:Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall/Chambers Street station

The two adjacent stations on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line and BMT Nassau Street Line are connected by two passageways. The south one opened in 1914{{cite web|first=Joseph|last=Brennan|url=http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/abandoned/chambers.html|title=Abandoned Stations: Chambers St closed platforms|access-date=April 23, 2007|archive-date=December 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201214235347/http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/abandoned/chambers.html|url-status=live}} and was placed inside fare control on July 1, 1948.{{Cite news|date=June 30, 1948|title=Transfer Points Under Higher Fare; Board of Transportation Lists Stations and Intersections for Combined Rides|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1948/06/30/archives/transfer-points-under-higher-fare-board-of-transportation-lists.html|access-date=December 24, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=June 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200625074924/https://www.nytimes.com/1948/06/30/archives/transfer-points-under-higher-fare-board-of-transportation-lists.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news |date=June 30, 1948 |title=List of Free and Pay Transfer Points |page=12 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1327387636}}}} A second passageway, at the north end of the stations, was opened in the evening of September 1, 1962, when the Lexington Avenue Line platforms were extended and the Worth Street station was closed. Originally, the stations were operated by separate companies: the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) and the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT). The city government took over the BMT's operations on June 1, 1940,{{Cite news|date=June 2, 1940|title=B.M.T. Lines Pass to City Ownership; $175,000,000 Deal Completed at City Hall Ceremony-- Mayor 'Motorman No. 1'|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1940/06/02/archives/bmt-lines-pass-to-city-ownership-175000000-deal-completed-at-city.html|access-date=May 14, 2022|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210719094900/https://www.nytimes.com/1940/06/02/archives/bmt-lines-pass-to-city-ownership-175000000-deal-completed-at-city.html|archive-date=July 19, 2021|url-status=live}}{{cite news |date=June 2, 1940 |title=City Takes Over B. M. T. System; Mayor Skippers Midnight Train |page=1 |work=New York Herald Tribune |id={{ProQuest|1243059209}}}} and the IRT's operations on June 12, 1940.{{Cite news |date=June 13, 1940 |title=City Transit Unity Is Now a Reality; Title to I.R.T. Lines Passes to Municipality, Ending 19-Year Campaign |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1940/06/13/archives/city-transit-unity-is-now-a-reality-title-to-irt-lines-passes-to.html |access-date=May 14, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=January 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220107193115/https://www.nytimes.com/1940/06/13/archives/city-transit-unity-is-now-a-reality-title-to-irt-lines-passes-to.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |date=June 13, 1940 |title=Transit Unification Completed As City Takes Over I. R. T. Lines: Systems Come Under Single Control After Efforts Begun in 1921; Mayor Is Jubilant at City Hall Ceremony Recalling 1904 Celebration |page=25 |work=New York Herald Tribune |id={{ProQuest|1248134780}}}} Both sections of the station complex were listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 2005.{{Cite archive|collection=Records of the National Park Service, 1785 – 2006|institution=National Archives|item-url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75313931|series=National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks Program Records, 2013 – 2017|item=New York MPS Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall Subway Station (IRT)|item-id=75313931|box=National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks Program Records: New York}}{{Cite archive|collection=Records of the National Park Service, 1785 – 2006|institution=National Archives|item-url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75313933|series=National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks Program Records, 2013 – 2017|item=New York MPS Chambers Street Subway Station (Dual System BMT)|item-id=75313933|box=National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks Program Records: New York}}

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|image1=The_Street_railway_journal_(1904)_(14575040948).jpg

|caption1=Original plan of the Brooklyn Bridge station (lower-right corner) as well as the City Hall Loop

|alt1=Original plan of the Brooklyn Bridge station and the City Hall Loop. The Brooklyn Bridge station is at the lower right corner, while the City Hall Loop is near the top center.

|image2=Brooklyn Bridge station under construction in 1904.jpg

|caption2=The station under construction in 1904

|alt2=Black-and-white image of the station under construction in 1904

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Planning for a subway line in New York City dates to 1864.{{Rp|21}} However, development of what would become the city's first subway line did not start until 1894, when the New York State Legislature passed the Rapid Transit Act.{{cite book|last1=Walker|first1=James Blaine|url=https://archive.org/details/fiftyyearsrapid00walkgoog|title=Fifty Years of Rapid Transit — 1864 to 1917|date=1918|publisher=Law Printing|location=New York, N.Y.|access-date=November 6, 2016}}{{Rp|139–140}} The subway plans were drawn up by a team of engineers led by William Barclay Parsons, the Rapid Transit Commission's chief engineer. It called for a subway line from New York City Hall in Lower Manhattan to the Upper West Side, where two branches would lead north into the Bronx.{{cite web|date=October 23, 1979|title=Interborough Rapid Transit System, Underground Interior|url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/1096.pdf|access-date=November 19, 2019|publisher=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission|archive-date=September 21, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921135400/https://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/1096.pdf|url-status=live}}{{Rp|3}} A plan was formally adopted in 1897,{{Rp|148}} and all legal conflicts concerning the route alignment were resolved near the end of 1899.{{Rp|161}} The Rapid Transit Construction Company, organized by John B. McDonald and funded by August Belmont Jr., signed the initial Contract 1 with the Rapid Transit Commission in February 1900,{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924022794253/page/n253/mode/2up?q=april+28|title=Report of the Board of Rapid Transit Railroad Commissioners for the City of New York For The Year Ending December 31, 1904 Accompanied By Reports of the Chief Engineer and of the Auditor|publisher=Board of Rapid Transit Railroad Commissioners|year=1905|pages=229–236}} in which it would construct the subway and maintain a 50-year operating lease from the opening of the line.{{Rp|165}} In 1901, the firm of Heins & LaFarge was hired to design the underground stations.{{Rp|4}} Belmont incorporated the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) in April 1902 to operate the subway.{{Rp|182}}

The Brooklyn Bridge station was constructed as part of the IRT's original line south of Great Jones Street. The Degnon-McLean Contracting Company was awarded the contract for Section 1, from the City Hall loop to Chambers Street, and the contract for Section 2, from Chambers Street to Great Jones Street. Work began on Section 1 on March 24, 1900, and work began on Section 2 on July 10, 1900. Initially, Parsons was unsure whether to connect the new subway to the existing Brooklyn Bridge, the under-construction Manhattan Bridge, or the newly-completed Williamsburg Bridge.{{Cite news |date=April 14, 1903 |title=To Drop Bostwick Bill |pages=4 |work=New-York Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-york-tribune-to-drop-bostwick-bill/125314559/ |access-date=May 25, 2023 |issn=1941-0646}}{{Cite news |date=January 5, 1903 |title=Mayor Low's Message to Board of Aldermen |pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-mayor-lows-message/125314790/ 4] |work=The Standard Union |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-mayor-lows-message-t/125314830/ |access-date=May 25, 2023}} As such, no plans had been drawn up for the eastern portion of the Brooklyn Bridge station or its approaches by early 1903, which caused delays in ordering steel.{{cite news |date=January 9, 1903 |title=Shakes Hand at Grout: M'donald Angry Over Non-payment of Subway Claims One-hundred-and-fourth-st-station |page=3 |work=New-York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|571323398}}}}

By late 1903, the subway was nearly complete, but the IRT Powerhouse and the system's electrical substations were still under construction, delaying the system's opening.{{Rp|186}}{{Cite news |date=November 14, 1903 |title=First of Subway Tests; West Side Experimental Trains to be Run by Jan. 1 Broadway Tunnel Tracks Laid, Except on Three Little Sections, to 104th Street – Power House Delays. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1903/11/14/archives/first-of-subway-tests-west-side-experimental-trains-to-be-run-by.html |access-date=May 10, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220505030752/https://www.nytimes.com/1903/11/14/archives/first-of-subway-tests-west-side-experimental-trains-to-be-run-by.html |url-status=live }} In addition, the Brooklyn Bridge station itself remained unfinished as late as February 1904.{{Cite news |date=February 7, 1904 |title=Lights and Shadows of the Tunnel Road; Many Subway Station Entrances Now Seen from the Streets. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1904/02/07/archives/lights-and-shadows-of-the-tunnel-road-many-subway-station-entrances.html |access-date=May 12, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230512185941/https://www.nytimes.com/1904/02/07/archives/lights-and-shadows-of-the-tunnel-road-many-subway-station-entrances.html |url-status=live }} The Brooklyn Bridge station opened on October 27, 1904, as one of the original 28 stations of the New York City Subway from City Hall to 145th Street on the West Side Branch.{{Rp|186}} The station's first-ever passenger was described by Newsday as an "anonymous middle-aged Brooklyn woman who picked up her skirt and raced down the rubber-covered stairs three at a time to beat out the rest of the crowd".{{cite news |last=Moses |first=Paul |date=October 27, 2004 |title=The hottest tickets in town, History was being made the day the subway opened, and everyone in New York knew it |page=B02 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|279888656}}}} Express trains were extended south on January 16, 1905, when a {{Convert|0.3|miles|km|adj=on}}-long extension to Fulton Street opened.{{cite news |date=January 14, 1905 |title=Fulton St. Trains Monday — New Style of Subway Platform Will Be Tried There |page=5 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1905/01/14/archives/fulton-st-trains-monday-new-style-of-subway-platform-will-be-tried.html |url-status=live |access-date=November 11, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502175322/https://www.nytimes.com/1905/01/14/archives/fulton-st-trains-monday-new-style-of-subway-platform-will-be-tried.html?searchResultPosition=1 |archive-date=May 2, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}

{{Clear left}}

The station was originally placed on a sharp curve, requiring the installation of platform gap fillers.{{Cite news |last=Levey |first=Stanley |date=January 21, 1959 |title=IRT to Modernize Downtown Stop; $6,000,000 Plan Calls for Repainting, New Lights at Brooklyn Bridge Station |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1959/01/21/archives/irt-to-modernize-downtown-stop-6000000-plan-calls-for-repainting.html |access-date=May 12, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}} Initially, the Brooklyn Bridge station was served by local and express trains along both the West Side (now the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line to Van Cortlandt Park–242nd Street) and East Side (now the Lenox Avenue Line). West Side local trains had their southern terminus at City Hall during rush hours and South Ferry at other times, and had their northern terminus at 242nd Street. East Side local trains ran from City Hall to Lenox Avenue (145th Street). Express trains had their southern terminus at South Ferry or Atlantic Avenue and had their northern terminus at 242nd Street, Lenox Avenue (145th Street), or West Farms (180th Street).{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/pocketguidetone00yorkgoog|title=The Merchants' Association of New York Pocket Guide to New York|date=March 1906|publisher=Merchants' Association of New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/pocketguidetone00yorkgoog/page/n42 19]–26|language=en}} Express trains to 145th Street were later eliminated, and West Farms express trains and rush-hour Broadway express trains operated through to Brooklyn.{{Cite book|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433081730503;view=1up;seq=151|title=Brooklyn Daily Eagle Almanac|publisher=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle|year=1916|pages=119|last1=Herries|first1=William|access-date=December 26, 2020|archive-date=May 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511155639/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433081730503;view=1up;seq=151|url-status=live}}

File:The Street railway journal (1908) (14758041984).jpg

One of the station's entrances was closed in 1905 because the Rapid Transit Commission had not authorized the entrance's construction.{{Cite news |date=June 16, 1905 |title=Will Ventilate Subway, but Not Until 1906; Transit Commission Directs Engineer Rice to Prepare Plans |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1905/06/16/archives/will-ventilate-subway-but-not-until-1906-transit-commission-directs.html |access-date=May 12, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230512202127/https://www.nytimes.com/1905/06/16/archives/will-ventilate-subway-but-not-until-1906-transit-commission-directs.html |url-status=live }} As part of an experiment to improve the subway line's ventilation, the commission installed ventilation fans at the station in June 1905.{{Cite news |date=June 29, 1905 |title=Electric Fans Put in Subway at the Bridge; Keep the Air Going Fast, but Make It No Cooler |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1905/06/29/archives/electric-fans-put-in-subway-at-the-bridge-keep-the-air-going-fast.html |access-date=May 12, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230512202154/https://www.nytimes.com/1905/06/29/archives/electric-fans-put-in-subway-at-the-bridge-keep-the-air-going-fast.html |url-status=live }} Two large cooling fans were installed at the station the next month;{{cite news |date=July 20, 1905 |title=Calls Subway Cool: From 5 to 18 Cooler Than Streets, Hedley Statement Shows |page=2 |work=New-York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|571681407}}}}{{Cite news |date=July 15, 1905 |title=Huge Fans Pump Out Stifling Subway Air; Three Were at Work Yesterday – More To-day |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1905/07/15/archives/huge-fans-pump-out-stifling-subway-air-three-were-at-work-yesterday.html |access-date=May 12, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230512185939/https://www.nytimes.com/1905/07/15/archives/huge-fans-pump-out-stifling-subway-air-three-were-at-work-yesterday.html |url-status=live }} this was later increased to four fans.{{Cite magazine |title=Ventilation of the Interborough Rapid Transit Subway |magazine=Railroad Gazette |volume=17 |issue=44 |date=April 24, 1908 |page=587 |id={{ProQuest|895769516}}}} The Rapid Transit Commission added a refrigeration plant to the station in August 1906. The plant consisted of four pumps at the northern end of the station, which could draw up to {{convert|300|or|400|gal/min|sp=us}} of groundwater; the water was then chilled and sent through ducts above the platforms.{{Cite news |date=August 25, 1906 |title=Subway Cooler Tested.; Fans Started In the Plant at the Bridge Station. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1906/08/25/archives/subway-cooler-tested-fans-started-in-the-plant-at-the-bridge.html |access-date=May 12, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230512202156/https://www.nytimes.com/1906/08/25/archives/subway-cooler-tested-fans-started-in-the-plant-at-the-bridge.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |date=August 23, 1906 |title=Cool Subway Stations: Elaborate Plan at Brooklyn Bridge Tested—not Yet Complete |page=4 |work=New-York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|571866361}}}}

