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| Re: Straw hats and cobble stones (1517955) | |||
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Re: Straw hats and cobble stones |
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Posted by Express Rider on Wed Jul 10 03:34:18 2019, in response to Re: Straw hats and cobble stones, posted by MainR3664 on Mon Jul 8 09:43:13 2019. Hello MainR3664 -You are correct in thinking that this abandoned stairway is above the ceiling of the Brooklyn bound platform - the original island platform opened yes, today, 114 years ago! I found this in the wiki article for Bowling Green station: "The station was originally built with a single island platform; a station head house at the south end, in Battery Park; and a secondary entrance at the northern end of the platform, adjacent to Bowling Green Park." - so the secondary entrance would have been the kiosk's location. This also means that the fare control area at the bottom of the staircase was probably pretty narrow. Can anyone here, who used or rode through Bowling Green station, back in the day, share any memories about this secondary entrance to the island platform and its fare control area? Also about when was this entrance closed? In addition there were two footnotes of historic interest: #6 - "SUBWAY TRAINS RUNNING FROM BRONX TO BATTERY; West Farms and South Ferry Stations Open at Midnight. START WITHOUT A HITCH Bowling Green Station Also Opened -- Lenox Avenue Locals Take City Hall Loop Hereafter" (PDF). This July 10, 1905 NY Times article, reports on the opening of the subway to the Bronx (West Farms) and to South Ferry. There are interesting descriptions of IRT local services in 1905 as well as those of the express. #9 "Architectural Designs For New York's First Subway", by David J. Framberger. Survey Number HAER NY-122, pp. 365-412. National Park Service Department of the Interior Washington, DC. 20240. Retrieved 26 December 2010. Reprinted at nycsubway.org. A long article disucssing the title. It looks like there's Lots of good info here. It includes the excerpt below about the original kiosks: The entrance and exits of many other stations were covered by kiosks. These highly ornate constructions in cast iron and glass ware inspired by similar structures of the Budapest underground railway, which Parsons presumably saw during his European visit.47 The final design was executed by Heins and LaFarge, but it is so similar to the Budapest model that it cannot be considered their own idea. One hundred thirty-three kiosks were manufactured by the Hecla Iron Works, Brooklyn, in four standard lengths of 17'2", 19', 21'8", and 25', and widths varying from 4'3" and larger.48 The roof designs differed so as to designate them as exits or entrances. The entrance kiosk featured a domed roof with leaf-like shingles of cast iron, while the exit was topped by a four-sided peaked skylight of one-quarter inch wire glass. ... Although the kiosks became almost trademarks of the IRT company-- they adorn the cover of the 1904 publication, Interborough Rapid Transit (a.k.a. The New York Subway)-- they were not highly successful additions to the streetscape of New York city. The targets of vandals and advertisers besides being impediments to traffic, the kiosks were gradually removed and not one [of the originals] exists today.* *IIRC (?) the article was written/pub'd. in about 1979. Years before the replica kiosk installed at Astor Place. IMHO, they should install a few more kiosk replicas at original locations. And yes, they do add to the NYC streetscape. And as for being impediments to traffic (vision), all those SUV's etc. on the streets impede vision much more. |
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