5. An Abandoned Commuter Banking Window in the Subway
Most straphangers who pass through the Brooklyn Borough Hall subway station barely notice the two darkened windows that are set within the blue tiling on the upper level of the station. But look carefully and you will see the faded words “COMMUTER BANKING” at the top. On the lower part of the window, the hours are still visible: “MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY 8A.M. TO 6 P.M.” as well as a small, yellowed button that would have summoned the teller.
These commuter banking windows, made by Diebold Incorporated out in Ohio, were once run by the Brooklyn Savings Bank at least through the late 1960s and likely through the 1980s until the bank closed. Untapped New York tour guide Justin Rivers believes that this section of the subway station was added in the early 1960s when the New York City Transit Authority was performing large capital improvements, including subway platform extensions on the former IRT line. There is little written in the press, past or present, about this helpful banking window, but the initiative was clearly part of a larger attempt by banks to make banking more convenient starting in the mid-century. In 1923, New York State passed a new banking law that allowed savings banks to open branch offices for the first time, which led to a flurry of new creative banking options.
Secret Brooklyn: An Unusual Guide
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