Amid all the cute beaver plaques that adorn the Astor Place station lies a subway mystery: What’s with the tiled-over doorway on the southbound side that says “Clinton Hall” above it?
Turns out it was the name of the building at 13 Astor Place, above the station. Formerly the Astor Place Opera House (and the site of the Astor Place riots in 1849 that killed 20 people), the building housed the Mercantile Library of New York. When the city constructed the Astor Place station in 1904, they created an exit from the platform to the library.
The Mercantile Library occupied the site from 1855 to 1932, when it relocated to 47th Street.
Tags: Astor Place Riots, Astor Place Subway, Mercantile Library, New York City Subway
Ephemeral New York 
June 26, 2008 at 4:12 pm |
[…] Ephemeral New York investigates the history behind the Clinton Hill door on the downtown platform at Astor Place. […]
June 26, 2008 at 5:30 pm |
Isn’t the Mercantile Library the one that just sold its existing building to developers and is looking to move again?
June 27, 2008 at 12:50 am |
You forgot to mention that 13 Astor Place is now…a Starbucks. Guess it doesn’t get any more modern-day New York than that.
June 27, 2008 at 4:24 am |
There may be a Starbucks there now, but isn’t the building owned by Cooper Union? Or did Cooper raze and rebuild on the site?