Rector Street Station (IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line)
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The Rector Street station is a
station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle stati ...
on the
IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line The IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line (also known as the IRT Seventh Avenue Line or the IRT West Side Line) is a New York City Subway line. It is one of several lines that serves the A Division, stretching from South Ferry in Lower Manhatt ...
of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Rector Street and
Greenwich Street Greenwich Street is a north–south street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It extends from the intersection of Ninth Avenue and Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District at its northernmost end to its southern end at Battery ...
in
Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...
, it is served by the 1 train at all times. The station was built by the
Interborough Rapid Transit Company The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) was the private operator of New York City's original underground subway line that opened in 1904, as well as earlier elevated railways and additional rapid transit lines in New York City. The IRT ...
(IRT) as part of the
Dual Contracts The Dual Contracts, also known as the Dual Subway System, were contracts for the construction and/or rehabilitation and operation of rapid transit lines in the City of New York. The contracts were signed on March 19, 1913, by the Interborough Ra ...
with
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, and opened on July 1, 1918. The station's platforms were lengthened in the 1960s, and the station was renovated after being out of service for a year in the aftermath of the
September 11, 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...
.


History


Early history

The
Dual Contracts The Dual Contracts, also known as the Dual Subway System, were contracts for the construction and/or rehabilitation and operation of rapid transit lines in the City of New York. The contracts were signed on March 19, 1913, by the Interborough Ra ...
, which were signed on March 19, 1913, were contracts for the construction and/or rehabilitation and operation of rapid transit lines in the
City of New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. The contracts were "dual" in that they were signed between the City and two separate private companies (the
Interborough Rapid Transit Company The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) was the private operator of New York City's original underground subway line that opened in 1904, as well as earlier elevated railways and additional rapid transit lines in New York City. The IRT ...
and the
Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company The Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) was a public transit holding company formed in 1896 to acquire and consolidate railway lines in Brooklyn and Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. ...
), all working together to make the construction of the Dual Contracts possible. The Dual Contracts promised the construction of several lines in Brooklyn. As part of Contract 4, the IRT agreed to build a branch of the original subway line south down Seventh Avenue, Varick Street, and West Broadway to serve the West Side of Manhattan. The construction of this line, in conjunction with the construction of the Lexington Avenue Line, would change the operations of the IRT system. Instead of having trains go via Broadway, turning onto 42nd Street, before finally turning onto Park Avenue, there would be two trunk lines connected by the
42nd Street Shuttle The 42nd Street Shuttle is a New York City Subway shuttle train service that operates in Manhattan. The shuttle is sometimes referred to as the Grand Central/Times Square Shuttle, since these are the only two stations it serves. The shuttle ru ...
. The system would be changed from looking like a "Z" system on a map to an "H" system. One trunk would run via the new Lexington Avenue Line down Park Avenue, and the other trunk would run via the new Seventh Avenue Line up Broadway. In order for the line to continue down Varick Street and West Broadway, these streets needed to be widened, and two new streets were built, the Seventh Avenue Extension and the Varick Street Extension. It was predicted that the subway extension would lead to the growth of the Lower West Side, and to neighborhoods such as
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and
Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...
. Rector Street opened as part of an extension of the line from 34th Street–Penn Station to South Ferry on July 1, 1918. Initially, the station was served by a shuttle running from
Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...
to South Ferry. The new "H" system was implemented on August 1, 1918, joining the two halves of the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line and sending all West Side trains south from Times Square. An immediate result of the switch was the need to transfer using the 42nd Street Shuttle in order to retrace the original layout. The completion of the "H" system doubled the capacity of the IRT system.


Later years

The city government took over the IRT's operations on June 12, 1940. On August 9, 1964, the
New York City Transit Authority The New York City Transit Authority (also known as NYCTA, the TA, or simply Transit, and branded as MTA New York City Transit) is a New York state public-benefit corporations, public-benefit corporation in the U.S. state of New York (state), New ...
(NYCTA) announced the letting of a $7.6 million contract to lengthen platforms at stations from Rector Street to 34th Street–Penn Station on the line, and stations from Central Park North–110th Street to 145th Street on the Lenox Avenue Line to allow express trains to be lengthened from nine-car trains to ten-car trains, and to lengthen locals from eight-car trains to ten-car trains. With the completion of this project, the NYCTA project to lengthen IRT stations to accommodate ten-car trains would be complete. After the
September 11, 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...
, the subway tunnels around Cortlandt Street collapsed, and the line was closed temporarily. About of tunnels and trackage, including of totally destroyed tunnels and tracks in the vicinity of the
World Trade Center site The World Trade Center site, often referred to as "Ground zero#World Trade Center, Ground Zero" or "the Pile" immediately after the September 11 attacks, is a 14.6-acre (5.9 ha) area in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The site is bounde ...
, were entirely rebuilt. The station reopened on September 15, 2002. During the intervening period, the station was renovated. Due to water damage to South Ferry caused by
Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds span ...
, all 1 trains terminated at this station from October 2012 until April 4, 2013, when the former South Ferry Loop terminal station reopened.


Station layout

This underground station has two tracks and two
side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a railway platform, platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or bus rapid transit, transitway. ...
s. The 1 train stops here at all times. Each platform has mosaic trim line and name tablets of mostly green and brown. The tiles are painted light green below the "R" tablets.


Exits

This station has five fare control areas at three locations. There is no crossover between the uptown and downtown sides. On the northern end of the downtown platform, there are two High Entry/Exit Turnstiles leading to one street stair that goes up to the northwest corner of Rector and Greenwich Streets coming from two high entrance turnstiles directly on the platform. On the northern end of the uptown platform, a single staircase leads to the tiny, full-time mezzanine. It has a turnstile bank, token booth, and one street stair that leads to the north corner of Rector and Greenwich Streets. The north end of the uptown platform had an exit to the basement of
88 Greenwich Street 88 Greenwich Street, also known as the Greenwich Club Residences and previously as 19 Rector Street, is a building located on the southern side of Rector Street between Greenwich and Washington Streets in the Financial District of Manhattan, N ...
, which opened in 1931. The exit to 88 Greenwich Street had closed by 1941. In the middle of the downtown platform, two staircases lead up to a tiny intermediate level where a single exit-only turnstile leads to a staircase that goes up midblock on Greenwich Street between Rector and Edgar Streets. The south end of the downtown platform has HEET turnstiles leading to a single staircase that goes up to
Elizabeth H. Berger Plaza Elizabeth H. Berger Plaza is a public park in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City. formed by the triangular junction of Trinity Place, Greenwich Street and Edgar Street. It faces the Manhattan exit ramp from the Brooklyn–Battery ...
, just south of Edgar Street where Greenwich Street ends at the foot of the
Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel The Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel, officially the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel and commonly referred to as the Battery Tunnel or Battery Park Tunnel, is a tolled tunnel in New York City that connects Red Hook in Brooklyn with the Battery in Manhattan ...
. Directly across the street from this area, there are two street stairs that lead down to two HEET turnstiles on the uptown platform. These entrances are located directly across from another entrance to the separate Rector Street station on the
BMT Broadway Line The BMT Broadway Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division (New York City Subway), B Division of the New York City Subway in Manhattan. , it is served by four services, all colored : the on the express tracks and the on the local tracks d ...
.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rector Street (IRT Broadway-Seventh Avenue Line) IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line stations New York City Subway stations in Manhattan Financial District, Manhattan 1918 establishments in New York City