Whitehall/South Ferry Complex

Is now open as of 3/16/09. It will allow a free transfer between Whitehall (See R Train ,former  W Train pages) and South Ferry (see 1 Train page)

Whitehall Street South Ferry (Whitehall Street at State/Water Streets)  Opened 4/14/1918:  Station has 3 tracks on 2 island platforms, this is the southern terminal for W trains which use the middle track, while the R uses the wall tracks.  It serves the Staten Island Ferry upstairs and was renovated by a contractor in the mid-1990's.  It is also slated to be ADA accessible, via a new free transfer connection to the IRT 1/9 at the new South Ferry station.  Construction of this new transfer is expected to start next year and be completed in 2008.  F/T side is at south end by State/Water Streets and has 2 street stairs; P/T side at Stone Street on the north end has 3 street stairs.  There are replicas of original BMT directional signs at both ends of the station and the font appears to be the same as the restored directional tablets at Cortlandt St station. The BMT mosaics on the platform walls are preserved, it depicts a painting of the Whitehall building, and home of the first governor of Niev Amsterdam, Peter Stuyvesant. Artwork:   "Passages" by Frank Giorgini (2000), use ceramic plaques along both mezzanine and escalator areas to depict birds in flight, and the passage of time in different eras, from the prior to the first settlement and the birth in NYC (pre 1624), to the ships in NY Harbor in the 19th Century, to the modern skyline today.   Also, at the lower point of the escalator/mezzanine level at the south end (F/T) side, 3-dimensional fish are etched into the floor tile

South Ferry Terminal

This station was built  by Judlau  in 2009 and is a completely new station in a new location from the former station

The station has two tracks and an island platform. The platform floor is rose colored tile with black, dark brown and dark gray accents and track walks are white melamine. The dispatcher is located at the North end in a large glass enclosed area. Benches are metal with no back (meaning you can face either way.)

There are three exits, all fully ADA compliant. 

The North exit leads to Battery Park, State Street and Pearl Street. Escalator leads to an intermediate level with another escalator to street level HEETs. A temporary canopy was found here at street level at Peter Minuet Plaza which is still being restored.  

The center exit leads to South Ferry, Whitehall Street and State Street. There is an escalator here and a glass arched canopy at the street level which has access via HEETs. The intermediate level runs from Southwest to Northeast and allows a train spotter’s view of track and platform

The main exit is at the South end. Escalators bypass the intermediate level which has a gray speckled floor tile and is glass enclosed thereby allowing a train spotter’s dream view of trains and the platform.

The main mezzanine has a view of a historic wall, made of rubble stone, located on the wall behind the booth. This is the wall which delayed work on the station. The main exit leads to the ferry terminal which is across a small plaza area. This exit has a glass canopy.

The artwork on the station is entitled “See it split, see it change” by Doug and Mike Starn. It is fused glass, stone and mosaic. As part of the artwork is a mosaic topographic map of Manhattan from South Ferry to 135 Street

The railing separating the paid and unpaid area feature metal leaves and stems. The booth is located in the passageway to the R and W- mere feet from the  now ghost R-W Full time booth, which was closed in favor of the IRT Booth.

Artwork is by Doug and Mike Starn and is entitled See it split, see it change, and was installed  2009. According to the MTA web site "...The new monumental work at the South Ferry Terminal by Mike and Doug Starn investigates the nature of objects and transformation using light and documentary sources. A fused glass wall reveals images of tree limbs and leaves in silhouette adapted from photographic imagery. These formations relate to the place above, Battery Park, the historic fortress and Manhattan's southern boundary. The glass brings light and poetry to the station, the City's first new subway station in decades.