To address overcrowding, in 1909, the New York Public Service Commission proposed lengthening the platforms at stations along the original IRT subway.{{cite web|last=Hood|first=Clifton|date=1978|title=The Impact of the IRT in New York City|url=https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/pnp/habshaer/ny/ny0300/ny0387/data/ny0387data.pdf|access-date=December 20, 2020|publisher=Historic American Engineering Record|pages=146–207 (PDF pp. 147–208) |archive-date=January 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117001227/https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/pnp/habshaer/ny/ny0300/ny0387/data/ny0387data.pdf|url-status=live}} {{PD-notice}}{{Rp|168}} As part of a modification to the IRT's construction contracts made on January 18, 1910, the company was to lengthen station platforms to accommodate ten-car express and six-car local trains. In addition to $1.5 million (equivalent to ${{inflation|fmt=c|index=US|value=1.5|start_year=1910|r=1}} million in {{inflation/year|index=US}}) spent on platform lengthening, $500,000 (equivalent to ${{inflation|fmt=c|index=US|value=0.5|start_year=1910|r=1}} million in {{inflation/year|index=US}}) was spent on building additional entrances and exits. It was anticipated that these improvements would increase capacity by 25 percent.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0fBLAQAAMAAJ&q=+zoological+station&pg=PA596|title=Report of the Public Service Commission for the First District of the State of New York For The Year Ending December 31, 1910|date=1911|publisher=Public Service Commission|language=en|access-date=January 7, 2021|archive-date=January 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120015525/https://books.google.com/books?id=0fBLAQAAMAAJ&q=%20zoological%20station&pg=PA596|url-status=live}}{{Rp|15}} At the Brooklyn Bridge station, the northbound island platform was extended {{convert|15|ft}} north and {{convert|135|ft}} south, while the southbound island platform was extended {{convert|165|ft}} south, necessitating the relocation of some tracks.{{rp|106–107}} Six-car local trains began operating in October 1910.{{Rp|168}} On January 23, 1911, ten-car express trains began running on the Lenox Avenue Line, and the following day, ten-car express trains were inaugurated on the West Side Line.{{Rp|168}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1911/01/23/archives/tencar-trains-in-subway-today-new-service-begins-on-lenox-av-line.html|title=Ten-car Trains in Subway to-day; New Service Begins on Lenox Av. Line and Will Be Extended to Broadway To-morrow.|date=January 23, 1911|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 5, 2018|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=April 5, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180405224750/https://www.nytimes.com/1911/01/23/archives/tencar-trains-in-subway-today-new-service-begins-on-lenox-av-line.html|url-status=live}}

By 1914, city engineers had prepared plans for the construction of five additional entrances to the Brooklyn Bridge station: three to the street and two to nearby buildings. At that point, nearly two-fifths of commuters entered the station through a single entrance below the bridge.{{cite news |date=June 30, 1914 |title=Plan Relief for Subway at Bridge: Five New Exits and Entrances, One at Tribune Building, Are Suggested |page=3 |work=New-York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|575271922}}}} In 1918, the Lexington Avenue Line opened north of Grand Central–42nd Street, and the original line was divided into an H-shaped system. All trains were sent via the Lexington Avenue Line.{{cite news|date=August 2, 1918|title=Open New Subway Lines to Traffic; Called a Triumph — Great H System Put in Operation Marks an Era in Railroad Construction — No Hitch in the Plans — But Public Gropes Blindly to Find the Way in Maze of New Stations — Thousands Go Astray — Leaders in City's Life Hail Accomplishment of Great Task at Meeting at the Astor|page=1|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1918/08/02/archives/open-new-subway-lines-to-traffic-called-a-triumph-great-h-system.html|access-date=November 6, 2016|archive-date=January 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210106233417/https://www.nytimes.com/1918/08/02/archives/open-new-subway-lines-to-traffic-called-a-triumph-great-h-system.html?searchResultPosition=1|url-status=live}} In 1922, the Rapid Transit Commission awarded a contract to the Wagner Engineering Company for the installation of navigational signs at the Brooklyn Bridge station and several other major subway stations. The IRT platforms received blue-and-white signs.{{Cite news |date=June 10, 1922 |title=Color Signs Adopted as Guides in Subways; Blue and White for I.R.T. and White and Green for B.R. T. Stations. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1922/06/10/archives/color-signs-adopted-as-guides-in-subways-blue-and-white-for-irt-and.html |access-date=May 13, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|576624795}} |title=B. R. T. to End Jam on Sundays On Coney Lines: Receiver Garrison, After a Conference With Harkness, Agrees to Provide Relief Without an Order City Bus Lines Attacked Estimate Board Again Refuses to Aid Commission on Staten Island Tunnels |date=June 10, 1922 |page=5 |work=New-York Tribune|issn=1941-0646}}

The Transit Commission requested in 1938 that the IRT spend $70,000 ({{Inflation|index=US|value=70000|start_year=1938|r=-3|fmt=eq}}) to add platform gap fillers to the northbound platform; the absence of gap fillers had resulted in passenger injuries 26 times in the preceding two years.{{cite news |date=June 14, 1938 |title=Subway Repairs Ordered: $70,000 Device To Be Installed at Brooklyn Bridge Station |page=21 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1244309627}}}} The same year, as part of a remodeling of City Hall Park, city parks commissioner Robert Moses proposed removing two of the station's exit stairways and relocating two entrance stairs.{{Cite news |date=November 28, 1938 |title=Hearing Is Called on Subway Changes; Entrances and Exits ih City Hall Area to Be Relocated |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1938/11/28/archives/hearing-is-called-on-subway-changes-entrances-and-exits-ih-city.html |url-status=live |access-date=May 14, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220514230441/https://www.nytimes.com/1938/11/28/archives/hearing-is-called-on-subway-changes-entrances-and-exits-ih-city.html |archive-date=May 14, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}} With the closure of the City Hall station at the end of 1945,{{cite news |date=January 1, 1946 |title=Historic Station Closed After 41 Years |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1946/01/01/archives/historic-station-closed-after-41-years.html |url-status=live |access-date=May 30, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180301104143/https://www.nytimes.com/1946/01/01/archives/historic-station-closed-after-41-years.html |archive-date=March 1, 2018 |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite news |date=January 1, 1946 |title=IRT Closes Old Station |pages=417 |work=New York Daily News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101915547/irt-closes-old-station/ |url-status=live |access-date=May 15, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220515200842/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101915547/irt-closes-old-station/ |archive-date=May 15, 2022 }} the Brooklyn Bridge station became the southernmost station for local services that formerly terminated at City Hall.{{Rp|4}} As part of a reconstruction of the Brooklyn Bridge in 1951, the city planned to build a subway entrance just south of the bridge approach.{{Cite news |date=July 20, 1951 |title=New Work Mapped at Brooklyn Span; $3,576,474 Contracts Are Let to Rebuild Approaches—New Subway Entrances Slated 2 Roadways Planned |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1951/07/20/archives/new-work-mapped-at-brooklyn-span-3576474-contracts-are-let-to.html |access-date=May 13, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}} The New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) also announced plans in 1956 to add fluorescent lights above the edges of the station's platforms.{{Cite news |last=Katz |first=Ralph |date=January 27, 1956 |title=Subway Stations to Get New Lights; $3,750,000 to Be Spent on Fluorescents for I.R.T. and B.M.T. Transfer Points |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1956/01/27/archives/subway-stations-to-get-new-lights-3750000-to-be-spent-on.html |access-date=May 8, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}File:Brooklyn Bridge - City Hall Lexington Avenue Line Gap Fillers.jpg

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the NYCTA undertook a $138 million (equivalent to ${{format price|{{inflation|US|138,000,000|1959}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US}}) modernization project for the Lexington Avenue Line. As part of the modernization program, the NYCTA announced in early 1957 that the Brooklyn Bridge station would be extended about {{Convert|250|ft}} to the north and that the platforms would be widened and straightened to remove the need for gap fillers.{{cite news |last=Sugrue |first=Francis |date=January 4, 1957 |title=Bigger Brooklyn Bridge Station to Shut Worth St |page=A1 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1327292046}}}}{{Cite news |last=Levey |first=Stanley |date=January 4, 1957 |title=IRT Will Abandon Worth St. Station: Decision Based on Planned Extension of the Brooklyn Bridge Stop by 250 Feet |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1957/01/04/archives/irt-will-abandon-worth-st-station-decision-based-on-planned.html |access-date=May 13, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}} At the time, the island platforms narrowed at their northern ends to {{Convert|5|ft}}, while the local side platforms could only accommodate four cars, resulting in delays. In addition, the express platforms could not accommodate 10-car trains because of the gap fillers at the southern end of the station. Since the northern end of the expanded station would be only about {{Convert|600|ft}} from the Worth Street station, the latter station was to be closed. The NYCTA allocated $6 million to the station's renovation in January 1959.{{cite news |last=Fulbright |first=Newton H. |date=January 21, 1959 |title=T. A. Plans $6 Million IRT Job: New Station At B'klyn Bridge |page=3 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1326243865}}}} Harold Sandifer of the NYCTA designed the renovation in conjunction with the planned redevelopment of the Civic Center neighborhood.

Work started on May 18, 1959. The project lengthened the platforms from {{Convert|295|feet|meters|abbr=}} to {{Convert|523|feet|meters|abbr=}} and widened them.{{cite news |last=Silberfarb |first=Edward J. |date=August 29, 1962 |title=East Side IRT-- Rebuilt Station |page=19 |work=New York Herald Tribune |id={{ProQuest|1326949841}}}} The platforms were extended northward by {{Convert|220|feet|meters}} to just south of Reade Street. In addition, a new exit was provided at Reade Street and Lafayette Street, and a new passageway under Reade Street was built connecting to the Chambers Street station on the BMT Nassau Street Line. At the center of the enlarged platforms, a new overpass was built, providing more direct access to the Municipal Building.{{Cite book|date=October 1959|title=Annual Report For The Year Ended June 30, 1959|publisher=New York City Transit Authority|page=9}} The tile walls on the unused eastern side platform were completed in December 1959, and a signal tower, maintainers' rooms, relay rooms, and tile walls on the unused western side platform were completed in May 1960.{{cite book |author=New York City Transit Authority |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sZPVAAAAMAAJ |title=Minutes and Proceedings |year=1966 |page=53 |access-date=December 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408133553/https://books.google.com/books?id=sZPVAAAAMAAJ |archive-date=April 8, 2022 |url-status=live |issue=v. 15}}

A temporary transfer passageway to the Chambers Street station opened in June 1961, while the old passageway was being demolished.{{Cite news |date=June 13, 1961 |title=Subway Passage to Open |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1961/06/13/archives/subway-passage-to-open.html |access-date=May 13, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}} The downtown platform's extension opened in 1961, and the uptown platform's extension opened on August 31, 1962.{{Cite news|date=September 1, 1962|title=New Platform for IRT Locals At Brooklyn Bridge to End Jams; Sharp Curve on Northbound Side Removed Station Extended to Worth St.|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1962/09/01/archives/new-platform-for-irt-locals-at-brooklyn-bridge-to-end-jams-sharp.html|access-date=November 7, 2017|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=April 5, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180405094907/https://www.nytimes.com/1962/09/01/archives/new-platform-for-irt-locals-at-brooklyn-bridge-to-end-jams-sharp.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news |last=Gleason |first=Gene |date=November 9, 1962 |title=Escalating to the Subway |page=23 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1326291091}}}} The overpass and the permanent passageway to the Chambers Street station opened in June 1963,{{Cite news |date=June 22, 1963 |title=Brooklyn Bridge Station of IRT Gets New Passages |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1963/06/22/archives/brooklyn-bridge-station-of-irt-gets-new-passages.html |access-date=May 13, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}} and the platform extension project was substantially completed by the end of 1963. The old platform extensions at the southern end of the station, which were used for express service and had gap fillers, were abandoned. The project cost $6 million; it allowed trains on the 6 route to be lengthened to nine cars, and allowed ten-car express trains to open all doors at the station (previously, only the doors of eight cars had opened). Upon the completion of the renovation, the Brooklyn Bridge station was renamed Brooklyn Bridge–Worth Street.

