The first subway station in New York City was designed to be a masterpiece and was considered a “jewel in the crown ” when it opened .
The trains in New York City's public transportation system , its subway , mostly run underground .
Today , the main concern of subway designers is that their systems work correctly .
New York's subway opened in 1904 .
City Hall Station was one of New York City's first underground subway stations .
Now called Old City Hall Station , it was built during a time when many public buildings and spaces were designed to appear majestic .
The goal was to demonstrate that New York could compete culturally with great European cities , sometimes called metropolises .
Hood is a history professor at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva , New York .
Inside Old City Hall Station , the top is not flat in shape but curved instead .
The walls rise up to create a high , round shape known as a vault .
Square pieces of glass , called tiles , shine .
Some of the lights in the station are called chandeliers .
These are beautiful hanging lights that hold many individual light bulbs and look like huge pieces of jewelry .
She said she was “blown away ” when she first saw the old station .
She used words like “lovely , elegant and really unique space ” to describe the station .
“I've heard [the station ] be described as a celebration of curves , because there are a lot of curves .
But those beautiful curves are why the station is no longer part of the normal subway system .
Its rounded platform cannot fit long trains .
“The platform at City Hall is really curved .
It's a very , very tight curve , and the platform itself is just over 200 feet long .
“As the subway got busier…trains got longer , and we added cars…We were growing those platforms and making them longer ...”
Although it is no longer part of the subway system , Old City Hall Station is still being used .
6 , uses the Old City Hall Station to turn around .
Over the years , there have been ideas to make the old station a restaurant or a place for travelers to the city to visit .
However , security concerns put those ideas to rest .
Today , the unofficial way for the public to see the old station is by taking the No .
6 train and staying on after the last stop .
Then , the train turns around at the Old City Hall Station , and riders will be able to see the majestic space .