18th Street

18th Street was a station on The IRT Lexington Avenue Line. It opened as part of the first subway, and closed in 1948, because of platform extensions in other stations and close proximity to other stations.

History and operation
18 St was part of the first New York subway, opened in 1904. Like most local stations on the line, it is just below street level to reduce stair height, so there is no mezzanine, and it has separate fare controls on platform level on each side. Its early history is similar to Worth St.

There was a streetcar line in East 18 St until 1913, a diagonal route called the Central Crosstown, running from the Christopher St Ferry on the Hudson River to the 23 St Ferry on the East River. It ran in 18 St from Broadway to Avenue A, returning in 19 St. However this was not an important line by 1900, and probably the station was sited simply to maintain a half-mile spacing between subway stops. The Ninth and Sixth Ave Els had 18 St stations where there was no crosstown streetcar.

Like other local stops, 18 St was originally about 200 feet long to accommodate five car trains. The platforms were extended in 1910 as they were at Worth St.

When the Board of Transportation embarked on a platform extension program after World War II, they decided to close 18 St rather than enlarge it. 18 St therefore still has the two short platforms.