Chambers St (BMT Jamaica Line)
Lines:
BMT Jamaica Line
(transfer to Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall)
List of closed areas:
Chambers St was built as a grandiose terminal station for the BMT Jamaica Line when it was extended south of Essex St station in 1913.
The station, which was built to serve the (at the time) busy area around the Manhattan Municipal Building, City Hall, and Brooklyn Bridge, was built with four tracks - with platforms on either side of each track - and a multitude of entrances. However, as Midtown Manhattan became the prime location of business interests, the station eventually became less popular, and many parts of the station were closed off.
By the 1930s, the side platforms and the central island platform between both center tracks, which led to a relay track south of the station, were closed. When the nearby Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall IRT station was lengthened to the north, part of the western side platform (for southbound trains to Broad St station and Brooklyn) had to be demolished to accommodate the northbound local track of the Lexington Avenue Line, as it was relocated slightly eastward into the side platform to allow for a platform extension at the IRT station to be built.
Many of the station's entrances were also closed. At the station's northern mezzanine, an easement entrance from this mezzanine into the US Federal Courthouse was closed, and a lot of the area around it was repurposed into employee facilities. An entrance at the northwestern corner of Duane Street and Centre Street was closed and also repurposed into employee facilities. It was located close to the only open entrance at the northern mezzanine. At the station's southern mezzanine, three different stairs were closed, which all led to the same plaza under the Manhattan Municipal Building as the only open entrance. Two were repurposed into employee facilities and equipment rooms, while one was removed entirely except for a facade at street level.
Pictures of the closed platforms and exits can be viewed in the following gallery below:
BMT Jamaica Line
(transfer to Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall)
List of closed areas:
- Closed side platforms & central island platform
- Closed exits to:
- Plaza at 1 Centre St, south of Chambers St
- Duane St & Centre St (NW)
- US Federal Courthouse, via easement passage
Chambers St was built as a grandiose terminal station for the BMT Jamaica Line when it was extended south of Essex St station in 1913.
The station, which was built to serve the (at the time) busy area around the Manhattan Municipal Building, City Hall, and Brooklyn Bridge, was built with four tracks - with platforms on either side of each track - and a multitude of entrances. However, as Midtown Manhattan became the prime location of business interests, the station eventually became less popular, and many parts of the station were closed off.
By the 1930s, the side platforms and the central island platform between both center tracks, which led to a relay track south of the station, were closed. When the nearby Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall IRT station was lengthened to the north, part of the western side platform (for southbound trains to Broad St station and Brooklyn) had to be demolished to accommodate the northbound local track of the Lexington Avenue Line, as it was relocated slightly eastward into the side platform to allow for a platform extension at the IRT station to be built.
Many of the station's entrances were also closed. At the station's northern mezzanine, an easement entrance from this mezzanine into the US Federal Courthouse was closed, and a lot of the area around it was repurposed into employee facilities. An entrance at the northwestern corner of Duane Street and Centre Street was closed and also repurposed into employee facilities. It was located close to the only open entrance at the northern mezzanine. At the station's southern mezzanine, three different stairs were closed, which all led to the same plaza under the Manhattan Municipal Building as the only open entrance. Two were repurposed into employee facilities and equipment rooms, while one was removed entirely except for a facade at street level.
Pictures of the closed platforms and exits can be viewed in the following gallery below: