The Worth St station is a decommissioned subway station along the original IRT subway line in New York City between Canal Street and Brooklyn Bridge. It was closed to passengers in 1962 due to its proximity to the Brooklyn Bridge station which had extended its platform north. Once the full-sized Brooklyn Bridge station opened, Worth St became, well, worthless. For a period of time, the Brooklyn Bridge station was actually known as Brooklyn Bridge-Worth Street, but that name has long faded into obscurity.
However, the station’s name bears significant meaning as it was named after General William Jenkins Worth, a hero of the Mexican War in the 1840s. On a slow moving 6 train, the word “Worth” and terra-cotta “W”’s can be spotted on some of the station’s tile-encased support columns and walls, respectively. However, it may be difficult to see much as the station is heavily defaced by graffiti.
The station was built as the third station going north and looks similar to the platforms at Canal Street and Spring Street, along the 6 line. There was also once a streetcar route at Worth Street. Today, if you want to mark its location above ground, you can go to the Federal Plaza Building. Worth Street station sits under the sidewalk and public plaza. In fact, the station is the reason why the building has such a large and unactivated public space in front.
