A number of old buildings were torn down during the widening project, including St. John's Chapel, which facilitated construction of the New York City Subway's IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line and opened up a new vehicular route between Midtown and lower Manhattan.
The expansion project led to the demolition of several historic structures, including St. John's Chapel, which paved the way for the creation of the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line subway line and the establishment of a new transportation route between Midtown and lower Manhattan.