The Ornamentation of the New Subway Stations 
built in the walls bear 
the words “City Hall,” 
and the same announce¬ 
ment is given bv letters 
over the arch which 
leads passengers to the 
stairway and the street. 
The vaults are all of 
white Guastavino tile, 
except the edges of 
the arches and the 
openings, these being 
emphasized by courses 
in green and brown. 
The sign panels are 
also of Guastavino tile 
and are in dark blue, 
which make a good 
background for the 
white letters. 
A TYPICAL UP-TOWN STATION 
Representative also of the Stations at jqtlf and gist streets, but different from each of these in color 
Subway, five distinct types of stations are to 
be noticed. They are : 
The City Hall Loop. 
The Way Stations. 
The Express Stations. 
The Stations on the Viaducts. 
The Rock Tunnel Stations. 
The first of these forms, on account of its 
peculiar construction, a class by itself, its 
plan, its sectional shape and its ornament 
being an apotheosis of curves. The broad 
structural vaults satisfy the esthetic and scien¬ 
tific imagination that a necessary strength 
has been created underground in the prox¬ 
imity of the Post- 
office and the skv- 
scrapers of Park 
Row. Moreover 
the sturdy forms 
here and the restraint 
of ornament are suit¬ 
ed to the workaday 
heart of “down 
town,” where the 
daily rider will be 
quickly swung to his 
office on these 
smooth curves and 
as gaily spirited 
away. Large panels 
Throughout the 
whole length of the 
subway, local charac¬ 
teristics of the several points at which stations 
are situated have been expressed in the orna¬ 
ment beneath the ground; and the scheme of 
enrichment is properly extended at the ex¬ 
press stations so as to give those changing 
points due importance. Stations between 
City Hall and 14th Street were designed to 
be ornamented in terra cotta; and the archi¬ 
tects’ detail drawings showed Dutch tulip 
forms in decorations for Bleecker Street. 
'The name is here borne by sunk white letters 
on a Grueby faience panel highly glazed in 
blue. Entirely surrounded by white tiles, it 
makes a conspicuous spot which will catch 
the eye from how¬ 
ever crowded a train. 
Above, and imme¬ 
diately under the 
beams supporting 
the pavement, runs 
a blue frieze of the 
same material as the 
panels and bearing 
at frequent intervals 
the letter “ B.” 
Next to this faience 
are two courses of 
gray tiles, and then 
comes a band of 
light blue mosaic. 
A DETAIL OF THE ORNAMENT AT 86tH ST. 
Executed by The Rook-wood Potter y Company 
98 
