City Hall (IRT Lexington Avenue Line) - Current Status

Current Status

In April 1995, federal grant money was sought to reopen the station as a branch of the New York Transit Museum, which occasionally ran tours of the station as part of its popular "Day 1 of the IRT" and "Beneath City Hall" packages. In late 1998, due to perceived security risks in the area around City Hall after terrorist bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, the station was declared a "highly secure" area by the Giuliani administration. Plans for the museum annex were abandoned and museum tours ceased for several years.

On the surface, all that can be seen is a concrete slab inset with glass tiles, the skylights for the platform below. This patch of concrete is in the middle of a grove of dogwoods in front of City Hall, close to Broadway.

For the 2004 Centennial Celebration, one of the street entrances was restored (and presently resembles a modern station entrance), and the station was opened for the duration of the celebration. Otherwise, the station is now used only as an emergency exit.

As of 2006, tours of the station are once again being conducted, by the staff of the Transit Museum. However, at present, tours are only open to registered members of the museum and require advance payment and reservations.

The station can also be seen by passengers who remain on the downtown 6 <6> trains as they travel around the loop to head back uptown. The loop track is classified as revenue track, and the newest announcement programs on the R142A subway cars announce at Brooklyn Bridge: "This is the last downtown stop on this train. The next stop will be Brooklyn Bridge – City Hall on the uptown platform." A further announcement follows, warning passengers to remain inside the car at all times.

According to the travel magazine, Travel + Leisure, the station was ranked 12th in its list of "the most beautiful subway stations in the world" in November 2009.