Christopher Street (PATH)

Christopher Street is a deep-level PATH Station just before the Uptown tubes head beneath the Hudson River and into New Jersey and is located in Greenwich Village. It is the one PATH station with no real subway connections. The namesake station on the 1 train is two blocks away. The station isn't just used by trans-Hudson commuters heading to New Jersey but also plenty of commuters within Manhattan trying to get from this part of western Greenwhich Village to midtown, the end of the PATH line. The station has a single narrow island platform for the two track line who's layout seems basically unchanged and crowded since its opening in 1908. The station's inability to handle crowds has required limiting access during service disruptions to the downtown tubes to World Trade Center since the station is the closest stop on the Uptown Tubes line to Lower Manhattan. After 9/11 the station became exit only during the AM rush hour. After Superstorm Sandy, when service had only been restored from 33rd St to Newark, trains fully skipped the station during weekdays (stopping on weekends) to avoid any issues with crowding. This platform has a line of columns along each track and an arched ceiling. These were retiled in the 1970s-1980s in the normal light brown brick PATH tile scheme. The columns have the modern white text on blue square Cs for column signs with Christopher written in smaller text beneath. The slightly curved ceiling has silver sheeting, with a single line of florescent lights in the center of it. The platform walls are relatively bare with their original tubular cast iron plating. Along this are hanging blue signs that say Christopher St above a hard to see blue trimline with some red PATH Ps.

To exit the platform at the southern end is a bank of turnstiles directly on the platform (at the opposite end of the platform from this stations sister stop of 9th Street) the first/last car of trains stop awkwardly at the fence beyond the turnstiles. There are two MVMs before a staircase leads up to a passageway with four relatively short staircases for the climb to the street. This walkway goes up one flight, turns rightt goes up tow flights with another landing before a final flight to street level. It has a slightly curved ceiling with beige walls with orange accents at the top of the tiling and as the border of a white trimline. Murals Ascent-Descent by Biff Elrod, 1986 & 1999, provide artwork at the landings of the staircase. There is a small bronze plaque. This leads up to the street in its own narrow 4 story brick building with what is clearly a ventilation shaft on top. I believe the entire building was designed to simply disguise to ventilation shaft and is original from the station's opening in 1908. The top of the building has Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Engraved in the stonework. The building is along the northside of Christopher Street between Greenwich Street and Hudson Street. The entrance has a wonderful slightly curved iron awning with a translucent roof. On this awning gold letters say Hudson Tunnels. Smaller letters directly above the entrance say To PATH trains. An american flag flies just above the canopy. A lamppost next to the entrance has blue PATH letters affixed to the fixture.