THE ORIGINAL CITY HALL SUBWAY STATION CLOSED IN 1945, and since then has remained hidden as we, unawares of the beauty below us, dragged our sorry asses from home to work and back again. Now we can glimpse what used to be. If you stay on the #6 train, past the final stop--the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall station--you will make a u-turn (don’t freak out; transit officials allow riders to stay aboard for the u-turn) until you are facing up-town. Beforehand, get yourself to a front window (sadly, newer cars have double front windows, killing one of the true joys of subway riding). Peering through the dark, you catch a glimpse of the past, the original City-Hall station, opened in 1904 and considered the crown jewel of the New York Subway System. For more info on this treasure, visit Forgotten New York.
-- Doreen He