Home Subway History Throwback Thursday: Canal St. ca. 1980

Throwback Thursday: Canal St. ca. 1980

by Benjamin Kabak

[Canal Street station.]

I recently found myself exploring the voluminous image archives the Museum of the City of New York has made publicly available via their Collections website, and wow, is that a great way to get lost on the Internet for good chunk of time. They have, unsurprisingly, a good number of images showing subway construction and subway history, and I’m going to showcase some of my favorites in the coming weeks.

The week’s entry is a glimpse inside the Canal St. station from around 1980. I love the old signage with the QB and RR trains, the Jennifer Convertibles add and the general sense of decay that pervades the station. A similar photo from this set shows signage from the time when both of the BMT Nassau St. platforms were in service. The western most set of tracks is now no longer in use but remains visible from today’s J/M/Z platform. The garbage can in front of the sign in that one is a nice touch.

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7 comments

JMB January 16, 2014 - 4:42 pm

Oh man, I go down this staircase everyday on my from the uptown 6 to the Brooklyn-bound N. That electronic sign is still there to this day! I can’t believe it was around in 1980 (probably telling riders back then useless info as well).

Any idea where that little door goes to? I don’t seem to recall seeing it during my commute,…wondering if they tiled it over.

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JMB January 16, 2014 - 4:43 pm

Actually, just realized my error: this must be the other side. Reason is that i always hook left to go to BK, but in this pic its to the left. Im guessing this is the transfer for the downtown 6 to N train.

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JMB January 16, 2014 - 4:44 pm

*argh, right! I always hook right

/long day

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Woodwind January 16, 2014 - 5:00 pm

I think I ordered a couch from Jennifer Convertibles based on that ad. I’m still waiting for it.

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alek January 16, 2014 - 10:51 pm

Ben,

The (7) work schedule is posted on the MTA website:

http://web.mta.info/nyct/servi.....hedule.htm

It doesn’t look good on the weekend of May 3rd and May 15th no 7 between 74th st and Times Square. Then reduced service btwn Queensboro and 74th st.

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Tif September 24, 2023 - 11:04 am

Thank you so much for sharing, it’s really important.

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Fagaza September 24, 2023 - 11:04 am

Stock photos have become my compass in navigating the vast sea of imagination. They chart a course through bakery background the boundless possibilities, helping me bring my creative visions to life. With every image I select, I embark on a journey of discovery, turning abstract concepts into tangible, visually captivating realities.

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