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers and American Society of Civil Engineers dedicated a plaque at the Brooklyn Bridge station in 1978, recognizing the original IRT line as "the first fully electrically signaled railroad in the United States and the first practical subway in New York City".{{cite magazine |last=Beardsley |first=Chuck |date=Dec 2005 |title=Songs of the Subway |magazine=Mechanical Engineering |volume=127 |issue=12 |page=68 |id={{ProQuest|230159484}}}} This plaque was removed before 2005. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced in late 1978 that it would modernize the Brooklyn Bridge station. The improvements included new finishes on the walls and floors; acoustical, signage, and lighting improvements; replacement of old mechanical equipment; and new handrails.{{Cite news |last=Edmonds |first=Richard |date=December 7, 1978 |title=Subway beautification has green light |pages=583 |work=New York Daily News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news/28723663/ |access-date=May 25, 2023 |issn=2692-1251 |via=newspapers.com}} In 1983, the MTA added funding for a renovation of the Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall station to its 1980–1984 capital plan.{{Cite news |last=Goldman |first=Ari L. |date=April 28, 1983 |title=M.T.A. Making Major Addition to Capital Plan |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/04/28/world/mta-making-major-addition-to-capital-plan.html |access-date=May 4, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220425151916/https://www.nytimes.com/1983/04/28/world/mta-making-major-addition-to-capital-plan.html |url-status=live}} In addition, to speed up passenger flow, dozens of platform conductors were assigned to direct crowds on the Lexington Avenue Line platforms during the late 1980s.{{cite news |last=Dwyer |first=Jim |date=August 31, 1986 |title=In the Subways TA to Try Its 'stuff' on Subway Riders |page=2 |work=Newsday |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|285347546}}}}

In April 1993, the New York State Legislature agreed to give the MTA $9.6 billion for capital improvements. Some of the funds would be used to renovate nearly one hundred New York City Subway stations,{{Cite news |last=Benenson |first=Joel |date=April 1, 1993 |title=Albany deal to save the $1.25 fare |pages=1059 |work=New York Daily News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/123677736/albany-deal-to-save-the-125-farejoel/ |access-date=April 28, 2023 |archive-date=April 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230428152841/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/123677736/albany-deal-to-save-the-125-farejoel/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Faison |first=Seth |date=April 3, 1993 |title=$9.6 Billion Package for M.T.A. Is Crucial to its Rebuilding Plans |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/04/03/nyregion/article-269693-no-title.html |access-date=April 28, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230428152843/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/04/03/nyregion/article-269693-no-title.html |url-status=live }} including Brooklyn Bridge.{{Cite news |date=May 28, 1993 |title=Stop the Fussing |pages=56 |work=Newsday |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/123677942/stop-the-fussing/ |access-date=April 28, 2023 |archive-date=May 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230503130326/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/123677942/stop-the-fussing/ |url-status=live }} Three elevators opened in 1992, making the station compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). The elevators cost $3.4 million (equivalent to ${{inflation|fmt=c|index=US|value=3.4|start_year=1995|r=1}} million in {{inflation/year|index=US}}) and connected the mezzanine to the street and to each platform.{{Cite news|last=Leimbach|first=Dulce|date=November 26, 1992|title=Currents; by the Sea? No, by the IRT|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/26/archives/currents-by-the-sea-no-by-the-irt.html|access-date=December 27, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=May 2, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502175327/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/26/archives/currents-by-the-sea-no-by-the-irt.html|url-status=live}} The station was renamed Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall by the mid-1990s. The renovation was completed in 1996; the station was one of thirteen citywide whose renovations were completed that year at a total cost of $127 million (equivalent to ${{inflation|fmt=c|index=US|value=127|start_year=1995|r=1}} million in {{inflation/year|index=US}}).{{Cite news|last=Hays|first=Constance L.|date=December 29, 1996|title=Notes from the Underground: Station Renovations Continue. Watch Your Step on the Tiles.|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/29/nyregion/notes-underground-station-renovations-continue-watch-your-step-tiles.html|access-date=December 27, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=May 26, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150526173653/http://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/29/nyregion/notes-underground-station-renovations-continue-watch-your-step-tiles.html|url-status=live}} In an attempt to prevent fare evasion, the MTA added low metal fins to each arm of the Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall station's turnstiles in 2025.{{cite web | last=Simko-Bednarski | first=Evan | title=MTA tests new ways to block subway turnstile jumpers, ‘back cockers’ and more | website=New York Daily News | date=February 12, 2025 | url=https://www.nydailynews.com/2025/02/12/mta-tests-new-ways-block-subway-turnstile-jumpers-back-cockers-more/ | access-date=February 14, 2025}}{{cite web | last=Martinez | first=Jose | title=Turnstile Armor Is MTA’s Latest Defense Against Farebeaters | website=THE CITY - NYC News | date=February 12, 2025 | url=https://www.thecity.nyc/2025/02/12/turnstile-armor-debut-subways/ | access-date=February 14, 2025}}

File:Chambers Street BMT 025.JPGAfter the original IRT opened, the city began planning new lines. The Centre Street Loop (later the Nassau Street Line) was approved on January 25, 1907, as a four-track line;{{Cite news|date=January 26, 1907|title=Subway Loop Approved; Will Have Four Tracks|language=en-US|page=16|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1907/01/26/archives/subway-loop-approved-will-have-four-tracks.html|access-date=August 1, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=July 18, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180718114459/https://www.nytimes.com/1907/01/26/archives/subway-loop-approved-will-have-four-tracks.html|url-status=live}} it was to connect the Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, and Williamsburg Bridge via Centre Street, Canal Street, and Delancey Street.{{cite news|last=Stevenson|first=Frederick Boyd|date=July 13, 1913|title=Colonel Williams' View of Centre Street Loop|page=23|work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle|url=http://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/53150172/|access-date=October 2, 2018|via=Brooklyn Public Library, Newspapers.com {{open access}}|archive-date=October 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181002064741/http://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/53150172/|url-status=live}} Unlike previous subway contracts that the city government had issued, the BRT was responsible only for constructing the Centre Street Loop and installing equipment, not for operating the loop.{{Cite web |date=October 15, 1908 |title=Centre Street Subway Loop and Manhattan Bridge Nearing Completion With No Traffic Arrangements in Sight |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-centre-street-s/124797371/ |access-date=May 16, 2023 |website=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |page=21 }} Construction contracts for the Nassau Street Line were awarded in early 1907.{{Rp|203}} A proposed Tri-borough system was adopted in early 1908, incorporating the Nassau Street Line. Operation of the line was assigned to the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT; after 1923, the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation or BMT{{cite book | title=State of New York Transit Commission Third Annual Report for the Calendar Year 1923| publisher=New York State Transit Commission | issue=v. 3 | year=1924 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lFxLAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA501 | page=501}}) in the Dual Contracts, adopted on March 4, 1913.{{Rp|203–219}}{{cite journal|journal=Engineering News|url=http://www.nycsubway.org/articles/triboro.html|title=A New Subway Line for New York City|volume=63|issue=10|date=March 10, 1910|access-date=December 27, 2020|archive-date=July 5, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120705042944/http://www.nycsubway.org/articles/triboro.html|url-status=live}}

The Chambers Street station was built as part of contract 9-O-1, which cost $1.226 million ({{Inflation|index=US|value=1226000|start_year=1908|r=-3|fmt=eq}}).{{cite book |last=New York (State) Public Service Commission. First District |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6b8bAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA176 |title=Report |year=1915 |page=176 |access-date=May 14, 2023}}{{Rp|page=|pages=174–175}} It was to sit under the Manhattan Municipal Building, a large office structure being planned for the city government. One of the conditions of an architectural design competition for the Municipal Building was that its foundation could not block train tracks, stairways, or platforms.{{cite nysky}}{{Rp|367–368}}{{cite news |date=November 13, 1910 |title=Down in "the Big Hole": Huge Subway Station Will Underlie New Municipal Building |page=A3 |work=New-York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|572380190}}}} As such, the caissons in the building's foundation were positioned to avoid the station's platforms. Although McKim, Mead & White were selected for the building's construction,{{Cite news|date=April 29, 1908|title=Municipal Building Award; Jury Selects Plans Submitted by McKim, Mead & White.|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1908/04/29/archives/municipal-building-award-jury-selects-plans-submitted-by-mckim-mead.html|access-date=May 14, 2020|issn=0362-4331}} their original plans were rejected by the city's buildings superintendent because he felt that the underlying layer of soil and sand was not strong enough to carry the building.{{Rp|372–373}}{{cite news|date=March 18, 1909|title=Down to Bed Rock|pages=[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51134150/ 1], [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51134416/ 2]|work=New-York Tribune}} Uncertainty over the building's design resulted in delays in the construction of the proposed Brooklyn loop station underneath it, even as the rest of the line was nearly completed by early 1909.{{Cite news |date=May 22, 1909 |title=Bridge Loop Soon Ready; But Can't Be Used for at Least Two Years – Waits on City Building. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1909/05/22/archives/bridge-loop-soon-ready-but-cant-be-used-for-at-least-two-years.html |access-date=May 13, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}} Furthermore, the BRT did not originally want to operate the loop.{{Cite news |date=April 7, 1909 |title=Bridge Subway Loop a Trying Problem; Part of the Tube Still Far from Completion, and Its Operation Unsettled |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1909/04/07/archives/bridge-subway-loop-a-trying-problem-part-of-the-tube-still-far-from.html |access-date=May 13, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}

The Public Service Commission proposed in February 1909 to expand the station to six tracks, which would allow the station to serve a proposed subway under Third Avenue, in addition to the Williamsburg Bridge and Manhattan Bridge lines.{{cite news |date=February 19, 1909 |title=Bridge Loop Changes: P. S. C. Wants More Land for Subway Station Suggests Reimbursement by Erecting Large Buildings—six Tracks Planned |page=1 |work=New-York Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-york-tribune-bridge-loop-changes/124603091/ |access-date=May 13, 2023 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|572200765}}}}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K_BbOTf0ukMC&pg=PA127 |title=Proceedings of the Public Service Commission for the First District, State of New York ... |publisher=The Commission |year=1909 |page=127 |issue=v. 4}} The commission estimated that the change would cost $600,000, not including land-acquisition costs of $1.055 million. The New York City Board of Estimate approved $875,000 for the station's widening that July, excluding funds for land acquisition.{{cite news |date=July 3, 1909 |title=To Widen Subway Loop: Board of Estimate Votes $875,000 and Gives Approval to New Plans |page=14 |work=New-York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|572265461}}}}{{Cite news |date=July 3, 1909 |title=For Extra Subway Tracks |page=7 |work=The Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-wall-street-journal-for-extra-subway/124602786/ |access-date=May 13, 2023 |issn=0099-9660 }} By April 1910, the Public Service Commission sought to downsize the station to four tracks, as it would have been not only very difficult but also extremely expensive to modify the Municipal Building's foundation to accommodate the expanded station.{{Cite news |date=April 26, 1910 |title=Subway Loop Station May Lose Two Tracks |page=3 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-eagle-subway-loop-sta/124603246/ |access-date=May 13, 2023 }} Ultimately, the BRT's Chambers Street station was built with five platforms and four tracks.{{cite news|last=Stevenson|first=Frederick Boyd|date=July 13, 1913|title=Colonel Williams' View of Centre Street Loop|page=23|work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle|url=http://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/53150172/|access-date=October 2, 2018|via=Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com {{open access}}|archive-date=October 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181002064741/http://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/53150172/|url-status=live}} The BRT tunnel under Centre Street was completed by 1910, except for the section under the Municipal Building,{{cite news |date=April 13, 1910 |title=Asks for Subway Loop: B. R. T. Would Bring "L" Trains Close to Brooklyn Bridge P. S. C. Considering Offer Company Says Bridge Crush Would Be Relieved and Transit Improved |page=8 |work=New-York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|572372770}}}}{{Cite news |date=April 13, 1910 |title=Subway Bridge Loop Nearing Completion; Only That Part Under the New Municipal Building Yet to be Built. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1910/04/13/archives/subway-bridge-loop-nearing-completion-only-that-part-under-the-new.html |access-date=May 12, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230512185020/https://www.nytimes.com/1910/04/13/archives/subway-bridge-loop-nearing-completion-only-that-part-under-the-new.html |url-status=live }} but the tunnel remained unused for several years.{{Cite news |date=March 29, 1913 |title=To Open Centre St. Loop; B.R.T. Authorized to Begin Operations – May Be Ready by July 1. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1913/03/29/archives/to-open-centre-st-loop-brt-authorized-to-begin-operations-may-be.html |access-date=May 12, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230512185020/https://www.nytimes.com/1913/03/29/archives/to-open-centre-st-loop-brt-authorized-to-begin-operations-may-be.html |url-status=live }} In March 1913, the Public Service Commission authorized the BRT to lay tracks, install signals, and operate the loop.{{cite news |date=March 29, 1913 |title=Subway Construction |page=2 |work=The Wall Street Journal |issn=0099-9660 |id={{ProQuest|129417638}}}} The Bradley Construction Company was hired to install station finishes; by June 1913, the firm had completed the installation of tile and marble, and it was working on plastering.{{Cite news|date=June 30, 1913|title=New Subway Work Going Ahead Fast; Lexington Avenue Furthest Advanced – City Has $81,000,000 of Contracts Under Way.|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1913/06/30/archives/new-subway-work-going-ahead-fast-lexington-avenue-furthest-advanced.html|access-date=May 17, 2023|issn=0362-4331}}

