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Sunday, December 23, 2018

W 4th St Tower - Closed But Not Yet Forgotten

I previously reported that the NYC Transit Authority was closing most of the classic towers on the 6th Avenue trunk line in Manhattan.  Chief among these  these were 34th St tower and West 4th St tower.  The latter was notable for its "fishbowl" status with little in the way to prevent the average rider from observing how the GRS Model 5 machine functioned. Previously, when the NYCTA resignaled lines the former "tower"rooms were quickly stripped of the old signaling equipment and then often re-purposed into some other space, usually with the windows being walled or otherwise covered over.  For example the Queens Boulevard towers  were completely devoid of any heritage equipment mere weeks after their closure.

Therefore you can imagine my surprise when I found the legacy W 4th St tower to have been pretty much untouched, months after it had been closed back in August/September 2018.


Although devoid of personnel, the interlocking machine was still in place with all of the levers tagged out of service.  The desks and other tower accoutrements were also still present. 


I am not sure if there are some sort of plans to preserve the tower, potentially maxing it a Transit Museum annex, but I wouldn't count such a thing out given the strong support for the historic subway trips and the need for the NYC Subway to put on a better face for the public after completely melting down.  It could also be due to the fact that resources have been all diverted to more pressing needs. 


In any event, go get some photos while you still can and before this piece of history vanishes from view.

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