on the Broadway Main Line were uncovered but then either removed or covered over again. One of the original tablets has been preserved at the
New York Transit Museum
The New York Transit Museum (also called the NYC Transit Museum) is a museum that displays historical artifacts of the New York City Subway, bus, and commuter rail systems in the greater New York City metropolitan region. The main museum is lo ...
. In 2001, the Broadway Main Line station received a major overhaul before the Bridge level reopened on July 22, 2001. Among the repairs included the staircases, re-tiling for the walls, new tiling on the floors, upgrading the station's lights and the public address system, installing
ADA
Ada may refer to:
Places
Africa
* Ada Foah, a town in Ghana
* Ada (Ghana parliament constituency)
* Ada, Osun, a town in Nigeria
Asia
* Ada, Urmia, a village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran
* Ada, Karaman, a village in Karaman Province, ...
yellow safety treads along the platform edges, new signs, and new track beds in both directions. During the renovation, elevators were installed to the Lexington Avenue Line platforms, making them compliant with the
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA () is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, ...
.
Station layout
The complex consists of four originally separate stations joined by underground passageways. Three of the four are perpendicular to
Canal Street, crossing at
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
(Broadway Main Line), Lafayette Street (Lexington Avenue Line) and Centre Street (Nassau Street Line). The Broadway-Manhattan Bridge Line platforms are directly underneath Canal Street itself. The Bridge Line platforms serve as transfer passageways between all other lines. After leaving Canal Street, the Manhattan Bridge Line makes a hard right onto Broadway.
Some relative depths of the stations in the Canal Street complex are as follows:
*
IRT Lexington Avenue Line
The IRT Lexington Avenue Line (also known as the IRT East Side Line and the IRT Lexington–Fourth Avenue Line) is one of the lines of the A Division of the New York City Subway, stretching from Lower Manhattan north to 125th Street in Eas ...
, below street
*
BMT Broadway Line
The BMT Broadway Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway in Manhattan. , it is served by four services, all colored : the on the express tracks and the on the local tracks during weekdays (the N and Q train ...
, main branch,
*
BMT Nassau Street Line
The BMT Nassau Street Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway system in Manhattan. It is a continuation of the BMT Jamaica Line in Brooklyn after crossing the Williamsburg Bridge into Manhattan; it continues to ...
,
* BMT Broadway Line, Manhattan Bridge branch,
Exits
The complex has a total of 13 staircase entrances and 2 separate elevator entrances for the Lexington Avenue Line's platforms. From the Broadway Main Line platforms, there are two staircases to each of the northwestern, southeastern, and southwestern corners. There is also a staircase to the northeastern corner of Broadway and Canal Street. There is a staircase from the Nassau Street Line to the southwestern corner of Centre Street and Canal Street. The Broadway Bridge Line platform exits are also used by the Lexington Avenue Line platforms. Three staircases from the northbound Lexington Avenue Line platform lead to the eastern corners of Lafayette Street and Canal Street, with one to the northeast corner and two to the southeast corner. From the southbound Lexington Avenue Line platform there are staircases to the western corners of Lafayette Street and Canal Street. There are two elevators that make the Lexington Avenue Line station ADA-accessible. The northbound platform's elevator leads to the northeastern corner of that intersection, while the southbound platform's elevator leads to the northwestern corner.
Because the elevators are outside
fare control
In rail transport, the paid area is a dedicated "inner" zone in a railway station or metro station, accessible via turnstiles or other barriers, to get into which, visitors or passengers require a valid ticket, checked smartcard or a pass. A sys ...
, there is no free ADA-accessible transfer between the northbound and the southbound platforms; however, both of the IRT platforms are connected to the BMT Bridge Line platforms, and thus to each other and to the rest of the complex, via stairways.
The BMT Nassau Street Line platforms had two additional exits. One exit was accessible only from the now-abandoned eastern platform and had two staircases to the southeastern corner of Canal Street and Centre Street. The other exit, now converted to an emergency exit and crew rooms, is accessible from the passageway to the abandoned platform from the northbound BMT Broadway Line express platform. This exit leads to the northeastern corner of Canal Street and Centre Street, and features a provision for an escalator.
IRT Lexington Avenue Line platforms
The Canal Street station on the
IRT Lexington Avenue Line
The IRT Lexington Avenue Line (also known as the IRT East Side Line and the IRT Lexington–Fourth Avenue Line) is one of the lines of the A Division of the New York City Subway, stretching from Lower Manhattan north to 125th Street in Eas ...
is a local
station that has four tracks and two
side platform
A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platform ...
s. The
6 stops here at all times,
rush-hour and midday
<6> trains stop here in the peak direction;
and the
4 stops here during late nights.
