NEW YORK – A new stop was opened on the 6 Train in New York. “City Hall” Station takes you back in time.
Hidden deep under New York City, a “secret” subway stop was just reopened. City Hall station, is a beautiful structure that opened in 1904, but has been out of use for decades, can be seen by riders … if they know how to make the journey.
To get to the City Hall station you have to stay on the train. A conductor – Fritz Barnkopf will come through the trains and ask you for the secret password. Hint: “Teddy Roosevelt.”
The brave riders who make it to City Hall station, say that it is a magical experience. “You literally go back in time. You leave New York in 2010 and you arrive in New York 1904.  You become a time traveler.”
Many say that Fritz Barnkopf is a ghost from 1904 and he just wanders the train and subway station around City Hall Station.  Others are skeptical. “Ah, he’s just another New York freak, dressing up in a weird get-up,” said Sal Grimaldi of Brooklyn.
WWN did find a photograph of Fritz Barnkopf. Have you seen him on the 6 train?
And here are more photos of City Hall station. Photos by
John Paul Palescandolo.
So why was the station closed so many years ago?  Some say the curved tracks made it dangerous because there were “big gaps” in between cars that were dangerous to passengers. Others say it’s because of the Ghost of Fritz Barnkopf.
What do you think?
It's the large gaps the trains of today have, back when the line opened the cars were shorter and didn't pose a problem but I wish that the city would open this station to the public again using the entrance that was opened. the people who work in city hall should get over their paranoia and let all New Yorkers see this gem in the subway and not charge an arm and a leg for it either.
To correct parrot456 – the length of the IRT cars in 1904 is the same as it is today 51'4". The original IRT cars had doors at the extreme ends. Those doors were able to line up close enough to the platform. Later on when the IRT added center doors, they needed separate door controls so these doors would not open at a curved station (City Hall, South Ferry). When newer cars were built in the late 1940's the doors at the end were moved inward. The IRT still used the older modified cars until the station was closed in December 1945.
The main reason the station was closed is that it was a local stop. People needing express service had to change at Brooklyn Bridge. The Brooklyn Bridge station was so close that rather than wait for a local and then change, they just walked the VERY short distance to the Brooklyn Bridge station. By the time 1945 came along there were very few passengers getting on there.
I have never heard of the ghost of Franz Barnkopf. I think someone is trying to play us for a dumkopf
You should see the tunnels that lead to the underground cities a few miles under most major cities, especially the one under the Denver airport. That MagLev train can go 1200 mph.
I think it was only closed to humans.
When the IRT subway system was opened in 1904, local trains were 6 cars long, with the doors at the ends of the cars, and no middle doors. Therefore the end doors met the curved platforms without need for extensions. Local stations such as this one could only hold six car trains. The decades ago expansion of the nearby Brooklyn Bridge station that served both express and local trains where the trains and platforms were expanded to hold 10-car trains lead to the closing of not only the City Hall Station, but the immediate local station at Worth Street. In addition the decades ago adaption of subway cars with both end and middle doors, meant the curvature of the City Hall platform would be a problem – see the current station at 14th Street-Union Square, and pictures of the now closed original South Ferry station – where gap fillers are needed to keep riders from falling between the cars and the platforms.
That Fritz Barnkopf, he's a typical New Yorker. Coming around to ride the subway 106 years later- only happens in New York. If you make the trip back in time, do visit St Louis and see the 1904 World's Fair. Not to mention that "Meet Me in St. Louie, Louie" is Fritz Barnkopf's favorite song. But don't expect them to accept any of that colored money that we're using today.
I think that you guys spend too much time on Subways .. you literally need to get out more and see all that this city has to offer .. maybe you could have made it to the Lakeside Lounge to see Bat Boy!
See, this is the kind of stuff we never hear about in the regular news. Weekly World News is the ultimate source for the inside scoop.
Isn't Fritz Barnkopf also the man who wrote the book on how the world will end in 2015 in another headline that says the world will not end 2012 but 2015? Don't believe me look for the article in the headlines.