Wet Paint signs portend an impending opening. (Photo by Matthew Denker)
Last night, on my way back to Brooklyn via an N local train, we slowly rolled past Cortlandt St., and I noted how the station no longer resembled a construction site. At least on the northbound platform, everything is nearly in place. The turnstiles and fences have been installed; the MetroCard Vending Machines are in place; the token booth is back.
According to MTA documents, the northbound platform itself will reopen in December, but the Dey St. connector won’t open until 2012. This morning, Matthew Denker sent me the above photo, and although wooden fencing still blocks the new staircase, the construction sheds no longer cover the station entrance. Transit is clearly gearing up for a reopening.
Shuttered since 2005 and a short walk from both the Rector St. and City Hall stops along the BMT Broadway line, the four-year absence of this station hasn’t been as bad for the area as it could have been. Lower Manhattan workers and residents and Century 21 shoppers, though, will be happy to see it reopen. I wonder, ifthe Dey St. passageway and the out-of-system connection to the Fulton St. subways will be featured on the sign in two or three years. Slowly, slowly, the pieces of the Fulton St. Hub are opening up.
11 comments
Ben,
Sorry to burst your bubble, but the Dey St. Connector is still some ways off from opening. While the shell is complete, the MTA isn’t planning on finishing it until the Dey St. Headhouse is completed in 2012 (or so). Until then, the connector wouldn’t be useful.
This is just a one off, but will be useful for those shopping at Century 21 for the Holidays!
You’re right. I even reported on that date in May. I’ll edit the post.
There are also three northbound entrances to the station, one on either side of Dey St and one just north of Cortlandt St. If this photo was taken at the southernmost (Cortlandt) entrance – I can’t tell from the photo – it probably wouldn’t connect to the Dey St connector anyway.
Then again, there is an unpaid connection between the Wall St. 4/5 and the Broad St. J/M/Z station, but the outdoor signs don’t tell you that either.
I believe that the photo is of the entrance between Dey St. and Fulton St.
Those trees in the churchyard indicate to me that the next block is the block from Fulton St. to Vesey St.
By the way, I once figured out the following trick for remembering the order of the streets on the east side of the WTC site.
After Liberty St., the next four streets going northward along Church St. just happen to be in alphabetical order:
Cortlandt, Dey, Fulton, Vesey.
Neat mnemonic!
Yep, that’s the northernmost entry. The entrance to the E is just ahead.
Hope the MTA’s new head starts realizing the potential for more and better PR – publicizing the reopening of this station will hopefully earn them a few points!
Cool, I can’t wait to use this for my morning commute.
I suspect that the largest single group of beneficiaries will be PATH riders.
This situation only illustrates the completely disorganized nature of the progress in World Trade Center rebuilding.
First they reopen that station, then they close it.
Then they reopen half of it.
They open an “out-of-system” connection between the E train terminal and the Cortlandt St. station (and the PATH trains), then they close it again.
They rebuild and reopen the sidewalk on the west side of Church St., then they close it off again.
It’s really a problem of agency, right? Because some of what you’re talking about involves the MTA, some involves Port Authority, some involves the city and some involves two or three of those different actors working together. It creates a mess.