The two express tracks are used by the 4 and
5 trains during daytime hours.
The platforms were originally long, as at other local stations on the original IRT,
but, as a result of the 1959 platform extensions, became long.
The platform extensions are at the north ends of the original platforms.
As with other stations built as part of the original IRT, the station was constructed using a
cut-and-cover
A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...
method.
The tunnel is covered by a "U"-shaped trough that contains utility pipes and wires. The bottom of this trough contains a
foundation
Foundation may refer to:
* Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization
** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S.
** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...
of
concrete
Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...
no less than thick.
Each platform consists of concrete slabs, beneath which are drainage basins. The platforms contain columns with white glazed tiles, spaced every . Additional columns between the tracks, spaced every , support the
jack-arched concrete station roofs.
There is a gap between the trough wall and the platform walls, which are made of -thick brick covered over by a tiled finish.
The original decorative scheme consisted of blue/green tile station-name tablets, green tile bands, a
buff
Buff or BUFF may refer to:
People
* Buff (surname), a list of people
* Buff (nickname), a list of people
* Johnny Buff, ring name of American world champion boxer John Lisky (1888–1955)
* Buff Bagwell, a ring name of American professional ...
terracotta cornice, and green terracotta plaques.
The mosaic tiles at all original IRT stations were manufactured by the American Encaustic Tile Company, which subcontracted the installations at each station.
The decorative work was performed by tile contractor Manhattan Glass Tile Company and terracotta contractor
Atlantic Terra Cotta Company
The Atlantic Terra Cotta Company, established in 1846 as A. Hall and Sons Terra Cotta, was founded in Perth Amboy, New Jersey due to Perth Amboy's rich supplies of clay. It was one of the first successful terra cotta companies in the United Stat ...
.
The ceilings of the original platforms and fare control areas contain plaster molding.
The newer portion has 1950s green tile at the end of the platforms. There are also
Independent Subway System
The Independent Subway System (IND or ISS), formerly known as the Independent City-Owned Subway System (ICOSS) or the Independent City-Owned Rapid Transit Railroad (ICORTR), was a rapid transit rail system in New York City that is now part of th ...
(IND)-type "To Canal Street" signs. New lights were installed. Non-original name tables and small "C" mosaics exist.
Image gallery
File:Canal Street IRT 1905.jpg, 1905 photo of station with the skylights the station once featured.
File:Canal Street IR 001.JPG, Terra-cotta plaque by Heins & LaFarge / Atlantic Terra Cotta Company
The Atlantic Terra Cotta Company, established in 1846 as A. Hall and Sons Terra Cotta, was founded in Perth Amboy, New Jersey due to Perth Amboy's rich supplies of clay. It was one of the first successful terra cotta companies in the United Stat ...
, 1904
File:Canal Street IRT 002.JPG, Name tablet by Heins & LaFarge / Manhattan Glass Tile Company, 1904
BMT Nassau Street Line platforms
The Canal Street station on the BMT Nassau Street Line has three tracks and two
island platform
An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...
s, but only the western island platform is accessible to passengers. The
J stops here at all times and the
Z stops here during rush hours in the peak direction.
Formerly, Canal Street resembled a typical express station, except that the inner tracks dead-ended at
bumper blocks at the south end with a platform-level connection joining the southern ends of the two platforms. These stub-end tracks were last used prior to 1994, when the station served as the southern terminus for weekend
J. After a reconfiguration of the Nassau Street Line in 2004, the eastern (former "northbound") platforms were abandoned and the platform-level connection was removed, allowing the former southbound express track to continue south. The westernmost (former "southbound") platform remains in operation and both tracks provide through service with southbound traffic using the former southbound "local" track and northbound traffic using the former southbound "express" track.
The former northbound local track is now used only for non-revenue moves, train storage and emergencies while the northbound express stub track was removed. The former northbound "local" track merges with the former southbound "express" track (now the northbound track) south of the station.
There was an opening in the center wall about from the end of the station that had a narrow platform, which was used by train crews to cross between trains on the center tracks. In 2004, this opening was sealed with new tiling as the eastern platform was in the process of being closed.
South of this station there are unused stub tracks that lead from
Chambers Street and used to connect to the southern tracks of the
Manhattan Bridge. These tracks were disconnected with the opening of the
Chrystie Street Connection in 1967 and now end at bumper blocks.
BMT Broadway Line platforms
The four platforms of Canal Street station, located on two levels, are depicted as the same station by the
MTA on maps, but contain two distinct station codes. Both are a part of the
BMT Broadway Line
The BMT Broadway Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway in Manhattan. , it is served by four services, all colored : the on the express tracks and the on the local tracks during weekdays (the N and Q train ...