The BRT's Chambers Street station opened on August 4, 1913,{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1913/08/05/archives/passenger-killed-on-loops-first-day-printer-impatient-at-delay-in.html|title=Passenger Killed On Loop's First Day ; Printer, Impatient at Delay in New Bridge Subway, Tries to Walk the Track.|date=August 5, 1913|work=The New York Times|access-date=August 1, 2019|page=2|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=December 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217094510/https://www.nytimes.com/1913/08/05/archives/passenger-killed-on-loops-first-day-printer-impatient-at-delay-in.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news |date=August 5, 1913 |title=Brooklyn Crowds Jam New $13,000,000 Loop: One-fourth of Old Bridge Traffic Diverted at Night, but Crush is Terrific |page=14 |work=New-York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|575116848}}}} relieving traffic on elevated lines that had used the Brooklyn Bridge.{{cite news |date=August 21, 1917 |title=Brooklyn Trains To Run to 14th St. On September 4: Interborough Travellers Who Change at Chambers St. Can Then Save 5c |page=12 |work=New-York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|575741058}}}} Originally, trains arrived from the north via either the Williamsburg Bridge or the Manhattan Bridge, as the connection to the Montague Street Tunnel had not yet been completed. The loop configuration permitted trains arriving in either direction from the Fourth Avenue Line in Brooklyn to pass through Chambers Street and return to Fourth Avenue without having to reverse direction. Chambers Street was designed to be the BRT's Manhattan hub near City Hall, as the business and population center of the city was still near Manhattan island's southern end at the time. Initially, trains only used the western two tracks of the Centre Street tunnel, and the station was not served by Manhattan Bridge trains.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6b8bAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA176 |title=Report |year=1915 |page=176 |access-date=May 14, 2023}}{{Rp|page=|pages=175–176}} The station remained incomplete for more than a year after it had opened, and workers temporarily suspended construction at the station from November 1913 to March 1914. The remaining work, which included installation of staircases and completion of ceilings, was completed on September 14, 1914.{{Rp|page=174}}

File:Chambers St BMT td (2022-03-04) 19.jpg

A track connection between the Brooklyn Bridge's elevated-railroad tracks and the Centre Street tunnel was planned in the station's design.{{Cite news|date=July 2, 1902|title=Great City Building For Bridge Entrance; Rapid Transit Board Approves Engineer Parsons's Plan|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1902/07/02/archives/great-city-building-for-bridge-entrance-rapid-transit-board.html|access-date=July 1, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=July 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190701145521/https://www.nytimes.com/1902/07/02/archives/great-city-building-for-bridge-entrance-rapid-transit-board.html|url-status=live}} The BRT had agreed to build the loops in September 1913,{{Cite news |date=September 17, 1913 |title=B.R.T. To Do Work for the City at Cost; Agrees to Build Brooklyn Subway Connection and Complete Loop Line Without Profit. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1913/09/17/archives/brt-to-do-work-for-the-city-at-cost-agrees-to-build-brooklyn-subway.html |access-date=May 12, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230512185024/https://www.nytimes.com/1913/09/17/archives/brt-to-do-work-for-the-city-at-cost-agrees-to-build-brooklyn-subway.html |url-status=live }} and, according to a 1916 report, the connection had been completed for just over $740,000 ({{Inflation|US|740000|1916|fmt=eq}}). However, the connection was never opened{{Cite news |date=August 4, 1915 |title=City has an Idle Tunnel; Unused Tube Connects Two Subway Lines and Cost $868,000 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1915/08/04/archives/city-has-an-idle-tunnel-unused-tube-connects-two-subway-lines-and.html |url-status=live |access-date=July 1, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190701145517/https://www.nytimes.com/1915/08/04/archives/city-has-an-idle-tunnel-unused-tube-connects-two-subway-lines-and.html |archive-date=July 1, 2019 |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite journal |last=Small |first=Charles S |date=1957 |title=The Railway of the New York and Brooklyn Bridge |journal=The Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin |issue=97 |page=18 |issn=0033-8842 |jstor=43520182}} because the BRT did not want to pay the annual rental fee that was mandated for the usage of the connection.{{cite book|last=Bruère|first=H.J.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LGnOAAAAMAAJ|title=New York City's Administrative Progress, 1914–1916: A Survey of Various Departments Under the Jurisdiction of the Mayor|publisher=M. B. Brown|year=1916|issue=v. 1914–1916|access-date=December 27, 2020|archive-date=May 2, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502175327/https://books.google.com/books?id=LGnOAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}} The overpass across William Street was closed in 1913 to make way for the proposed connection. In 1929, the overpass was reopened after it became clear that the connection would not be built.{{Cite news|date=May 8, 1929|title=Reopens Under Pass At Brooklyn Bridge; Walker at Ceremony Clearing Passage Closed for 16 Years-- Downtown Traffic Eased|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/05/08/archives/reopens-under-pass-at-brooklyn-bridge-walker-at-ceremony-clearing.html|access-date=July 1, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=July 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190701145507/https://www.nytimes.com/1929/05/08/archives/reopens-under-pass-at-brooklyn-bridge-walker-at-ceremony-clearing.html|url-status=live}} The finished portions of the tunnel to the Brooklyn Bridge led directly to wine vaults under the bridge.{{Cite web|last=Young|first=Michelle|date=May 24, 2018|title=Inside the Champagne Vaults of the Brooklyn Bridge on the 135th Anniversary [Photos]|url=https://untappedcities.com/2018/05/24/inside-the-champagne-vaults-of-the-brooklyn-bridge-on-the-135th-anniversary-photos/|access-date=December 27, 2020|website=Untapped New York|language=en-US|archive-date=January 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127062930/https://untappedcities.com/2018/05/24/inside-the-champagne-vaults-of-the-brooklyn-bridge-on-the-135th-anniversary-photos/|url-status=live}} The masonry and steel ramp connecting to the Brooklyn Bridge was demolished in the early 1950s when the bridge's elevated tracks were removed.

Three years after the Chambers Street station opened, its platforms were so overcrowded that one New York Times article described them as "more dangerous during the rush hours than at the Grand Central or the Fourteenth Street Stations", in part because more space was devoted to stairways than to platforms.{{Cite news |date=March 21, 1916 |title=Subway Station Faulty; More Stairways Than Platform Space Under Municipal Building. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1916/03/21/archives/subway-station-faulty-more-stairways-than-platform-space-under.html |access-date=April 13, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230420034559/https://www.nytimes.com/1916/03/21/archives/subway-station-faulty-more-stairways-than-platform-space-under.html |url-status=live }} In 1921, the BRT added a first-aid room at the northern end of the Chambers Street station's center island platform; at the time, the IRT's Brooklyn Bridge station also had a first-aid room.{{Cite news |date=June 19, 1921 |title=First Aid Room in Subway; Emergency Station Fitted Up in Chambers Street Station of B.R.T. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1921/06/19/archives/first-aid-room-in-subway-emergency-station-fitted-up-in-chambers.html |access-date=May 12, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 1, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180401164814/https://www.nytimes.com/1921/06/19/archives/first-aid-room-in-subway-emergency-station-fitted-up-in-chambers.html |url-status=live }} The next year, the Wagner Engineering Company installed red-white-and-green navigational signs at the BMT station, in conjunction with the addition of navigational signs to the IRT station. The station's platforms originally could only fit six {{convert|67|ft|m|-long|adj=mid}} cars. In April 1926, the New York City Board of Transportation (BOT) received bids for the lengthening of platforms at three stations on the Centre Street Loop, including the Chambers Street station, to accommodate eight-car trains.{{Cite news |date=April 11, 1926 |title=To Lengthen Subway Stations. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1926/04/11/archives/to-lengthen-subway-stations.html |access-date=May 12, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230512201355/https://www.nytimes.com/1926/04/11/archives/to-lengthen-subway-stations.html |url-status=live }} The Board of Estimate approved funds for the project in July 1926,{{Cite news |date=July 22, 1926 |title=Broadway Merchants Get Transit Report |page=4 |work=The Standard Union |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-broadway-merchants-ge/124512944/ |access-date=May 12, 2023 |archive-date=May 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230512210254/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-union-broadway-merchants-ge/124512944/ |url-status=live }} and the extensions were completed in 1927, bringing the length of the platforms to {{Convert|535|feet|meters|abbr=}}.{{Cite news |date=August 2, 1927 |title=B.M.T. to Operate Eight-car Trains; Platforms in Forty Stations Are Lengthened, Increasing Capacity 33 1–3%. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/08/02/archives/bmt-to-operate-eightcar-trains-platforms-in-forty-stations-are.html |access-date=May 12, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230512200633/https://www.nytimes.com/1927/08/02/archives/bmt-to-operate-eightcar-trains-platforms-in-forty-stations-are.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |date=August 2, 1927 |title=B. M, T. Station Lengthening Is Nearly Finished: 76 Platforms Are Extended 3,186 Feet to Make Room for 126.000 Additional Passengers in Rush Hours City Carried Out Work I.R.T. Changes Planned, but That Company Refuses to Pay Its Share of Costs |page=32 |work=New-York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1113704092}}}}

By the mid-1920s, the subway itself was pushing the city's population north and leaving Chambers Street behind.{{Cite book |last=Derrick |first=Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D4cUCgAAQBAJ |title=Tunneling to the Future: The Story of the Great Subway Expansion That Saved New York |date=April 1, 2002 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=9780814719541 |language=en |access-date=December 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200522073647/https://books.google.com/books?id=D4cUCgAAQBAJ |archive-date=May 22, 2020 |url-status=live}}{{Cite book |last1=Cunningham |first1=Joseph |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fg4KAQAAMAAJ&q=1977 |title=A History of the New York City Subway System |last2=DeHart |first2=Leonard O. |date=1993 |publisher=J. Schmidt, R. Giglio, and K. Lang |language=en |access-date=December 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502175104/https://books.google.com/books?id=Fg4KAQAAMAAJ&q=1977 |archive-date=May 2, 2022 |url-status=live}} Nonetheless, the city government agreed in 1927 to extend the Nassau Street Line from the Chambers Street station south to the Montague Street Tunnel to Brooklyn, as was required under the Dual Contracts.{{Cite news |date=May 28, 1927 |title=City Will Build Nassau St. Tube; Forced to Yield; Link for the B.M.T., Less Than a Mile in Length, Will Cost $13,000,000 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/05/28/archives/city-will-build-nassau-st-tube-forced-to-yield-link-for-the-bmt.html |access-date=May 7, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite news |last=Moscow |first=Warren |date=August 21, 1927 |title=Nassau Street Subway Again Proves Nuisance As Board Rejects Bids |pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-citizen-nassau-street-subwa/124211185/ 4] |work=The Brooklyn Citizen |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/124210900/nassau-street-subway-again-proves/ |access-date=May 7, 2023}} The extension would permit trains from southern Brooklyn to loop through Lower Manhattan without reversing direction (a service pattern known as the Nassau Street Loop), rather than using the Manhattan Bridge and terminating at Chambers Street.{{Cite news |date=January 4, 1925 |title=B.M.T. Would Use Nassau Line in Loop; Trains From Brooklyn Over Manhattan Bridge Would Turn Into Montague St. Tube |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1925/01/04/archives/bmt-would-use-nassau-line-in-loop-trains-from-brooklyn-over.html |access-date=May 14, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}} The line was completed in 1931, and the Chambers Street station became a through station.{{Cite news |date=May 30, 1931 |title=Mayor Drives Train In New Subway Link; The Mayor Becomes A Motorman. |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1931/05/30/archives/mayor-drives-train-in-new-subway-link-the-mayor-becomes-a-motorman.html |url-status=live |access-date=July 28, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217094807/https://www.nytimes.com/1931/05/30/archives/mayor-drives-train-in-new-subway-link-the-mayor-becomes-a-motorman.html |archive-date=December 17, 2021 |issn=0362-4331}}{{cite news |date=May 30, 1931 |title=Walker Operates First Train in Nassau St. Loop: Tests Out Whistle Before Sudden Stop for Which Instructor Takes Blame New B. M. T. System Link Other Officials at Opening of $10,000,000 Subway Nassau Street Subway Is Formally Opened |page=3 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1114103146}}}} At this point, the BMT's center island platform and the two side platforms were closed.{{Rp|9}} A new northern mezzanine was built in 1938 when the entrances under the north side of the Municipal Building were closed.{{Rp|9}}{{cite book |last=Oszustowicz |first=E.R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tn1YzgEACAAJ |title=The Elevated Railways of Brooklyn and the BMT Subway: Volume One: 1864–1940 |author2=Electric Railroaders Association (U.S.) |last3=Campbell |first3=S. |publisher=Electric Railroaders' Association, Incorporated |year=2021 |isbn=978-1-7364305-0-7 |page=144}} This mezzanine was built by the Cayuga Construction Company.

