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[00:00.04]The first subway station in New York City

[00:05.00]was designed to be a masterpiece

[00:08.44]and was considered a "jewel in the crown" when it opened.

[00:15.28]The trains in New York City's public transportation system,

[00:20.16]its subway, mostly run underground.

[00:25.48]Today, the main concern of subway designers

[00:29.96]is that their systems work correctly.

[00:34.68]New York's subway opened in 1904.

[00:40.04]City Hall Station was one of New York City's

[00:44.56]first underground subway stations.

[00:49.12]Now called Old City Hall Station,

[00:52.76]it was built during a time

[00:55.60]when many public buildings and spaces

[00:59.40]were designed to appear majestic.

[01:03.32]The goal was to demonstrate

[01:05.72]that New York could compete culturally

[01:09.16]with great European cities, sometimes called metropolises.

[01:15.96]"It was a statement that New York City had arrived

[01:19.56]at the level of the great European metropolises

[01:23.56]like London and Paris, Rome, Madrid...

[01:28.20]that New York City was taking its place

[01:31.76]as a world city," said Clifton Hood.

[01:36.88]Hood is a history professor at Hobart

[01:40.44]and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York.

[01:45.48]Inside Old City Hall Station,

[01:48.48]the top is not flat in shape but curved instead.

[01:54.88]The walls rise up to create a high, round shape known as a vault.

[02:02.12]Square pieces of glass, called tiles, shine.

[02:08.56]Some of the lights in the station are called chandeliers.

[02:13.32]These are beautiful hanging lights

[02:17.12]that hold many individual light bulbs

[02:20.64]and look like huge pieces of jewelry.

[02:25.64]Polly Desjarlais is with the New York Transit Museum.

[02:30.40]She said she was "blown away"

[02:34.44]when she first saw the old station.

[02:38.60]She used words like "lovely, elegant

[02:42.88]and really unique space" to describe the station.

[02:48.96]"I've heard [the station]be described as a celebration of curves,

[02:54.44]because there are a lot of curves.

[02:57.00]Everything is sort-of rounded," Desjarlais said.

[03:02.44]But those beautiful curves are why the station

[03:06.52]is no longer part of the normal subway system.

[03:11.24]Its rounded platform cannot fit long trains.

[03:16.60]"The platform at City Hall is really curved.

[03:21.00]It's a very, very tight curve,

[03:24.00]and the platform itself is just over 200 feet long.

[03:29.76]So, it's short," Desjarlais said.

[03:33.40]"As the subway got busier...

[03:36.08]trains got longer, and we added cars...

[03:39.72]We were growing those platforms and making them longer..."

[03:45.40]Although it is no longer part of the subway system,

[03:49.32]Old City Hall Station is still being used.

[03:53.44]One train line, the No. 6,

[03:56.88]uses the Old City Hall Station to turn around.

[04:01.52]And while the public cannot enter the station from the street,

[04:06.72]the members of the New York Transit Museum

[04:10.68]can see the station a few times a year

[04:14.40]at a cost of about $50.

[04:17.48]Over the years, there have been ideas

[04:21.00]to make the old station a restaurant

[04:24.12]or a place for travelers to the city to visit.

[04:29.00]However, security concerns put those ideas to rest.

[04:34.48]Today, the unofficial way for the public to see the old station

[04:40.08]is by taking the No. 6 train

[04:43.12]and staying on after the last stop.

[04:48.24]Then, the train turns around at the Old City Hall Station,

[04:53.28]and riders will be able to see the majestic space.

[04:59.20]I'm Caty Weaver.

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Words in This Story

masterpiece–n. a work of outstanding art

jewel in the crown –expression something that is the best among similar, often costly or beautiful things

majestic–adj. having or showing extreme beauty

curved –adj. a smooth, rounded line or shape

bulb –n. an electric device that produces light

platform–n. an area where people stand to wait for or enter and exit a train