Smith and 9th Street

Bluejake has some nice photos of Smith and 9th Street (1, 2) and Gowanus from this weekend. Gothamist didn't realize that the Smith and 9th Street stop on the F line was the highest point on the NYC subway line, but we learn something new everyday.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on April 26, 2004 5:13 AM

Comments [rss]

logan

Actually the tallest free-standing subway platform in the world!

Mike

The story is apocryphal. It was cheaper to bridge the Gowanus than to tunnel under it, especially with the big climb up to Park Slope. The bridge was built long before WWII, anyway; the station opened in 1933.

And it's by no means the highest spot above sea level (not even close); it's the highest elevated station, compared to the ground below it.

mapboy

ahh the mystery of the smith-9th st station... apparently it is the highest station in the mta network (3 sets of stairs!!!) due to the US War Department's planning. somehow the gwanus canal needed to be accessible to a certain type of battleship/destroyer/pain inflicting seacraft during WWII, I believe. so instead of boring a hole under the canal, they went above the canal.

this begs the question 'why would one send a fierce military ship up a tiny canal?' mapboy can only surmise that this was done to 'hide' our valuable maritime assets, but i don't really know...