File:Chambers St BMT td (2022-03-04) 37.jpg

The western side platform was demolished with the expansion of the IRT station between 1960 and 1962.{{Rp|9}} The Chrystie Street Connection, opened in 1967, severed the Nassau Street Line's connection to the Manhattan Bridge, so that the bridge tracks could connect instead to the uptown IND Sixth Avenue Line.{{cite news |last1=Perlmutter |first1=Emanuel |title=Subway Changes to Speed Service: Major Alterations in Maps, Routes and Signs Will Take Effect Nov. 26 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1967/11/16/archives/subway-changes-to-speed-service-major-alterations-in-maps-routes.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=July 7, 2015 |page=1 |date=November 16, 1967 |archive-date=May 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502175328/https://www.nytimes.com/1967/11/16/archives/subway-changes-to-speed-service-major-alterations-in-maps-routes.html?searchResultPosition=1 |url-status=live }} The new connection preserved Nassau Street service via the Montague Street Tunnel, but trains were no longer able to run in a loop.{{cite book | last=Sparberg | first=A.J. | title=From a Nickel to a Token: The Journey from Board of Transportation to MTA | publisher=Fordham University Press | year=2014 | isbn=978-0-8232-6192-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RO4mDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA152 | access-date=September 11, 2018 | pages=152 | archive-date=May 2, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502175328/https://books.google.com/books?id=RO4mDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA152 | url-status=live }} In 1990, all weekend service on the Nassau Street Line was eliminated south of Chambers Street;See:

• {{Cite web |date=September 30, 1990 |title=Service Changes September 30, 1990 |url=http://www.subwaynut.com/brochures/1990servicechanges.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141026015324/http://www.subwaynut.com/brochures/1990servicechanges.pdf |archive-date=October 26, 2014 |access-date=May 1, 2016 |website=subwaynut.com |publisher=New York City Transit Authority}}
• {{Cite web |last=Glickman |first=Todd |date=October 6, 1998 |title=Archive of NYC Subway Maps |url=http://web.mit.edu/glickman/www/submaps.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160827233048/http://web.mit.edu/glickman/www/submaps.html |archive-date=August 27, 2016 |access-date=July 28, 2016 |website=mit.edu |ref=none}} this continued until 2015.See:
• {{cite web |title=2014 – 2017 MTA Financial Plan |url=http://web.mta.info/nyct/service/InvestmentProposals2015_2018.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190524235308/http://web.mta.info/nyct/service/InvestmentProposals2015_2018.htm |archive-date=May 24, 2019 |access-date=May 5, 2020 |publisher=Metropolitan Transportation Authority}}
• {{cite web |date=July 29, 2014 |title=news – MTA's Proposed 2015 Budget Includes Systemwide Service Enhancements |url=http://www.mta.info/news-new-york-city-transit-budget-mta-board-subway-bus-metro-north-lirr-long-island-rail-road/2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810051841/http://www.mta.info/news-new-york-city-transit-budget-mta-board-subway-bus-metro-north-lirr-long-island-rail-road/2014 |archive-date=August 10, 2014 |access-date=May 5, 2020 |publisher=Metropolitan Transportation Authority}}
• {{cite web |last=Donohue |first=Pete |date=July 24, 2014 |title=MTA to upgrade weekend service on J train, restore it on LIRR's West Hempstead Branch |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/train-service-upgrade-part-mta-new-financial-plan-article-1.1878079 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210814230547/https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/train-service-upgrade-part-mta-new-financial-plan-article-1.1878079 |archive-date=August 14, 2021 |access-date=May 5, 2020 |website=New York Daily News}}

By 2000, the MTA had announced plans to make the Chambers Street station ADA-accessible. The agency had been required in 1994 to create a list of 100 "key stations" that it planned to make ADA-accessible, and the Chambers Street station was one of the last "key stations" to be selected.{{Cite web |date=February 25, 2020 |title=Transit and Bus Committee Meeting February 2019 |url=https://new.mta.info/document/14666 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110100407/https://new.mta.info/document/14666 |archive-date=January 10, 2021 |access-date=March 12, 2020 |publisher=Metropolitan Transportation Authority |page=247}} The Chambers Street station, having fallen into disuse over the years, was voted the ugliest station in the system in a 2003 poll of railfans.{{cite news |last=Kennedy |first=Randy |date=May 13, 2003 |title=Tunnel Vision; They're Subway Experts. Take Their Word on What's Ugly. |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/13/nyregion/tunnel-vision-they-re-subway-experts-take-their-word-on-what-s-ugly.html |url-status=live |access-date=April 21, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125030719/https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/13/nyregion/tunnel-vision-they-re-subway-experts-take-their-word-on-what-s-ugly.html |archive-date=January 25, 2021 |quote=But eventually they came to settle on the Chambers Street station beneath the Municipal Building as the clear winner in their 2003 subway station ugly contest.}} The station's token booths were shuttered in May 2005, after fare tokens were replaced with MetroCards; station agents were deployed elsewhere in the station to answer passengers' queries. This was part of a pilot program that was tested at seven other stations.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/03/nyregion/eight-subway-stations-to-deploy-agents-to-assist-passengers.html|title=Eight Subway Stations to Deploy Agents to Assist Passengers|last=Chan|first=Sewell|date=May 3, 2005|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=August 19, 2016|archive-date=May 29, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150529171410/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/03/nyregion/eight-subway-stations-to-deploy-agents-to-assist-passengers.html|url-status=live}}

The MTA announced in May 2018 that it would start renovating the Chambers Street station that August. At the time, local news station NY1 said: "It is easily one of the most decrepit stations in the city's entire system",{{cite web | last=Martinez | first=Jose | title=Chambers Street station on J/Z line to be upgraded | website=Spectrum News NY1 New York City | date=May 26, 2018 | url=https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/transit/2018/05/26/chambers-street-station-on-the-j-and-z-lines-to-get-upgrades-elevators-ramps- | access-date=December 6, 2022 | archive-date=December 6, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206015655/https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/transit/2018/05/26/chambers-street-station-on-the-j-and-z-lines-to-get-upgrades-elevators-ramps- | url-status=live }} and a writer for The Village Voice said that the station "was the undisputed poster station of the system's decay".{{cite web |last=Gordon |first=Aaron |date=June 28, 2018 |title=An Elegy for the Sublimely Crappy Chambers Street Subway Station |url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2018/06/28/an-elegy-for-the-sublimely-crappy-chambers-street-subway-station/ |access-date=May 13, 2023 |website=The Village Voice}} A contract for the elevators' construction was awarded in August 2018.{{Cite book|date=November 13, 2018|title=Capital Program Oversight Committee Meeting November 2018|url=http://web.mta.info/mta/news/books/pdf/181113_1400_CPOC.pdf|access-date=November 10, 2018|publisher=Metropolitan Transportation Authority|page=90|archive-date=July 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190717073555/http://web.mta.info/mta/news/books/pdf/181113_1400_CPOC.pdf|url-status=live}} The station received two elevators to the platforms, as well as three new ramps in the mezzanine: one in the corridor between the IRT and BMT stations, and one from the BMT mezzanine to each platform elevators. The station platforms were modified to reduce the gap between trains and the platform edges, and a pedestrian bridge was installed above the tracks, connecting both of the open platforms. To accommodate the ramps, elevators, and pedestrian bridge, portions of the station and mezzanine were removed or reconfigured. These improvements made the station compliant with the ADA,{{cite web | last=Barone | first=Vincent | title=Subway stations in the city aren't created equal | website=amNewYork | date=November 28, 2018 | url=https://www.amny.com/transit/subway-station-nyc-1-24013957/ | access-date=May 1, 2023 | archive-date=May 1, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230501141859/https://www.amny.com/transit/subway-station-nyc-1-24013957/ | url-status=live }} and were funded as part of the 2015–2019 MTA Capital Program.{{cite web|date=October 28, 2015|title=MTA Capital Program 2015–2019: Renew. Enhance. Expand.|url=http://web.mta.info/capital/pdf/CapitalProgram2015-19_WEB%20v4%20FINAL_small.pdf|access-date=October 28, 2015|publisher=Metropolitan Transportation Authority|website=mta.info|page=61|archive-date=November 17, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117022737/http://web.mta.info/capital/pdf/CapitalProgram2015-19_WEB%20v4%20FINAL_small.pdf|url-status=live}}{{cite web|date=June 13, 2013|title=The MTA's Key Station Plan for subway accessibility – The Weekly Nabe|url=http://theweeklynabe.com/2013/06/13/mta-key-station-plan-subway-accessibility/|work=The Weekly Nabe|access-date=May 28, 2018|archive-date=September 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170916105931/http://theweeklynabe.com/2013/06/13/mta-key-station-plan-subway-accessibility/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|date=July 2016|title=MTA 2017 Preliminary Budget July Financial Plan 2017 –2020 Volume 2|url=http://web.mta.info/news/pdf/MTA_2017_Preliminary_Budget_July_Financial_Plan_2017_2020_Volume_2.pdf|access-date=August 6, 2016|website=mta.info|publisher=Metropolitan Transportation Authority|archive-date=August 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160804012052/http://web.mta.info/news/pdf/MTA_2017_Preliminary_Budget_July_Financial_Plan_2017_2020_Volume_2.pdf|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|date=April 26, 2018|title=Funding For Subway Station ADA-Accessibility Approved|url=http://www.mta.info/news/2018/04/26/funding-subway-station-ada-accessibility-approved|archive-date=November 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112044459/http://www.mta.info/news/2018/04/26/funding-subway-station-ada-accessibility-approved|url-status=live|access-date=April 27, 2018|publisher=Metropolitan Transportation Authority|website=mta.info|language=en}} The project was to take at least 24 months to be completed.{{Cite web|date=May 25, 2018|title=Elevators, Other Improvements Coming to Chambers Street JZ Station|url=https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DeEJT8qW0AAMA8n.jpg|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107212922/https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DeEJT8qW0AAMA8n.jpg|archive-date=January 7, 2021|access-date=May 28, 2018|website=Twitter|publisher=Metropolitan Transportation Authority}} The elevators had opened by September 1, 2020.{{cite web | last=Hallum | first=Mark | title=A real lift: MTA finishes elevator ADA accessibility at Chambers Street station | website=amNewYork | date=September 2, 2020 | url=https://www.amny.com/transit/elevators-and-more-elevators-mta-finishes-ada-accessibility-at-chambers-street-station/ | access-date=December 6, 2022 | archive-date=December 6, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206015659/https://www.amny.com/transit/elevators-and-more-elevators-mta-finishes-ada-accessibility-at-chambers-street-station/ | url-status=live }}{{cite web | title='J' and 'Z' Chambers Street Elevators Now Complete | website=Spectrum News NY1 New York City | date=September 3, 2020 | url=https://www.ny1.com/nyc/manhattan/news/2020/09/03/-j--and--z--chambers-street-elevators-now-complete | access-date=December 6, 2022 | archive-date=December 6, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206015656/https://www.ny1.com/nyc/manhattan/news/2020/09/03/-j--and--z--chambers-street-elevators-now-complete | url-status=live }}

In 2023, the MTA began planning to renovate the Chambers Street and {{stn|190th Street}} stations for a combined $100 million; the work would involve "historically sensitive" repairs, as both stations are on the NRHP.{{cite web | last=Nessen | first=Stephen | title=MTA will spend $100M to revitalize 2 grimy, historic NYC subway stations | website=Gothamist | date=March 19, 2024 | url=https://gothamist.com/news/mta-will-spend-100m-to-revitalize-2-grimy-historic-nyc-subway-stations | access-date=March 19, 2024}}{{cite web | last=Kumamoto | first=Ian | title=These two old subway stations are getting a $100 million refresh | website=Time Out New York | date=March 19, 2024 | url=https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/these-two-old-subway-stations-are-getting-a-100-million-refresh-031924 | access-date=June 28, 2024}} The project was to be funded by congestion pricing in New York City, but the renovation was postponed in June 2024 after the implementation of congestion pricing was delayed.{{cite web | last=Nessen | first=Stephen | title=Dreary Chambers Street subway station will remain decrepit due to congestion pricing pause | website=Gothamist | date=June 27, 2024 | url=https://gothamist.com/news/dreary-chambers-street-subway-station-will-remain-decrepit-due-to-congestion-pricing-pause | access-date=June 28, 2024}}{{Cite news|last=Collins|first=Keith|date=2024-07-11|title=See How Your Subway Service May Suffer Without Congestion Pricing|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/07/11/nyregion/subway-cuts-congestion-pricing.html|access-date=2024-07-12|work=The New York Times|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}

File:Chambers Street BMT 024.JPG

The IRT and BMT platforms both run in a north–south direction, with the BMT platforms to the east of the IRT platforms. Just below street level, there are two overpasses above the IRT platforms, one at the center of the station and another near the south end. There is also an underpass at the extreme north end of the station.{{Rp|17}}{{rp|page=285}} The underpass and northern overpass date from the 1962 renovation while the southern overpass is part of the original circulation plan. The overpasses connect each platform with the exits and the BMT's southern mezzanine, and contain wrought iron balustrades. A pedestrian corridor runs above the eastern side of the IRT station.{{Rp|4–5}}

The BMT mezzanine level, slightly lower than the IRT mezzanine level, is split into north and south sections, with various offices and service rooms in the unused portions of both mezzanines. The connection to the IRT is within the southern mezzanine.{{Rp|17}} The mezzanines contain tiled piers and walls, with pink wainscoting. Along the tops of the walls are yellow mosaic-tile bands with white-and-red surrounds and blue rectangular panels. The north mezzanine has a section of rectangular yellow tiled wall dating to the 1962 renovation. There is a doorway in the south mezzanine, topped by a stone lintel reading "Women", which formerly led to a women's restroom.{{Rp|4–5}}

{{Lower Manhattan transit}}

{{multiple image

| align = right

| direction = horizontal

| total_width = 400

| image1 = Brooklyn Bridge elevator.jpg

| caption1 = Elevator kiosk, made in the style of original IRT subway entrance kiosks

| image2 = Chambers Street BMT 026.JPG

| caption2 = Renovated Municipal Building entrance

}}

At the north end of the complex, two stairs extend from the IRT underpass to the northwestern corner of Reade and Centre Streets. The IRT underpass continues to the northern BMT mezzanine, where a stair rises to the southern end of Foley Square.{{Rp|4, 17}}{{cite web|url=https://new.mta.info/document/2476|title=Brooklyn Bridge—City Hall/Chambers Street Neighborhood Map|date=April 2018|website=mta.info|publisher=Metropolitan Transportation Authority|access-date=January 7, 2021|archive-date=December 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211218165856/https://new.mta.info/document/2476|url-status=live}}

At the center of the complex, a wide stair under the southern side of the Manhattan Municipal Building, just southeast of the intersection of Centre and Chambers Streets, serves the southern BMT mezzanine, and was one of the original BMT entrances.{{Rp|4, 17}} The wide stair has a bronze latticed balustrade, as well as plaques with the words {{Smallcaps|svbway entrance}}.{{Rp|6}} This stair measures {{convert|64|ft}} wide and, at the time of the BMT station's construction, could accommodate 1,280 passengers per minute.

