Rector Street station (IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line)

Rector Street is a station on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Rector Street and Greenwich Street in Lower Manhattan, it is served by the 1 train at all times.

Rector Street
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Uptown platform
Station statistics
Address	Rector Street & Greenwich Street New York, NY 10006[1]
Borough	Manhattan
Locale	Financial District
Coordinates	40.708°N 74.013°W
Division	A (IRT)
Line	IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line
Services	1  (all times)
Transit	NYCT Bus: M55, X27, X28 MTA Bus: BM1, BM2, BM3, BM4[2]
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Other information
Opened	July 1, 1918
Closed	September 11, 2001
Rebuilt	September 15, 2002
Station code	329[3]
Opposite- direction transfer	No
Traffic
2019	2,554,523[4]  7.6%
Rank	189 out of 424[4]
Station succession
Next north	WTC Cortlandt: 1
Next south	South Ferry: 1  South Ferry loops: no service
Location
Track layout to WTC Cortlandt to South Ferry
Street map
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times Stops weekends only

The station was built by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) and opened in 1918 as part of the Dual Contracts. 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.

History

Early history

Mosaic name of the station

The Dual Contracts, 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. The contracts were "dual" in that they were signed between the City and two separate private companies (the Interborough Rapid Transit Company and the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company), 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.[5][6][7]

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 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.[8] It was predicted that the subway extension would lead to the growth of the Lower West Side, and to neighborhoods such as Chelsea and Greenwich Village.[9][10]

Rector Street opened as the line was extended south to South Ferry from 34th Street–Penn Station on July 1, 1918, and was served by a shuttle.[11] 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.[12] 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.[9]

Later years

Close-up of one of the wall mosaics with the letter "R"

On August 9, 1964, the New York City Transit Authority (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.[13]

After the September 11, 2001 attacks, the subway tunnels around Cortlandt Street collapsed, and the line was closed temporarily. About 1,000 feet (300 m) of tunnels and trackage, including 575 feet (175 m) of totally destroyed tunnels and tracks in the vicinity of the World Trade Center site, were entirely rebuilt.[14] The station reopened on September 15, 2002.[15] During the intervening period, the station was renovated.

Due to water damage to South Ferry caused by Hurricane Sandy, all 1 trains terminated at this station from October 2012 until April 4, 2013, when the former South Ferry Loop terminal station reopened.[16]

Station layout

G	Street level	Entrances/exits
P Platform level	Side platform
	Northbound	← toward 242nd Street (WTC Cortlandt)
	Southbound	→ toward South Ferry (Terminus) → → No service: South Ferry loops
	Side platform

This underground station has two tracks and two side platforms.[17] The 1 train stops here at all times.[18]

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

Northbound entrance at Edgar Street

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.[19] The north end of the uptown platform had an exit to the basement of 88 Greenwich Street, which opened in 1931.[20] The exit to 88 Greenwich Street had closed by 1941.[21]

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.[19]

The south end of the downtown platform has HEET turnstiles leading to a single staircase that goes up to Elizabeth H. Berger Plaza, just south of Edgar Street where Greenwich Street ends at the foot of the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel. 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.[19]

Lower Manhattan transit
1  Franklin Street Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall  4  ​ 5  (  6 )  1  ​ 2  ​ 3  Chambers Street Chambers Street  J  ​ Z   A  ​ C  (  E ) Chambers Street–WTC City Hall  R  ​ W   2  ​ 3  Park Place  1  WTC Cortlandt Cortlandt Street  R  ​ W  (  HOB   NWK ) World Trade Center Fulton Street  2  ​ 3 ​  4  ​ 5 ​  A  ​ C ​  J  ​ Z   1  Rector Street Rector Street  R  ​ W   4  ​ 5  Wall Street Wall Street  2  ​ 3   4  ​ 5  Bowling Green Broad Street (  J  ​ Z )  R  (  1   W ) South Ferry/Whitehall Street Whitehall Terminal South Ferry loops

References

1. "Borough of Manhattan, New York City". Government of New York City. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
2. "Manhattan Bus Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. July 2019. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
3. "Station Developers' Information". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
4. "Facts and Figures: Annual Subway Ridership 2014–2019". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
5. New Subways For New York: The Dual System of Rapid Transit. New York State Public Service Commission. March 19, 1913. Retrieved February 16, 2015.
6. The Dual System of Rapid Transit. New York State Public Service Commission. September 1912. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
7. "Most Recent Map of the Dual Subway System Which Shows How Brooklyn Borough Is Favored In New Transit Lines". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. September 9, 1917. p. 37. Retrieved August 23, 2016 – via Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com.
8. Engineering News-record. McGraw-Hill Publishing Company. 1916. p. 846.
9. Whitney, Travis H. (March 10, 1918). "The Seventh and Lexington Avenue Subways Will Revive Dormant Sections". The New York Times. p. 12. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
10. "Public Service Commission Fixes July 15 For Opening of The New Seventh and Lexington Avenue Subway Lines". The New York Times. May 19, 1918. p. 32. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
11. "Open New Subway to Regular Traffic". The New York Times. July 2, 1918. p. 11. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
12. "Open New Subway Lines to Traffic; Called a Triumph". The New York Times. August 2, 1918. p. 1. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
13. "IRT Riders To Get More Train Room; $8.5 Million Is Allocated for Longer Stations and for 3 New Car Washers". The New York Times. August 10, 1964. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
14. Kennedy, Randy (January 4, 2002). "Subway Line In Attack May Reopen Much Earlier". The New York Times. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
15. Kennedy, Randy (September 17, 2002). "Tunnel Vision; With Station's Reopening, Even Commuters Smile". The New York Times. Retrieved October 6, 2007.
16. "Archived copy". mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Archived from the original on December 16, 2013. Retrieved May 1, 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
17. Dougherty, Peter (2006) [2002]. Tracks of the New York City Subway 2006 (3rd ed.). Dougherty. OCLC 49777633 – via Google Books.
18. "1 Subway Timetable, Effective September 13, 2020". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
19. "Rector Street Neighborhood Map". mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. April 2018. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
20. Eleventh Annual Report For The Calendar Year 1931. New York State Transit Commission. p. 74.
21. Appeals, New York (State) Court of (1942). New York Court of Appeals. Records and Briefs. pp. 40, 143–148.

External links

• nycsubway.org – IRT West Side Line: Rector Street
• Station Reporter – 1 Train
• Rector Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• South entrance near Brooklyn Battery Tunnel from Google Maps Street View
• Platforms from Google Maps Street View