Worth Street (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)
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The Worth Street station was a local
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on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line of the
New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...
. It is located at Lafayette Street and
Worth Street Worth Street is a two-way street running roughly northwest-southeast in Manhattan, New York City. It runs from Hudson Street, TriBeCa Tribeca (), originally written as TriBeCa, is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. Its na ...
, in Civic Center,
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 ...
. The Worth Street station was constructed for the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) as part of the city's first subway line, which was approved in 1900. Construction of the line segment that includes the Worth Street station started on July 10 of the same year. The station opened on October 27, 1904, as one of the original 28 stations of the New York City Subway. The southbound platform was lengthened in the late 1940s. The station was closed on September 1, 1962, as a result of a platform lengthening project at Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall. The Worth Street station contains two abandoned
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 platforms ...
s and four tracks. The station was built with tile and mosaic decorations. Many of these decorations have been covered with graffiti.


History


Construction and opening

Planning for a
subway Subway, Subways, The Subway, or The Subways may refer to: Transportation * Subway, a term for underground rapid transit rail systems * Subway (underpass), a type of walkway that passes underneath an obstacle * Subway (George Bush Interconti ...
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 official ...
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
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in
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to the
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, 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 John B. McDonald (November 7, 1844 – March 17, 1911) was an Irish people, Irish-born contractor who is best known for overseeing construction of the first New York City Subway line from 1900 to 1904. Early life John B. McDonald was born on Nov ...
and funded by
August Belmont Jr. August Belmont Jr. (February 18, 1853 – December 10, 1924) was an American financier. He financed the construction of the original New York City subway (1900–1904) and for many years headed the Interborough Rapid Transit Company, which ran ...
, 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 (IRT) in April 1902 to operate the subway. The Worth 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. By late 1903, the subway was nearly complete, but the IRT Powerhouse and the system's
electrical substation A substation is a part of an electrical generation, transmission, and distribution system. Substations transform voltage from high to low, or the reverse, or perform any of several other important functions. Between the generating station and ...
s were still under construction, delaying the system's opening. The Worth Street station opened on October 27, 1904, as one of the original 28 stations of the New York City Subway from
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to 145th Street on the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line. The first collision in the history of the New York City Subway system occurred at the station on January 11, 1905. On that date, the motorman of a southbound Lenox Avenue train did not obey a caution signal at the Spring Street station, which indicated that there was a train ahead between Canal Street and Worth Street, and collided into a Broadway train that was stopped at Worth Street, waiting for a signal to clear. The accident shattered the glass in the rear car of the Broadway train, and the first two cars of the Lenox Avenue train. Six people were hurt by falling glass. The accident could have been averted if the local tracks had automatic tripping devices, which were present on the express tracks. The installation of these devices on the local tracks was considered to be impractical due to the high frequency of local service. The accident only resulted in a ten minute delay in service, and after it was determined no people were killed, the trains proceeded in regular service.


Service changes and station renovations

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). On March 20, 1906, the IRT tested a vacuum cleaner connected to a portable wagon plant to clean the station. It found that it was very successful at removing dust from the station's tiling and woodwork, and at removing greasy dirt from girders. To address overcrowding, in 1909, the New York Public Service Commission 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. The northbound platform of the Worth Street station was extended about northward into the "electric manhole", a passageway leading to the equipment closet. The southbound platform was extended into the "manholes" in either direction. Six-car local trains began operating in October 1910. The Lexington Avenue Line opened north of
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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 Worth 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. The city government took over the IRT's operations on June 12, 1940. The downtown platform was lengthened in 1948 by the
New York City Board of Transportation The New York City Board of Transportation or the Board of Transportation of the City of New York (NYCBOT or BOT) was a city transit commission and operator in New York City, consisting of three members appointed by the mayor. It was created in ...
, providing for the full length of a ten-car, train. 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 to the north. The Worth Street station would be closed as it would only be 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. The station was closed on September 1, 1962 with the completion of work at Brooklyn Bridge. While the opening of new entrance at the northwest corner of Reade Street and Lafayette Street on that date, it ended up opening a week later. After the Worth Street station's closure, Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall was renamed Brooklyn Bridge–Worth Street. The name change was reverted in 1995.


Station layout

Like other local stations, Worth Street has four tracks and two abandoned
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 platforms ...
s. The two local tracks, which formerly served the station, are used by the 6 train at all times, <6> trains during weekdays in the peak direction, and the 4 train 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. The southbound platform later became long. The platforms were curved significantly. The curves made it impossible for all doors on trains to open at the station, when it was in use, and many accidents occurred at the large gaps between trains and the platforms. Wide fare control areas were located at the southern end of the platforms. As with other stations built as part of the original IRT, the station was constructed using a cut-and-cover method. The tunnel is covered by a "U"-shaped trough that contains utility pipes and wires. The bottom of this trough contains a foundation 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 wi ...
no less than thick. Each former platform consists of concrete slabs, beneath which are drainage basins. The former platforms contain glazed tile columns spaced every . Alternating platform columns had tiles reading "WORTH". Additional columns between the tracks, spaced every , support the jack-arched concrete station roofs. Alternating columns between the local and express tracks had black on white signs reading "Worth." 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 decorative scheme consisted of blue/green tile tablets, buff tile bands, a green terracotta cornice, and buff 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 station walls had shields with the white letter "W". The station's walls and columns have been heavily covered with graffiti. The station lies beneath the sidewalk on the west side of
Foley Square Foley Square, also called Federal Plaza, is a street intersection in the Civic Center neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City, which contains a small triangular park named Thomas Paine Park. The space is bordered by Worth Street to the ...
. 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.


See also

*
18th Street (IRT Lexington Avenue Line) The 18th Street station was a local station on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. It was located at the intersection of Park Avenue South and 18th Street in Gramercy, Manhattan. The 18th Street station was constructed ...
* 91st Street (IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line)


References


External links

* * Abandoned Stations â€
Worth Street
* Forgotten NY â€
Original 28 - NYC's First 28 Subway Stations
{{NYCS stations navbox, lexington=yes Defunct Interborough Rapid Transit Company stations IRT Lexington Avenue Line stations Railway stations in the United States opened in 1904 Railway stations closed in 1962 1904 establishments in New York City 1962 disestablishments in New York (state) Former elevated and subway stations in Manhattan Civic Center, Manhattan