4. The bricked-up doorway in the Astor Place subway station
At the intersection of NoHo, Greenwich Village, and the East Village, you’ll find the beautiful entrance to the Astor Place subway station, one of the original 28 subway stations in New York City. The station is adorned with decorative tile work and a wide array of decorative plaques. Among all of the embellishments is a sealed doorway. You’ll see it outside the turnstiles on the downtown platform of the 6 train.
Above the bricked-up doorway it says “Clinton Hall.” Clinton Hall does still exist at the triangle of Astor Place on East 8th Street and Lafayette Street. This passageway was built to provide direct access to the former Mercantile Library Of New York which was housed inside at 21 Astor Place. The building was constructed at the former site of the Astor Place Opera House. The library held more than 120,000 volumes and boasted a membership of 12,000 people. Due to its importance at the time, the library had its own entrance to the subway. The library left Clinton Hall in 1932 and moved to East 47th Street. The hall was converted into apartments in 1995.