Two stairs and an elevator rise from the western side of the IRT mezzanine to City Hall Park, just southwest of the intersection of Centre and Chambers Streets, in front of the Tweed Courthouse. The stairs are part of the IRT station's original entrance.{{Rp|6–7}} The elevator, a replica of an original IRT subway entrance kiosk, opened in 1992 and was designed by Urbahn Associates. A long passageway at the eastern side of the IRT mezzanine leads to a stair within a plaza just south of the Manhattan Municipal Building. This exit is smaller and faces the large BMT entrance under the building. At the far south end, two stairs rise to the south side of Frankfort Street, in front of Pace University's One Pace Plaza building.{{Rp|4, 17}}

Several entrances have been closed and slabbed over. One stair from the IRT mezzanine led directly to the Brooklyn Bridge walkway,{{Cite web|date=June 1, 2001|title=Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall Station Plan Lexington Avenue Line – IRT Division Station Number: 411|url=https://s3.amazonaws.com/nycsubway.org/images/articles/diagram_city_hall_bkbr_station_current.jpg|access-date=February 20, 2019|website=nycsubway.org|publisher=Metropolitan Transportation Authority|archive-date=February 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200209161708/https://s3.amazonaws.com/nycsubway.org/images/articles/diagram_city_hall_bkbr_station_current.jpg|url-status=live}}{{cite web|date=July 12, 1954|title=Map Showing A Change In The City Map By Modifying Or Establishing The Lines And Grades Of The Street System Bounded Approximately By Park Row, Centre Street, Pearl Street, William Street And Beekman Street, Including The Widening Of Park Row Between Broadway And A Point 120± Feet North Of Pearl Street; And A Change In The Lines Of City Hall Park In Connection With The Manhattan Approaches To The Brooklyn Bridge|url=https://nycdcp-dcm-alteration-maps.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/cp11056.pdf|access-date=February 17, 2020|website=streets.planning.nyc.gov|publisher=Manhattan Borough President's Office|archive-date=February 17, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200217230000/https://nycdcp-dcm-alteration-maps.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/cp11056.pdf|url-status=live}} and was removed by August 2000{{Cite web|date=2000|title=New York City Department of Transportation Division of Bridges 2000 Bridges and Tunnels Annual Condition Report|url=https://www1.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/dot_bridgereport_2000.pdf|access-date=May 1, 2020|website=nyc.gov|page=4|archive-date=October 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201016232013/http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/dot_bridgereport_2000.pdf|url-status=live}} as part of a project to widen the bridge walkway.{{Cite news|last=Moynihan|first=Colin|date=June 25, 2000|title=Neighborhood Report: Lower Manhattan; Walkers and Cyclists Collide Over Subway Entrance Plan|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/25/nyregion/neighborhood-report-lower-manhattan-walkers-cyclists-collide-over-subway.html|access-date=December 27, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=February 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227100107/http://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/25/nyregion/neighborhood-report-lower-manhattan-walkers-cyclists-collide-over-subway.html|url-status=live}} Another stair rose from the northern BMT mezzanine to the northwestern corner of Centre Street and Duane Street (east of the current Foley Square entrance),{{Rp|17}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2zk3AQAAMAAJ&q=%22worth+street%22+%22IRT%22&pg=PA172|title=Foley Square Federal Courthouse and Federal/municipal Office Building, New York City: Environmental Impact Statement|date=1990|page=IV-175|language=en|access-date=December 27, 2020|archive-date=May 2, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502175328/https://books.google.com/books?id=2zk3AQAAMAAJ&q=%22worth+street%22+%22IRT%22&pg=PA172|url-status=live}} though this was also sealed by 1992 to reduce the maintenance costs associated with maintaining two adjacent staircases.{{Cite report|publisher=New York City Transit Authority|title=Station Facilities Proposed for Closure or Reduced Access|page=12|date=June 1992|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/127872292@N06/48527029916/|access-date=December 6, 2020|archive-date=May 2, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502175328/https://www.flickr.com/photos/127872292@N06/48527029916/|url-status=live}} The northern BMT mezzanine contained bronze doors on the east wall, now sealed, which led to the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse.{{Rp|5}} Under the northern side of the Manhattan Municipal Building were additional subway staircases,{{Rp|374}}{{Cite report |last=Edwards and Kelcey Engineers, Inc. |date=July 24, 1990 |title=Foley Square Proposed Federal Courthouse and Federal/Municipal Office Building, New York City, New York |volume=I |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=ien.35556030611271&view=1up&seq=277&q1=Transportation%20and%20parking |access-date=April 4, 2023 |via=HathiTrust}}{{rp|page=275}} although this entrance area was closed by 1938.{{Rp|9}} The largest staircase under the Municipal Building's northern section was {{convert|43|ft}} wide and could originally accommodate 800 passengers per minute.

{{Clear}}

{{Infobox NYCS

| name = Chambers Street

| image = Chambers Street Pedestrian Overpass, July 2022.jpg

| image_caption = View of the station from the pedestrian overpass, facing north

| division = BMT

| line = BMT Nassau Street Line

| service = Nassau north

| service_header = Nassau south

| connection =

| platforms = 3 island platforms (1 disused), 2 side platforms (1 demolished, 1 disused)

| tracks = 4 (2 in regular service)

| structure = Underground

| open_date = {{start date and age|1913|08|04}}

| accessible = yes

| acc_note =

| hide_traffic = yes

| adjacent_stations = {{Adjacent stations|system=New York City Subway

|line=Nassau|left=Canal Street|right=Fulton Street|note-left={{NYCS Nassau|time=1}}|note-right={{NYCS Nassau|time=1}}}}

| legend = {{NYCS infobox legend|alltimes}}{{NYCS infobox legend|rushpeak}}{{NYCS infobox legend|eveningsonly}}

| embedded =

| embed = yes

| name = Chambers Street Subway Station (Dual System BMT)

| added = July 6, 2005

| mpsub = New York City Subway System MPS

| refnum = 05000669

}}

|layout=

{{Routemap

|legend=track

|map=

uvSTR!~MFADEg\uevSTR!~MFADEg~~ ~~ ~~ to {{stl|NYCS|Bowery}}

uvSTRfg\uevSTR

uv-SHI2r\uxvSTR\uvSHI2l-

udSTR\dPLT\uxvSTR\exdPLT\udSTR

udSTR\dPLT\uxvSTR\exdPLT\udSTR ~~ ~~ {{stl|NYCS|Canal Street|Nassau}}

udSTR\dPLT\uxvSTR\exdPLT\udSTR

uvSHI2l-\uxvSTR!~uSTRc2\uexd-STR+1!~uv-STR3\d

udSTR\uexv-STR!~uvABZg+1-\uxdSTR+c4

numN330\uvSTRfg\uexvSTR!~uvSTR+l\uvCONTfq ~~ ~~ ~~ Manhattan Br sidings

ubvvvSTR

uvÜSTl\uvSTR

udSTR\uvÜST\udSTR

uvÜSTr\uvÜST

uSHI3+l\uSHI1+l!~udSHI3r\uSHI1+r!~uv-SHI3l\uSHI3+r

c\udSTR\dPLT\udSTR\exdPLT\udSTR\dPLT\udSTR\excPLT

c\udSTR\dPLT\udSTR\exdPLT\udSTR\dPLT\udSTR\excPLT ~~ {{stl|NYCS|Chambers Street|Nassau}}

c\udSTR\dPLT\udSTR\exdPLT\udSTR\dPLT\udSTR\excPLT

c\cd!~uv2SHI2l-\uSTR+c2\uSTR3!~utSTRc2\uSTR3!~MFADEf!~utSTR3 ~~ ~~ ~~ track ascending from lower level

c\cd!~uv-2SHI2+r\utSHI4c2!~uABZg+1\utSTR3h+1!~uSTRc4\utSTRc4

uvSTR\utdSTR\

uvSTR\utdSTR\

uvSTR\utdSTR\

uvSTR\utdSTR\

udSTRf\udENDEe\utdSTRg\

uSTR!~MFADEf\utSTR!~MFADEf\ ~~ ~~ ~~ to {{stl|NYCS|Fulton Street|Nassau}}

|inline=y}}

}}

The Chambers Street station on the BMT Nassau Street Line is beneath the Manhattan Municipal Building, stretching from Duane Street in the north to a point just south of Chambers Street to the south.{{Rp|3}} The J stops here at all times and the Z stops here during rush hours in the peak direction.{{NYCS const|timetable|j}} The station is between {{stl|NYCS|Canal Street|Nassau}} to the north and {{stl|NYCS|Fulton Street|Nassau}} to the south.{{NYCS const|map}}

The Chambers Street station has four tracks, three island platforms, and one side platform (originally two); the westernmost side platform has been demolished, while the center island platform and the easternmost side platform are unused. Terminating trains use the inner tracks while through trains use the outer tracks. From the BMT station, there are stairs and elevators leading to the mezzanines above. The easternmost side platform had seven stairs, while the center island platform and the westernmost side platform had six stairs. The eastern island platform has five stairs and the western island platform has four stairs. The elevators are at the southern ends of the western and eastern island platforms.{{Rp|17}}

The station is approximately {{convert|537|ft}} long and {{Convert|120.|ft||abbr=}} wide.{{Rp|3–4}} Both of the platforms in revenue service are {{convert|23|ft}} wide; the northbound platform is {{convert|534|ft}} long, while the southbound platform is {{convert|520|ft}} long.{{rp|page=286}} The southbound platform is slightly higher at the southern end of the station because, south of the station, the line becomes a bi-level tunnel with the southbound track stacked above the northbound one.

{{multiple image

| align = center

| direction = horizontal

| total_width = 540

| image1 = Chambers Street BMT 006.JPG

| caption1 = Name of the station in mosaics

| image2 = Chambers Street BMT 007.JPG

| caption2 = Ceramic tile with Brooklyn Bridge

| image3 = BMT Chambers Street 2020 Overpass.jpg

| caption3 = Pedestrian overpass added as part of the 2019 renovation

}}

Like the IRT station, the tunnel is covered by a U-shaped trough that contains utility pipes and wires. The bottom of this trough contains a foundation of concrete no less than {{Convert|4|in||abbr=}} thick. Each platform consists of {{Convert|3|in||-thick|abbr=|adj=mid}} concrete slabs, beneath which are drainage basins. The platforms contain double-height, tile-clad columns spaced every {{Convert|15|ft||abbr=}}, which support the jack-arched concrete station roofs. There is a {{Convert|1|in||abbr=|adj=on}} gap between the trough wall and the platform walls, which are made of {{Convert|4|in||abbr=|adj=on}}-thick brick covered over by a tiled finish. The ceiling is double-height above much of the station's length, but drops beneath the south mezzanine and the original north mezzanine.{{Rp|3, 5–6}}

The westernmost side platform was tiled over during the 1962 renovation; it contains yellow tiles and a cream trim line with {{Smallcaps|chambers st}} written on it in black sans-serif font at regular intervals. The easternmost side platform retains most of its original decoration, with pink marble wainscoting, as well as pink marble pilasters spaced every {{Convert|15|feet|meters|abbr=}}. Between the pilasters and above the wainscoting are panels made of white tile, with gold-tiled borders. A maroon, blue, and gold tile frieze runs atop each panel, interrupted by T-shaped ceramic plaques with depictions of the Brooklyn Bridge, which are situated atop each pilaster. The Brooklyn Bridge ceramic tiles display the bridge's vertical cables but do not depict its diagonal cables. At intervals of every three panels, there are tile plaques with the station's name in place of the frieze. Sections of the original design, including the ceiling and walls, are heavily damaged or deteriorated.{{Rp|5}}

{{multiple image

|align=center

|direction=horizontal

|total_width=600

|image1=Chambers Street BMT 008.JPG

|caption1=Easternmost side platform, abandoned

|image2=Chambers Street BMT panoramic.jpg

|caption2=Eastern island platform, in use

|image3=Chambers Street BMT 012.JPG

|caption3=Center island platform, abandoned

}}

The two "express" tracks, currently unused in regular revenue service, merge into a single tail track south of the station. The tail track is {{convert|620|ft}} long from the switch points to the bumper block, where an emergency exit is available. Before the extension to Broad Street opened, the two westernmost (now southbound) tracks ramped up to just before the portal from the Brooklyn Bridge, ending at a wooden gate. These tracks did not have any third rails and were never used.

North of this station, there are numerous switches connecting all four tracks. The easternmost two tracks are stubs that end behind the now-closed Queens-bound side platform. These tracks were formerly connected to the south tracks of the Manhattan Bridge, until they were disconnected in 1967 as part of the Chrystie Street Connection, with the BMT Broadway Line being connected to the south tracks instead. Also north of this station, the former southbound express track (now the northbound track) splits into two tracks just south of Canal Street: the former northbound local track, and the former southbound express track (the current northbound track).

{{Clear}}

{{Infobox NYCS

| name = Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall

| former = Brooklyn Bridge–Chambers Street
Chambers Street-City Hall
Brooklyn Bridge-Worth Street

| image = IRT Lexington Brooklyn Bridge Southbound Platform.jpg

| image_caption = View from southbound platform

| address = Park Row & Centre Street
New York, New York

| division = IRT

| line = IRT Lexington Avenue Line

| service = Lexington

| platforms = 2 island platforms (in service)
cross-platform interchange
2 side platforms (abandoned)

| tracks = 4

| structure = Underground

| accessible = yes

| open_date = {{start date and age|1904|10|27}}{{Cite news|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1904/10/28/118948832.html|title=Our Subway Open: 150,000 Try It; Mayor McClellan Runs the First Official Train.|date=October 28, 1904|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 21, 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|page=1|archive-date=December 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211213201856/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1904/10/28/118948832.html|url-status=live}}

| hide_traffic = yes

| adjacent_stations = {{Adjacent stations|system=New York City Subway

|line1=Lexington express|left1=14th Street–Union Square|right1=Fulton Street|note-left1={{NYCS Lexington express|time=1}}|note-right1={{NYCS Lexington south|time=1}}

|line2=Lexington local|left2=Canal Street|note-left2={{NYCS Lexington local|time=1}}}}

| unused_adjacent_stations = {{Adjacent stations|system=New York City Subway

|line=none|left=Worth Street|right=City Hall|note-left=local; closed|note-right=local; closed}}

| legend = {{NYCS infobox legend|alltimes}}{{NYCS infobox legend|allexceptnights}}{{NYCS infobox legend|nightsonly}}{{NYCS infobox legend|rushpeak}}

| embedded =

| embed = yes

| name = Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall Subway Station (IRT)

| added = July 6, 2005

| mpsub = New York City Subway System MPS

| refnum = 05000674

}}

|layout={{City Hall (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)|inline=y}}

}}

The Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall station is an express station on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line, beneath Centre Street. It stretches between a point just south of Duane Street, to the north, and Park Row, to the south.{{Rp|3}} The 4 and 6 trains stop here at all times;{{NYCS const|timetable|4}}{{NYCS const|timetable|6}} the 5 train stops here at all times except late nights;{{NYCS const|timetable|5}} and the <6> train stops here during weekdays in the peak direction. The 5 train always makes express stops, and the 6 and <6> trains always make local stops; the 4 train makes express stops during the day and local stops at night. The next station to the north is {{stl|NYCS|Canal Street|Lexington}} for local trains and {{stl|NYCS|14th Street–Union Square|Lexington}} for express trains. The next station to the south for {{NYCS Lexington south|time=nolink}} trains is {{stl|NYCS|Fulton Street|Lexington}}. The station is the southern terminus for {{NYCS City Hall|time=nolink}} trains, which turn via the City Hall Loop to head back uptown. When the subway opened, the next local stop to the north was {{stl|NYCS|Worth Street|Lexington}}, and the next local stop to the south was {{stl|NYCS|City Hall|Lexington}}; both of these stations were closed in the mid-20th century.{{Cite news |last=Adachi |first=Jiro |date=March 28, 2004 |title=1904–2004; Ghost Worlds |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/28/nyregion/1904-2004-ghost-worlds.html |access-date=May 30, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}

The Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall station contains four tracks, two island platforms, and two unused side platforms. From each island platform, one elevator and one stair lead to the station's southern overpass, two stairs lead to the northern overpass, and one stair leads to the north-end underpass.{{Rp|17}} The island platforms allow for cross-platform interchanges between local and express trains heading in the same direction. Terminating trains use the outer tracks while through trains use the inner tracks. The station is approximately {{convert|537|ft}} long and {{Convert|85|ft||abbr=}} wide.{{Rp|3}} The island platforms were originally {{convert|295|ft||abbr=}} long but were lengthened to about {{Convert|523|feet|meters|abbr=}} during the 1962 renovation. The northbound platform ranges from {{convert|18|to|21|ft}} wide, while the southbound platform ranges from {{convert|16|to|20|ft}} wide.{{rp|page=285}} Platform extensions are at both ends of the original platforms. The ones at the south end are closed off, but contain gap fillers and original mosaic tiles.{{Rp|4}} The 1962 platform extensions are at the north end; it was deemed easier to lengthen the express platform northward, as the curves at the south end were extremely difficult to reconstruct.

There are two unused side platforms, one beside either local track.{{NYCS const|trackref|trackbook3}} A combination of island and side platforms was also used at 14th Street–Union Square on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line and 96th Street on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line.{{rp|8}} These side platforms were built to accommodate extra passenger volume and were built to the five-car length of the original IRT local trains. When trains were lengthened, the side platforms were deemed obsolete, and they were closed and walled off in 1962.{{Rp|4}} The side platforms house electrical equipment and are blocked off with metal grates. A staircase from the western side of the mezzanine leads to the original western side platform. A sliding grate was installed on the bottom of the deck leading to the eastern side platform, which was used to prevent access to that platform when it was not in service.{{Rp|4–5}}

{{multiple image

|align=center

|direction=horizontal

|total_width=540

|image1=Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall New Name Mosaic.jpg

|caption1=Name mosaic, platform level

|image2=Brooklyn Bridge City Hall IMG 5242.JPG

|caption2=Abbreviation mosaic with back-to-back "B"s, platform level

|image3=Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall Old Mezzanine Mosaic.jpg

|caption3=Original abbreviation mosaic with back-to-back "B"s, mezzanine

}}

As with other stations built as part of the original IRT, the station was constructed using a cut-and-cover method.{{cite web|last=Scott|first=Charles|date=1978|title=Design and Construction of the IRT: Civil Engineering|url=https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/pnp/habshaer/ny/ny0300/ny0387/data/ny0387data.pdf|access-date=December 20, 2020|publisher=Historic American Engineering Record|pages=208–282 (PDF pp. 209–283) |archive-date=January 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117001227/https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/pnp/habshaer/ny/ny0300/ny0387/data/ny0387data.pdf|url-status=live}} {{PD-notice}}{{rp|237}} The tunnel is covered by a U-shaped trough that contains utility pipes and wires. The bottom of this trough contains a foundation of concrete no less than {{Convert|4|in||abbr=}} thick.{{Rp|3}}{{rp|9}} Each platform consists of {{Convert|3|in||-thick|abbr=|adj=mid}} concrete slabs, beneath which are drainage basins. The platforms contain I-beam columns spaced every {{Convert|15|ft||abbr=}}. Additional columns between the tracks, spaced every {{convert|5|ft}}, support the jack-arched concrete station roofs.{{Rp|3}}{{Rp|4}}{{cite web|last=Framberger|first=David J.|date=1978|title=Architectural Designs for New York's First Subway|url=https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/pnp/habshaer/ny/ny0300/ny0387/data/ny0387data.pdf|access-date=December 20, 2020|publisher=Historic American Engineering Record|pages=1–46 (PDF pp. 367–412) |archive-date=January 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117001227/https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/pnp/habshaer/ny/ny0300/ny0387/data/ny0387data.pdf|url-status=live}} {{PD-notice}}{{rp|9}} There is a {{Convert|1|in||abbr=|adj=on}} gap between the trough wall and the platform walls, which are made of {{Convert|4|in||abbr=|adj=on}}-thick brick covered over by a tiled finish.{{Rp|3}}{{rp|9}}

The westernmost side platform retains ten faience plaques of eagles, made by the Grueby Faience Company, which are not visible to the public. The easternmost side platform also has eagle faience plaques and mosaic tablets, also not visible to the public.{{Rp|5–6}} These plaques and tablets were in the original design,{{Rp|5–6}}{{Cite news |last=Levine |first=Richard |date=March 30, 1987 |title=Saving the Subway's Last Mosaics |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/30/nyregion/saving-the-subway-s-last-mosaics.html |access-date=May 14, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}} but they had been concealed behind a wall of beige tiles by the late 20th century. The walls adjacent to the tracks are decorated with modern white tiles, surrounded near the top and bottom by red tile bands. The bands wrap around alcoves that are placed at regular intervals on the walls. The spaces above the alcoves contain black-on-green plaques with back-to-back "B"s, which alternate with white-on-green tablets with the words {{Smallcaps|brooklyn bridge}} in Arial font. Smaller white-on-green plaques with the words "City Hall" are above the {{Smallcaps|brooklyn bridge}} tablets. The back-to-back "B"s, and the white walls with red tile bands, are also used in the design of the mezzanine. However, the wall of the eastern corridor retains some original design, with brick wainscoting, marble pilasters, and original cream-on-olive plaques with back-to-back "B"s.{{Rp|5–6}} The mosaic tiles at all original IRT stations were manufactured by the American Encaustic Tile Company, which subcontracted the installations at each station.{{rp|31}}

As part of the MTA Arts & Design program, Mark Gibian created a sculpture for the station, titled Cable Crossing, in 1996.{{cite web |title=Cable Crossing |url=https://new.mta.info/agency/arts-design/collection/cable-crossing |access-date=May 13, 2023 |publisher=Metropolitan Transportation Authority |archive-date=December 16, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221216143202/https://new.mta.info/agency/arts-design/collection/cable-crossing |url-status=live }} The sculpture consists of numerous cables in the fare control area of the IRT mezzanine, a reference to the nearby Brooklyn Bridge.{{Rp|6}}{{cite news |last=Diehl |first=Lorraine B. |date=August 6, 2000 |title=Metropolitan Masterpieces; Great Artwork is as Close as the Nearest Subway Station |page=2 |work=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |id={{ProQuest|305625806}}}} Some of the cables are placed under a glass skylight; this part of the artwork measures {{convert|11|in}} thick and {{convert|28.42|by|13.33|ft|m}} across. Additional cables are installed on a triptych next to the turnstiles, separating the portions of the mezzanine that are inside and outside of fare control.{{cite web |title=Cable Crossing |url=https://www.markgibian.com/Cable_Crossing.html |access-date=May 13, 2023 |website=Mark Gibian / Artist |language=en |archive-date=January 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230127114336/https://markgibian.com/Cable_Crossing.html |url-status=live }} In creating the sculpture, Gibian said he wanted it to represent "the controlled power of the subway and its network of metal and concrete that undergirds the city".

In New York City Subway chaining, the south end of the station is milepost 0 for the IRT East Side chain; all distances on the line are measured from this point. Just north of the station are crossovers that allow trains to switch between the local and express tracks, which allow Lexington Avenue local trains to continue south via the express tracks if necessary (rather than using the City Hall loop).

South of the station, the downtown local track splits into three tracks. The westernmost track loops around to the northbound local track through the City Hall station. The other two are layup tracks parallel to the downtown express track.{{Rp|4}} Until 1963, they merged into the downtown express track north of Fulton Street. Since then, they have ended at bumper blocks a little north of Fulton Street and are occasionally used for train storage.{{Cite journal |date=June 1963 |title=IRT Lexington Ave. Trackage To Be Changed |url=https://issuu.com/erausa/docs/1963-03-jun-bulletin |url-status=live |journal=The New York Division Bulletin |publisher=Electric Railroaders' Association |volume=6 |issue=3 |pages=6 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502175329/https://issuu.com/erausa/docs/1963-03-jun-bulletin |archive-date=May 2, 2022 |access-date=March 23, 2018 |via=Issuu}}

{{Clear}}

As a major hub for the IRT and BMT, the Brooklyn Bridge and Chambers Street complex was the subway system's busiest station when it was built.{{cite news |date=October 12, 1924 |title=1,611,538,072 Ride in Subway And 'L in Year: Traffic on Interborough and B.-M. T., Greatest in City's History, Shows Increase of 105,462,071 Fares B.-M. T. Leads in Gains 1,074,343,243 Use I.R.T.; 60,388,549 Take Trains at Times Square Station |page=11 |work=The New York Herald, New York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1113048073}}}}{{Cite news |date=December 10, 1922 |title=Times Sq. Biggest Subway Centre; Ticket Sales Last Year 49,036,746, Against 28,222,538at Brooklyn Bridge |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1922/12/10/archives/times-sq-biggest-subway-centre-ticket-sales-last-year-49036746.html |access-date=May 12, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230512175809/https://www.nytimes.com/1922/12/10/archives/times-sq-biggest-subway-centre-ticket-sales-last-year-49036746.html |url-status=live }} The opening of the IRT station relieved congestion at Park Row Terminal and the City Hall station, two nearby elevated stations.{{cite journal |last=Small |first=Charles S. |date=1957 |title=The Railway of the New York and Brooklyn Bridge |journal=The Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin |issue=97 |pages=16–17 |issn=0033-8842 |jstor=43520182}} The Brooklyn Bridge station served 18 million passengers a year during the 1910s, amounting to about 50,000 passengers a day.{{Cite news |date=September 17, 1914 |title=1,001,215 Use Subway Daily; 340,413,103 Passengers Rode In Year ;- Increase at Times Square. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1914/09/17/archives/1001215-use-subway-daily-340413103-passengers-rode-in-year-increase.html |access-date=May 12, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230512185023/https://www.nytimes.com/1914/09/17/archives/1001215-use-subway-daily-340413103-passengers-rode-in-year-increase.html |url-status=live }} When the Chambers Street station opened, it also suffered from overcrowding. The Brooklyn Bridge/Chambers Street complex was surpassed as the network's busiest station by the Times Square complex in 1923.{{Cite news |date=November 15, 1925 |title=Times Square Gains as Transit Centre; Outstrips All Subway Stations With 65,557,667 Fares Collected on Two Lines in Year. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1925/11/15/archives/times-square-gains-as-transit-centre-outstrips-all-subway-stations.html |access-date=May 13, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}} Even so, the complex recorded nearly 30 million annual passengers in the mid-1920s, while the nearby elevated stations counted another 20 million.

