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Canal
Street Complex
This complex sits in the heart of Chinatown,
and serves the BMT N/Q/R trains along with the
IRT #6 (and late night only #4) trains, with the
BMT J trains. It is a classic example of a
Dual Contracts station, and is unusal for the
scope of work as one of two complex stations to
require the use of the Lower level platform in
order to transfer from one platform to another.
The 14th Street/7th Avenue
to 6th Ave station complex is the
other location because you must use the lower
level BMT L line platform in order to transfer
from the F to the 1/2/3 lines. The Fulton
Street/Broadway same can be done from Nassau St
complex does not really count because you can
transfer from either IRT East side 4/5 platform
to the northbound BMT J platform and the the
southbound J platform to the IRT West side 2/3
island platform without requiring the use of the
A/C platform. The entire complex was
completed in 1998 and features nice artwork
along the BMT Broadway Line platforms and
passageway. Each line travels in a
north-south direction, the R along Broadway, the
6 along Lafayette Street, and the J along Centre
Street. All of these lines are connected
to a lower level, running under Canal Street and
served by the N/Q lines. For some people,
especially tourists, it can be confusing to find
out which platform they are on and where they
have to go. However, NYCT has done
their best, under the circumstances they are
dealing with the limitations of a complex, in
installing directional signs. In recent
years, they have added signs along the lower
level station walls to identify the directions
of the lines they must walk to, and even posted
signs at the bottom of each staircase to the
lower level to note the N stops at the R upper
level platforms during late nights.
However, all of the signs are in English, and
there are no signs printed in Chinese.
Starting from the BMT R platform, let's work
our way to the newly realigned platform at the J
side.
BMT Broadway Upper level (On Broadway at
Canal Street) opened
9/6/1915: Also known as the Tunnel
platform. Station is 4 tracks on 2 side
platforms. The color on the bottom half of
the platform walls are burgundy. The 2
"express: tracks cannot be used at all, they
were part of the original plans to have BMT
Broadway express terminate at City Hall, Lower
Level. However, the BRT was able to use
the Manhattan Bridge tracks, and the express
lines were diverted over the Manhattan ridge,
thus this area is now disused. An old
abandoned tower or RTO facility now sits on the
north end on the express tracks; also this
section is where the platforms extended to the
north in the 1960's. The F/T booth is at
the northbound platform with 2 separate fare
controls (one to the Uptown R/W platform and the
other to the transfer passageway to other
lines), while the S/B platform has ghost booth
and 24/7 HEET access. Each side has 3 street
stairs. An underpass inside fare control at the
S/B side, connects both platforms and is part of
the transfer passageway to other lines within
this complex. The Canal Street name tablet
has Chinese writing symbols for "China" to the
left and "Town" to the right, together they are
appropriately named Chinatown. Between
each of the station tablets is a red mosaic that
means "Money" and "Luck", they are part of the
artwork in this station (see "Empress Voyage"
below) and is a sign of welcoming everybody who
uses this station.
We now descend down the transfer passageway
and at the wall end, is artwork. Titled
"Empress Voyage" by Bing Lee (1998), it shows
200 unique ancient Chinese designs spread out in
8 columns and 25 rows. Mr. Lee uses
ceramic tile and mosaics to create the 200
designs, as well as the "Money" and
"Luck" mosaics on both BM Broadway line
platforms. Facing the artwork, the
passageway splits up into 2 staircases, the left
for the Uptown N/Q trains, while the right side
is for the Brooklyn Bound N/Q trains. At
the same time, the lower level station doubles
as a passageway to the IRT #6 and BMT J/M/Z
lines. Both platforms have the same
transferability and features.
BMT Broadway Line, Lower Level (On Canal
Street between Broadway and Centre Street )
Opened 9/13/1915: Just 7 days
after the upper level BMT Broadway subway
opened, the last connecting piece to the entire
complex opened. More affectingly know as the
"Bridge" platform for it is the only access to
the Manhattan Bridge, it has 2 tracks on 2 side
platforms. In order to avoid confusion with
the upper level, the tile on the bottom of the
wall is green, the tile band is green wrapped
around by purple/yellow and "Canal Street"
letters are purple lettering on yellow
background. The platform extensions is
clearly to the north and is tunneled shaped at
this end, a route selector box is also on the
Brooklyn-bound side to allow Train Operators to
select their routes before crossing the bridge.
There are 4 staircases along each platform and
in order from north to south, they are as
follows (all are 1 staircase each): BMT
R/W platforms, IRT Downtown #6, IRT Uptown #6,
and BMT Nassau St J/M/Z island platform.
At the last 2 staircases on the Brooklyn-bound
platform, there are safety bars to
prevent anyone from accidentally falling down to
the roadbed when coming off from the staircase.
IRT East Side Lexington Ave (On Lafayette
Ave at Canal Street) opened
10/27/1904: This station is part of
the original IRT route, and was expanded during
the 1950's platform extensions. Until the
1970's, it was the only area to prohibit free
transfers to other lines within the complex, the
relocation of turnstiles now permitted free
transfers in 1977-78. The station has IND
faux Canal St. tablets and green C's along the
top of the station tile. At the far north
end of the northbound platform, a "C" mosaics is
not properly aligned with the rest of the C's on
both sides. Full time side is at
northbound end, with HEET access at one stair
opposite fare control. S/B side has ghost
booth (removed during renovation to this
station), and 2 sets of HEETs. Each side has an
ADA elevator; access is only available to the
IRT platforms, not to rest of the station
complex. The original 1904 "C" ceramic
mosaic is preserved after the renovation,
however the 1904 station same tablets may be
authentic looking replicas.
BMT Nassau Street (On Centre Street at
Canal Street) Opened 3/14/1913:
Station is now 2 active tracks on 1 island
platform, in October 2004 NYCT completed a
dramatic realignment of the Nassau Street line
from south of Canal Street to Essex Street.
Before the realignment, the station was 4 tracks
on 2 island platforms, today the west platform
is used for all trains running in both
directions, while the east platform is now
abandoned and sealed. This area has one
F/T booth to the S/W corner of Centre and Canal
Streets, there is at least 1 ghost booth and 1
closed exit on the east side of Centre Street,
they were sealed prior to the start of the
realignment project. The Canal Street
mosaics are restored along with new wall and
floor tiles. Prior to the start of the
realignment, the station was used as a on
again-off again terminal, the last time it was
used as a terminal was when weekend J service
from Jamaica Center, ended here in 1990.
After a couple of years, the weekend J was
restored to Chambers Street. It also
had a passageway in front of bumper blocks that
allowed customers to go from one platform to the
other without using the crossunder passageway.
Today the last surviving platform-level
crossover can be found at Brooklyn
College-Flatbush Ave IRT station.
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According to the MTA Web Site
"...Bing Lee's Empress Voyage commemorates the pioneering
expedition of the American merchant ship, Empress of China,
which in 1794 returned to New York harbor filled with silk, tea,
and porcelain (commonly called china, due to its origin).
Through the artist's lighthearted use of Chinese-derived icons,
the tiles illustrate aspects of the then-new trade with Asia and
celebrates today's Chinatown. On the platforms, interlocking
teapots incorporate the Chinese symbol for "good life." Other
symbols, on the station's upper level, are variations on the
symbols for "Asia," "quality," and "cycle." As trains arrive,
debarking passengers are given a choice of reading "Canal
Street" in English or the Chinese characters for "Chinatown." "I
want to give the viewers art that reminds them of history, but
also speaks directly to them," says Lee, "something meaningful
but also playful."
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