Seeing NYC Subway's Glamorous "Secret" Station

It is possible to find a remarkable bit of old New York these days in the same place where much of history is preserved: underground.

The City Hall subway station, renowned in its day for arches, colored glass tilework, skylights and brass chandeliers, is open to the public again, kind of.

The station first opened for use in 1904 and closed in 1945 as the types of cars used in subway transit evolved, but riders on the southbound 6 train on Manhattan's East Side can catch a glimpse of the station by simply staying on the train past the official terminus at Brooklyn Bridge, reports nycsubway.org, a non-profit historical subway enthusiast site not sanctioned by the MTA. From there, the 6 train turns around at City Hall, and riders can stay in the cars as the train makes the turn and catch a glimpse of the subway's glamorous past.

The City Hall station was the original southern terminal for the Interborough Rapid Transit subway, New York's first subway. Shortly after the subway opened, ridership skyrocketed and the city's leaders realized they needed to open more lines and accommodate more passengers. They started by lengthening trains and subway platforms, which made the City Hall station's long, curved platform incompatible with the subway system's future.

The station underwent massive renovations in the early 2000s in an effort to make it an extension of the New York Transit Museum. But the plans were shelved after 9/11 due to security concerns.

A VIP ceremony was held there on October 27, 2004, and for a few hours after, the station was open to the public once again, nycsubway.org reports. It has remained closed since.