Comparatively few passengers transferred at the Brooklyn Bridge/Chambers Street station, in part because it was easier for BMT passengers to transfer to the IRT at the Canal Street station.{{Cite news |date=November 18, 1924 |title=Hylan Views Jam at Canal Street; Pays a Visit to the B.M.T. Subway Station in the Morning Rush Hour. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1924/11/18/archives/hylan-views-jam-at-canal-street-pays-a-visit-to-the-bmt-subway.html |access-date=May 12, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}} By 1930, the Brooklyn Bridge station had 16 million passengers, compared to 12 million at the Chambers Street station.{{Cite news |date=June 29, 1931 |title=Transit Fares Off 30,700,000 in Year; 1930 Report Shows 13,700,000 Gain on Subways and Elevated, but Loss on Other Lines |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1931/06/29/archives/transit-fares-off-30700000-in-year-1930-report-shows-13700000-gain.html |access-date=May 12, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230512175810/https://www.nytimes.com/1931/06/29/archives/transit-fares-off-30700000-in-year-1930-report-shows-13700000-gain.html |url-status=live }} The high ridership at the complex contributed to the closure of the IRT's City Hall Loop in 1945, when the Brooklyn Bridge station still had 14 million annual passengers.{{Cite news |last=Gray |first=Christopher |date=April 13, 1997 |title=Old Subway Stop to Be a Museum |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/13/realestate/old-subway-stop-to-be-a-museum.html |url-status=live |access-date=December 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171229052236/http://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/13/realestate/old-subway-stop-to-be-a-museum.html |archive-date=December 29, 2017 |issn=0362-4331}} By contrast, ridership at the Chambers Street station declined significantly as development in Manhattan moved further northward. The number of passengers entering the Brooklyn Bridge/Chambers Street station declined to about 7.2 million in 1963 and remained almost unchanged in 1973.{{Cite news |last=Burks |first=Edward C. |date=November 26, 1973 |title=Use of Lexington Ave. IRT, Busiest Line in City, Drops |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/11/26/archives/use-of-lexington-ave-irt-busiest-line-in-city-drops-stations.html |access-date=May 8, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230509012747/https://www.nytimes.com/1973/11/26/archives/use-of-lexington-ave-irt-busiest-line-in-city-drops-stations.html |url-status=live }}

By 2011, the Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall/Chambers Street station was the 29th-busiest in the system; at the time, an average of 36,350 riders entered the station every weekday.{{cite web |date=April 20, 2015 |title=New York City's Busiest Subway Stations |url=https://graphics.wsj.com/table/NYRIDER_0420 |access-date=May 8, 2023 |work=The Wall Street Journal |issn=0099-9660 |archive-date=May 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230508211447/https://graphics.wsj.com/table/NYRIDER_0420 |url-status=live }} In 2019, the station had 9,065,146 boardings, making it the 32nd most-used station in the {{NYCS const|number|intl}}-station system. This amounted to an average of 30,961 passengers per weekday.{{NYCS const|riderref}} Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City, ridership dropped drastically in 2020, with 2,710,023 passengers entering the station that year.{{cite web |date=August 31, 2020 |title=Subway and bus ridership for 2020 |url=https://new.mta.info/sites/default/files/inline-files/2020%20Subway%20Tables_ul.xlsx |access-date=July 8, 2022 |website=MTA |format=spreadsheet |archive-date=July 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707142157/https://new.mta.info/sites/default/files/inline-files/2020%20Subway%20Tables_ul.xlsx |url-status=live }} The station had 3,147,136 passengers in 2021,{{cite web | title=Subway and bus ridership for 2021 | website=MTA | url=https://new.mta.info/agency/new-york-city-transit/subway-bus-ridership-2021 | access-date=August 28, 2023}} and in 2023, ridership increased to 5,881,022.{{cite web | title=Subway and bus ridership for 2023 | website = MTA | url=https://new.mta.info/agency/new-york-city-transit/subway-bus-ridership-2023 | access-date=September 23, 2023}}

{{Reflist}}

• Stokey, Lee (1994). Subway Ceramics: A History and Iconography. {{ISBN|978-0-9635486-1-0}}.

{{commons category}}

• {{NYCS ref|http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/stations?192:894|BMT Nassau Street/Jamaica Line|Chambers Street}}
• {{NYCS ref|http://www.nycsubway.org/wiki/IRT_East_Side_Line|IRT East Side Line|Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall}}
• Station Reporter—[https://web.archive.org/web/20090810203732/http://www.stationreporter.net/chambers.htm Brooklyn Bridge/Chambers Street Complex]
• MTA's Arts For Transit—[https://web.archive.org/web/20110606084234/http://mta.info/mta/aft/permanentart/permart.html?agency=nyct&line=J&station=20&xdev=2175 Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall/Chambers Street]
• Forgotten NY—[http://forgotten-ny.com/2006/01/the-original-28-part-1-a-look-at-the-artwork-from-the-nycs-first-28-stations-opened-october-27-1904-2/ The Original 28 Subway Stations]

Google Maps Street View:

{{refbegin|30em}}

• [https://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=40.712777,-74.004443&spn=0,0.013314&z=17&layer=c&cbll=40.712643,-74.004597&panoid=nmI3xharhY5QTtkzUvTW5w&cbp=12,293.09,,0,0.79 Entrance near City Hall Park] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112012023/http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=40.712777,-74.004443&spn=0,0.013314&z=17&layer=c&cbll=40.712643,-74.004597&panoid=nmI3xharhY5QTtkzUvTW5w&cbp=12,293.09,,0,0.79 |date=November 12, 2012 }}
• [https://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=40.712232,-74.004389&spn=0,0.013314&z=17&layer=c&cbll=40.712302,-74.00444&panoid=BExls4cmmJgmN8RzgEnOyQ&cbp=12,21.9,,0,5.22 Entrance north of Brooklyn Bridge] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112012041/http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=40.712232,-74.004389&spn=0,0.013314&z=17&layer=c&cbll=40.712302,-74.00444&panoid=BExls4cmmJgmN8RzgEnOyQ&cbp=12,21.9,,0,5.22 |date=November 12, 2012 }}
• [https://maps.google.com/?ll=40.711874,-74.005033&spn=0.002383,0.009645&layer=c&cbll=40.711809,-74.004937&panoid=loYq5N8mtA6tXNUVZCPI-w&cbp=12,272.44,,0,3.3&t=m&z=17 Entrance south of Brooklyn Bridge] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502175330/https://www.google.com/maps?ll=40.711874,-74.005033&spn=0.002383,0.009645&layer=c&cbll=40.711809,-74.004937&panoid=loYq5N8mtA6tXNUVZCPI-w&cbp=12,272.44,,0,3.3&t=m&z=17 |date=May 2, 2022 }}
• [https://maps.google.com/?ll=40.713639,-74.003692&spn=0.005245,0.009645&layer=c&cbll=40.713692,-74.003813&panoid=F80TQglehhZihjIhJbh-nw&cbp=12,1.39,,0,9.59&t=m&z=17 Reade Street and Centre Street entrance] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502175331/https://www.google.com/maps?ll=40.713639,-74.003692&spn=0.005245,0.009645&layer=c&cbll=40.713692,-74.003813&panoid=F80TQglehhZihjIhJbh-nw&cbp=12,1.39,,0,9.59&t=m&z=17 |date=May 2, 2022 }}
• [https://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=40.713988,-74.003466&spn=0,0.013314&z=17&layer=c&cbll=40.714175,-74.00339&panoid=fEyBuF-hDUap2omLrTGIUQ&cbp=12,94.31,,0,5 Foley Square entrance] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112012102/http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=40.713988,-74.003466&spn=0,0.013314&z=17&layer=c&cbll=40.714175,-74.00339&panoid=fEyBuF-hDUap2omLrTGIUQ&cbp=12,94.31,,0,5 |date=November 12, 2012 }}
• [http://www.google.com/maps/@40.7125845,-74.0041517,3a,75y,71.51h,84.11t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-b_vuUDwRPBQ%2FVfSvVolLK-I%2FAAAAAAAAv-o%2FAwc8PIQR5Pc!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2F-b_vuUDwRPBQ%2FVfSvVolLK-I%2FAAAAAAAAv-o%2FAwc8PIQR5Pc%2Fw203-h101-n-k-no%2F!7i8704!8i4352 Centre Street entrance] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502175331/https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7125845,-74.0041517,3a,75y,71.51h,84.11t/data=%213m8%211e1%213m6%211s-b_vuUDwRPBQ%2FVfSvVolLK-I%2FAAAAAAAAv-o%2FAwc8PIQR5Pc%212e4%213e11%216s%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2F-b_vuUDwRPBQ%2FVfSvVolLK-I%2FAAAAAAAAv-o%2FAwc8PIQR5Pc%2Fw203-h101-n-k-no%2F%217i8704%218i4352 |date=May 2, 2022 }}
• [http://www.google.com/maps/@40.7131561,-74.006396,3a,75y,318.99h,81.28t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-A8WImdfpgsg%2FVe5KmU6TWrI%2FAAAAAAAArh0%2FeZmMzGGjU-Q!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh4.googleusercontent.com%2F-A8WImdfpgsg%2FVe5KmU6TWrI%2FAAAAAAAArh0%2FeZmMzGGjU-Q%2Fw203-h101-n-k-no%2F!7i8704!8i4352?hl=en IRT platforms] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502175331/https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7131561,-74.006396,3a,75y,318.99h,81.28t/data=%213m8%211e1%213m6%211s-A8WImdfpgsg%2FVe5KmU6TWrI%2FAAAAAAAArh0%2FeZmMzGGjU-Q%212e4%213e11%216s%2F%2Flh4.googleusercontent.com%2F-A8WImdfpgsg%2FVe5KmU6TWrI%2FAAAAAAAArh0%2FeZmMzGGjU-Q%2Fw203-h101-n-k-no%2F%217i8704%218i4352?hl=en |date=May 2, 2022 }}
• [http://www.google.com/maps/@40.713241,-74.0033946,3a,75y,39.82h,91.47t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-NOGAf4f8q9Q%2FViLhqCUC9DI%2FAAAAAAAA67Y%2FFtsqn_szSmk!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh3.googleusercontent.com%2F-NOGAf4f8q9Q%2FViLhqCUC9DI%2FAAAAAAAA67Y%2FFtsqn_szSmk%2Fw203-h100-n-k-no%2F!7i8704!8i4352!6m1!1e1 BMT platforms]
• [http://www.google.com/maps/@40.7131777,-74.0044517,3a,75y,306.5h,77.44t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-Ioc3G5Y8gqs%2FVe7SiWV16WI%2FAAAAAAAArsM%2FbBEOXpIT3fw!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh6.googleusercontent.com%2F-Ioc3G5Y8gqs%2FVe7SiWV16WI%2FAAAAAAAArsM%2FbBEOXpIT3fw%2Fw203-h101-n-k-no%2F!7i8704!8i4352?hl=en BMT mezzanine]

{{refend}}

Abandoned Stations:

{{refbegin|30em}}

• [http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/abandoned/brooklynbr.html Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall platforms] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227043102/http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/abandoned/brooklynbr.html |date=February 27, 2021 }}
• [http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/abandoned/chambers.html Chambers Street platforms] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201214235347/http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/abandoned/chambers.html |date=December 14, 2020 }}

{{refend}}

{{Civic Center, Manhattan}}

{{NYCS stations navbox by service|l4=y|l5=y|l6=y|l6x=y|lj=y|lz=y}}

{{NYCS stations navbox by line|nassau=yes|lexington=yes}}

{{National Register of Historic Places in New York}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall Chambers Street (New York City Subway)}}

Category:1904 establishments in New York City

Category:1913 establishments in New York City

Category:Beaux-Arts architecture in New York City

Category:BMT Nassau Street Line stations

Category:Brooklyn Bridge

Category:Civic Center, Manhattan

Category:IRT Lexington Avenue Line stations

Category:New York City Subway stations in Manhattan

Category:New York City Subway terminals

Category:New York City Subway transfer stations

Category:Railway and subway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan

Category:Railway stations in the United States opened in 1904

Category:Railway stations in the United States opened in 1913

es:Calle Chambers (línea de la Calle Nassau)