. The upper level, the Main Line platforms, is for local trains traveling to Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn via the
Montague Street Tunnel
The Montague Street Tunnel is a rail tunnel of the New York City Subway under the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn, connecting the BMT Broadway Line and BMT Fourth Avenue Line. The R uses the tunnel at all times, the N u ...
. The lower level, the Bridge platforms, is for express trains coming from the
Manhattan Bridge.
In an art installation entitled ''Empress Voyage February 22, 1794'' (1998) by Bing Lee, the platforms feature mosaics containing
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
characters, reflecting the station's location in Chinatown. The symbols on the red wall plaques mean "money" and "luck" and the "Canal Street" name tablet has ideographs that read "China" and "Town." The platform walls also feature the station's name translated into Chinese characters ( zh, t=堅尼街華埠, p=Jiān ní jiē huá bù)
Main Line platforms (upper level)
The Canal Street station on the Main Line has four tracks and two
side platform
A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platform ...
s. The outer local tracks, the only ones to stop at this station, provide through service via the
Montague Street Tunnel
The Montague Street Tunnel is a rail tunnel of the New York City Subway under the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn, connecting the BMT Broadway Line and BMT Fourth Avenue Line. The R uses the tunnel at all times, the N u ...
. The
R stops here at all times except late nights, when it is replaced by the
N.
The
W stops here during weekdays.
The center tracks, which have never seen revenue service, begin at the unused lower level of
City Hall and run north to here, dead-ending at
bumper blocks about two-thirds of the way through. The center tracks can be used for layups, but this use has been completely made redundant with the nearby City Hall lower level being used as a layup yard instead.
Bridge Line platforms (lower level)
The Canal Street station on the Manhattan Bridge route has two tracks and two
side platform
A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platform ...
s. When it originally opened, this station was known as Broadway. The
N stops here at all times except late nights,
while the
Q stops here at all times.
Although technically located on the BMT Broadway Line, it was originally a distinct station from the main line, as the two stations were not directly connected. It is located on the lower level and oriented perpendicular to the other portions of the complex.
The original tile on this station read simply "Broadway" and there was a small either wood or metal sign attached to the wall beneath the tile name that read "Canal Street."
West of the station, the bridge tracks curve to the north, and ramp up between the tracks from the local upper level platform to form the express tracks. The tunnel continues straight ahead, past the diverge to the main line. The
bellmouths going westward from the west end of the station are a provision from the original plans and run for about . Sitting on one of the trackways is a storage building.
East of the station, the tracks cross the south side of the
Manhattan Bridge to enter
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
. There are disused trackways leading to the north side tracks of the bridge, which trains from these platforms used to travel on. These tracks were disconnected with the opening of the
Chrystie Street Connection in 1967 and no longer have rails or any other infrastructure.
Artwork detail
File:Canal BMT sb local plat tile band jeh.jpg, Main Line platform mosaic
File:Canal Street BMT 001.JPG, Bridge Line platform mosaic
File:Canal Street BMT 002.JPG, Name tablet mosaics
File:Empress Voyage 2.22.1794.jpg, A permanent art installation titled ''Empress Voyage February 22, 1794'' (1998) by Bing Lee in a passageway leading to the Bridge Line platforms
References
Further reading
*
External links
nycsubway.org:
*
*
*
* nycsubway.org
Canal Street Canal Artwork by Alexander Brodsky (1997) (no longer in display)* nycsubway.org
Empress Voyage 2/27/1784 Artwork by Bing Lee (1998) ''Public Service Record'', Volume IV, Number 9: September 1917
a collection of ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' articles from 1918 regarding the then-new BMT Broadway Line
Google Maps Street View:
Centre Street entrance south of Canal StreetCanal Street and Lafayette Street entranceCanal Street and Broadway entranceIRT Lexington Avenue Line southbound platformBMT Nassau Street Line platformBMT Broadway Line platforms (Main Line; Upper Level)BMT Broadway Line platforms (Bridge Line; Lower Level)
Other:
* Station Reporter
* Forgotten NY
Original 28 - NYC's First 28 Subway Stations* MTA's Arts For Transit
* Abandoned Stations
{{Broadway (Manhattan), state=collapsed
BMT Broadway Line stations
BMT Nassau Street Line stations
Broadway (Manhattan)
Chinatown, Manhattan
IRT Lexington Avenue Line stations
New York City Subway stations in Manhattan
New York City Subway stations located underground
New York City Subway transfer stations
SoHo, Manhattan
Tribeca