Astor Place station

Construction and opening[edit]

Planning for a subway line in New York City dates to 1864.^[6]: 21 However, development of what would become the city's first subway line did not start until 1894, when the New York State Legislature passed the Rapid Transit Act.^{[6]: 139–140} The subway plans were drawn up by a team of engineers led by William Barclay Parsons, the Rapid Transit Commission's chief engineer. It called for a subway line from New York City Hall in lower Manhattan to the Upper West Side, where two branches would lead north into the Bronx.^[5]: 3 A plan was formally adopted in 1897,^[6]: 148 and all legal conflicts concerning the route alignment were resolved near the end of 1899.^[6]: 161 The Rapid Transit Construction Company, organized by John B. McDonald and funded by August Belmont Jr., signed the initial Contract 1 with the Rapid Transit Commission in February 1900,^[7] in which it would construct the subway and maintain a 50-year operating lease from the opening of the line.^[6]: 165 In 1901, the firm of Heins & LaFarge was hired to design the underground stations.^[5]: 4 Belmont incorporated the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) in April 1902 to operate the subway.^[6]: 182


The Astor Place station was constructed as part of the route segment from Great Jones Street to 41st Street. Construction on this section of the line began on September 12, 1900. The section from Great Jones Street to a point 100 feet (30 m) north of 33rd Street was awarded to Holbrook, Cabot & Daly Contracting Company.^[7] In the vicinity of the Astor Place station, the subway was to run under Lafayette Street,^[8][9]: 17 a new thoroughfare constructed between 1897^[10] and 1905.^[11] This involved widening, connecting, and renaming two formerly unconnected streets: Elm Street, which ran south of Houston Street, and Lafayette Place, which ran north of Great Jones Street to an intersection with Astor Place.^{[8][9]: 17–18 [12]} The southward extension of Lafayette Street and the construction of the subway required the demolition or underpinning of several buildings in the street's path. This resulted in the creation of narrow land lots on either side of Lafayette Street between Houston and Great Jones Streets, slightly south of the Astor Place station's site.^[8][9]: 18 By late 1903, the subway was nearly complete, but the IRT Powerhouse and the system's electrical substations were still under construction, delaying the system's opening.^{[6]: 186 [13]} As late as October 26, 1904, the day before the subway was scheduled to open, the wall on the southbound platform next to the Wanamaker's store was incomplete.^[14]


The Astor Place station opened on October 27, 1904, as one of the original 28 stations of the New York City Subway from City Hall to 145th Street on the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line.^{[6]: 186 [2]} The opening of the first subway line, and particularly the Astor Place station, helped contribute to more development in the East Village; while the neighborhood was already densely populated at the time, the new subway provided connections to other parts of the city.^[4]: 10 After the first subway line was completed in 1908,^[15] the station was served by local trains along both the West Side (now the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line to Van Cortlandt Park–242nd Street) and East Side (now the Lenox Avenue Line). West Side local trains had their southern terminus at City Hall during rush hours and South Ferry at other times, and had their northern terminus at 242nd Street. East Side local trains ran from City Hall to Lenox Avenue (145th Street).^[16]