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168th Street (New York City Subway)
Encyclopedia
168th Street is an underground station
complex on the New York City Subway
shared by the IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line and IND Eighth Avenue Line
. It is located at the intersection of 168th Street and Broadway in Washington Heights, Manhattan
and served by the 1
and A
trains at all times and the C
train at all times except late nights.
The IRT portion of the station is very deep and requires the use of elevators to reach fare control, which is on a full length mezzanine
above the higher IND portion. Elevators connecting the IND platforms and tracks to the mezzanine and the mezzanine to the street make that portion handicapped-accessible. The IRT section is not ADA accessible since the platforms have no elevators (reaching the elevators to fare control requires climbing short staircases).
Nearby points of interest include the New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Hudson River
waterfront parks, and remnants of the Audubon Ballroom
. In 2005 the station was added to the National Register of Historic Places
.
s. This deep station has a high arched tiled ceiling and white globe lights on ornate fixtures hanging from the walls and ceiling on the north half. The south half, where the platforms were extended in the 1950s, has a much lower ceiling and large marble columns with alternating ones having the standard black station name plates in white lettering, but the name tablets and trim line are the same as those on the north half of the station. There is a closed stairway on the extreme northern end of the northbound platform leading to an unknown location.
Near the north end of the station, there are two bridges above the tracks, each of which has two staircases going down to each platform. On the Southbound side of the bridges, there are four elevators, one of which is staffed, going up to an unstaffed fare control area where a turnstile bank leads to two staircases going up to the southwest corner of Broadway and West 168th Street. A corridor within fare control leads to the IND mezzanine. An exit-only turnstile in the middle of this corridor leads to a staircase going up to north end of Mitchell Square Park
on the south side of West 168th Street between Broadway and Saint Nicholas Avenue.
that opened on September 10, 1932 and has four tracks and two island platform
s. Contrary to the usual express station layout, the inner tracks serve the C
local trains while the outer tracks serve the A
express trains. This is to make it easier for C
trains to terminate here, and turn around to make the southbound trip to Brooklyn. South of this station, the tracks cross over one another to form the regular local-outer/express-inner configuration. The inner tracks continue north under Broadway
to 174th Street Yard.
Both outer track walls have a reddish purple with a black border, but no name tablets, and small "168" signs below them in white numbering on a black border.
This station has a full length mezzanine above the platforms and tracks. The full-time one is at the center and has a turnstile bank, token booth, and one staircase and one elevator going up to the northeast corner of West 168th Street and Saint Nicholas Avenue. The part-time side at the north of the mezzanine has HEET turnstiles and three staircases, two to the southwest corner of Broadway and 169th Street and one to the northwest corner. The passageway leading to the IRT elevators is just beyond the full-time fare control area. This is evidence that there was another passageway outside fare control of this area going south, including two closed off staircases from each platform. This passageway was closed in the 1980s for safety reasons. This area is now used for New York City Transit employees only.
Metro station
A metro station or subway station is a railway station for a rapid transit system, often known by names such as "metro", "underground" and "subway". It is often underground or elevated. At crossings of metro lines, they are multi-level....
complex on the New York City Subway
New York City Subway
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the City of New York and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, a subsidiary agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and also known as MTA New York City Transit...
shared by the IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line and IND Eighth Avenue Line
IND Eighth Avenue Line
The Eighth Avenue Line is a rapid transit line in New York City, United States, and is part of the B Division of the New York City Subway...
. It is located at the intersection of 168th Street and Broadway in Washington Heights, Manhattan
Washington Heights, Manhattan
Washington Heights is a New York City neighborhood in the northern reaches of the borough of Manhattan. It is named for Fort Washington, a fortification constructed at the highest point on Manhattan island by Continental Army troops during the American Revolutionary War, to defend the area from the...
and served by the 1
1 (New York City Subway service)
The 1 Broadway – Seventh Avenue Local is a rapid transit service of the New York City Subway. It is colored red on station signs, route signs and the official subway map, since it uses the IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line for its entire route....
and A
A (New York City Subway service)
The A Eighth Avenue Express is a rapid transit service of the New York City Subway. Its route bullet is colored blue on route signs, station signs, and the official subway map since it runs on the IND Eighth Avenue Line in Manhattan....
trains at all times and the C
C (New York City Subway service)
The C Eighth Avenue Local is a rapid transit service of the New York City Subway. It is colored blue on route signs, station signs, and the official subway map, since it runs on the IND Eighth Avenue Line through Manhattan....
train at all times except late nights.
The IRT portion of the station is very deep and requires the use of elevators to reach fare control, which is on a full length mezzanine
Mezzanine (architecture)
In architecture, a mezzanine or entresol is an intermediate floor between main floors of a building, and therefore typically not counted among the overall floors of a building. Often, a mezzanine is low-ceilinged and projects in the form of a balcony. The term is also used for the lowest balcony in...
above the higher IND portion. Elevators connecting the IND platforms and tracks to the mezzanine and the mezzanine to the street make that portion handicapped-accessible. The IRT section is not ADA accessible since the platforms have no elevators (reaching the elevators to fare control requires climbing short staircases).
Nearby points of interest include the New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
waterfront parks, and remnants of the Audubon Ballroom
Audubon Ballroom
The Audubon Ballroom was a theatre and ballroom located on Broadway at 165th Street in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, north of Harlem in New York. It is best known as the site of Malcolm X's assassination on February 21, 1965....
