Anyone who knows me well knows that I love abandoned places, so books and movies that take place in the forgotten layers of cities are right up my alley. Recently, I read Downsiders by Neal Shusterman, which draws heavily on the real-life forgotten underground parts of New York City. However, I didn't really do any actual research on the places he mentioned. Then, a few days ago, Sara A. posted a really interesting link on Facebook about a spectacular abandoned subway station and I realized that it features prominently in Downsiders!
The station is the old City Hall Station, which was closed when they redesigned the train cars and stations in the 1940s because the curved exit platform caused a dangerous gap. (Click on that link for a nice slideshow of pictures.) In Downsiders, this location is called the "Hall of Action" and is used for large, important gatherings of the population. The history of the City Hall Station is described quite nicely on pages 172-3 of the book.
There are many abandoned stations all over New York City, and there are even some in Philly!
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