Hudson Tubes Christopher Street substation
137 Christopher Street | also 683 Greenwich Street, 137A Christopher Street | West Village | built 1906
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The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1906
Robins & Oakman build a brick substation for the Hudson Tubes railroad
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The New York and New Jersey Railroad Company, the firm behind the Hudson Tubes, put up this electrical substation at the corner of Greenwich and Christopher Streets. The architects were Robins & Oakman. Two wide ground-floor doors with arched tops and keystones face Greenwich Street, and groups of narrow windows and louvers rise above them.
“This brick substation was built for the New York and New Jersey Railroad Company (Hudson Tubes) by the firm of Robins & Oakman in 1906.”
- 1906
Two Federal town houses, one the last home of a Revolutionary veteran, give way to the substation
Before the substation, two town houses from the late Federal period stood on this lot on Greenwich Street. One of them, No. 685, was the home in his final years of Richard Amos, a Revolutionary War veteran who owned a great deal of Village land. Both houses were removed when the Hudson Tubes company built its power building here in 1906. This entry describes the earlier buildings on the site.
“This building replaced two town houses of the late Federal period, of which No. 685 was Richard Amos' home in his last years.”
- 1908
The Christopher Street station opens on the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad
The Christopher Street station opened as part of the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad's extension between New Jersey and 33rd Street. Its entrance sits in a free-standing building at 137 Christopher Street, topped by a marquee that still carries the original Hudson Tunnels name. Riders go down a narrow, curving stairway to reach a single island platform.
“The station opened on February 25, 1908, as part of the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad extension between New Jersey and 33rd Street.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1986
Biff Elrod paints a mural of PATH riders on site for the Public Art Fund
In August 1986 the artist Biff Elrod painted "Ascent-Descent" on site at the Christopher Street station. It shows PATH riders going up and down the stairs. It began as a temporary installation for the Public Art Fund; the Port Authority later bought the mural and restored it in 1999.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2002
After 9/11 the station's ridership doubles and a second entrance is proposed
With the World Trade Center PATH station destroyed, Christopher Street became the closest PATH station to New Jersey, and its ridership rose from 1.314 million in 2001 to 2.701 million in 2002. In 2002 the Port Authority announced a second entrance at Bedford Street, a $29.6 million project. Residents feared damage to nearby historic buildings and disruption to business and traffic, and local opposition got the plan canceled.
“In 2002, the Port Authority announced plans to build a second entrance at Christopher and Bedford Street (a block and a half east of the current entrance)…”
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
- Then & Now photos: 683 Greenwich Street (aka 137 Christopher Street)Village Preservation: Greenwich Village Then & Now
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