. In 2005 the station was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line platforms
168th Street on the IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line, opened on March 16, 1906, has two tracks and two side platformSide platform
A Side platform is a platform positioned to the side of a pair of tracks at a railway station, a tram stop or a transitway. A pair of side platforms are often provided on a dual track line with a single side platform being sufficient for a single track line...
s. This deep station has a high arched tiled ceiling and white globe lights on ornate fixtures hanging from the walls and ceiling on the north half. The south half, where the platforms were extended in the 1950s, has a much lower ceiling and large marble columns with alternating ones having the standard black station name plates in white lettering, but the name tablets and trim line are the same as those on the north half of the station. There is a closed stairway on the extreme northern end of the northbound platform leading to an unknown location.
Near the north end of the station, there are two bridges above the tracks, each of which has two staircases going down to each platform. On the Southbound side of the bridges, there are four elevators, one of which is staffed, going up to an unstaffed fare control area where a turnstile bank leads to two staircases going up to the southwest corner of Broadway and West 168th Street. A corridor within fare control leads to the IND mezzanine. An exit-only turnstile in the middle of this corridor leads to a staircase going up to north end of Mitchell Square Park
Mitchell Square Park
Mitchell Square Park is a small urban park in the Washington Heights neighborhood of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is a two part, triangle shaped park formed by the intersection of Saint Nicholas Avenue, Broadway and 167th Street....
on the south side of West 168th Street between Broadway and Saint Nicholas Avenue.
IND Eighth Avenue Line platforms
168th Street is an express station on the IND Eighth Avenue LineIND Eighth Avenue Line
The Eighth Avenue Line is a rapid transit line in New York City, United States, and is part of the B Division of the New York City Subway...
that opened on September 10, 1932 and has four tracks and two island platform
Island platform
An island platform is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange...
s. Contrary to the usual express station layout, the inner tracks serve the C
C (New York City Subway service)
The C Eighth Avenue Local is a rapid transit service of the New York City Subway. It is colored blue on route signs, station signs, and the official subway map, since it runs on the IND Eighth Avenue Line through Manhattan....
local trains while the outer tracks serve the A
A (New York City Subway service)
The A Eighth Avenue Express is a rapid transit service of the New York City Subway. Its route bullet is colored blue on route signs, station signs, and the official subway map since it runs on the IND Eighth Avenue Line in Manhattan....
express trains. This is to make it easier for C
C (New York City Subway service)
The C Eighth Avenue Local is a rapid transit service of the New York City Subway. It is colored blue on route signs, station signs, and the official subway map, since it runs on the IND Eighth Avenue Line through Manhattan....
trains to terminate here, and turn around to make the southbound trip to Brooklyn. South of this station, the tracks cross over one another to form the regular local-outer/express-inner configuration. The inner tracks continue north under Broadway
Broadway (New York City)
Broadway is a prominent avenue in New York City, United States, which runs through the full length of the borough of Manhattan and continues northward through the Bronx borough before terminating in Westchester County, New York. It is the oldest north–south main thoroughfare in the city, dating to...
to 174th Street Yard.
Both outer track walls have a reddish purple with a black border, but no name tablets, and small "168" signs below them in white numbering on a black border.
This station has a full length mezzanine above the platforms and tracks. The full-time one is at the center and has a turnstile bank, token booth, and one staircase and one elevator going up to the northeast corner of West 168th Street and Saint Nicholas Avenue. The part-time side at the north of the mezzanine has HEET turnstiles and three staircases, two to the southwest corner of Broadway and 169th Street and one to the northwest corner. The passageway leading to the IRT elevators is just beyond the full-time fare control area. This is evidence that there was another passageway outside fare control of this area going south, including two closed off staircases from each platform. This passageway was closed in the 1980s for safety reasons. This area is now used for New York City Transit employees only.
External links
- Station Reporter — 168 Street/Broadway Complex
- The Subway Nut — Washington Heights – 168th Street Pictures
- http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=W+207th+St+%26+Broadway,+New+York,+10034&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=34.587666,76.552734&ie=UTF8&cd=1&geocode=FW2XbwIdQg2Y-w&split=0&hq=&hnear=W+207th+St+%26+Broadway,+New+York,+10034&ll=40.840829,-73.939496&spn=0.000962,0.003358&z=19&lci=transit&layer=c&cbll=40.840829,-73.939496&panoid=-VXN4GaKjEGO7xxRlirpQg&cbp=12,141.06,,0,-2.4168th Street entrance to Eighth Avenue Line from Google Maps Street View]
- http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=W+207th+St+%26+Broadway,+New+York,+10034&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=34.587666,76.552734&ie=UTF8&cd=1&geocode=FW2XbwIdQg2Y-w&split=0&hq=&hnear=W+207th+St+%26+Broadway,+New+York,+10034&ll=40.841736,-73.939426&spn=0.003847,0.013433&z=17&lci=transit&layer=c&cbll=40.841817,-73.939608&panoid=gxZ2VHyPe5XpaZRmxD6eHA&cbp=12,47.05,,0,2.41167th Street entrance to Eighth Avenue Line from Google Maps Street View]
- http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=W+207th+St+%26+Broadway,+New+York,+10034&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=34.587666,76.552734&ie=UTF8&cd=1&geocode=FW2XbwIdQg2Y-w&split=0&hq=&hnear=W+207th+St+%26+Broadway,+New+York,+10034&ll=40.840941,-73.939962&spn=0.003847,0.013433&z=17&lci=transit&layer=c&cbll=40.840869,-73.940016&panoid=CsEwKT7vm1lboBe3cuZByA&cbp=12,308.15,,0,2.05168th Street entrance to Broadway-Seventh Avenue Line from Google Maps Street View]