Fifth Avenue–59th Street station

5 Avenue–59 Street
5 Avenue–59 Street
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
	Platform view
Station statistics
Address	East 60th Street & Fifth Avenue; New York, NY 10023
Borough	Manhattan
Locale	Midtown Manhattan, Upper East Side
Coordinates	40.764779°N 73.972621°W
Division	B (BMT)[1]
Line	BMT Broadway Line
Services	N (all times); R (all times except late nights); W (weekdays only)
Transit	New York City Bus: M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, Q32, SIM3, SIM6, SIM6X, SIM8, SIM8X, SIM10, SIM22, SIM23, SIM24, SIM25, SIM26, SIM30, SIM31
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Other information
Opened	September 1, 1919[2]
Opposite-; direction; transfer	Yes
Traffic
2019	4,995,128[3] 2.8%
Rank	93 out of 424[3]
Services
Services
Location
Track layout
Street map
Station service legend
Symbol	Description
	Stops all times except late nights
	Stops all times
	Stops weekdays during the day

The Fifth Avenue–59th Street station is a station on the BMT Broadway Line of the New York City Subway. Located under Grand Army Plaza near the intersection of 5th Avenue and 60th Street in Manhattan, it is served by the N train at all times, the W train on weekdays, and the R train at all times except late nights.

History

The New York Public Service Commission adopted plans for what was known as the Broadway–Lexington Avenue route on December 31, 1907. This route began at the Battery and ran under Greenwich Street, Vesey Street, Broadway to Ninth Street, private property to Irving Place, and Irving Place and Lexington Avenue to the Harlem River. After crossing under the Harlem River into the Bronx, the route split at Park Avenue and 138th Street, with one branch continuing north to and along Jerome Avenue to Woodlawn Cemetery, and the other heading east and northeast along 138th Street, Southern Boulevard, and Westchester Avenue to Pelham Bay Park. In early 1908, the Tri-borough plan was formed, combining this route, the under-construction Centre Street Loop Subway in Manhattan and Fourth Avenue Subway in Brooklyn, a Canal Street subway from the Fourth Avenue Subway via the Manhattan Bridge to the Hudson River, and several other lines in Brooklyn.[4][5]

The Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company submitted a proposal to the Commission, dated March 2, 1911, to operate the Tri-borough system (but under Church Street instead of Greenwich Street), as well as a branch along Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 59th Street from Ninth Street north and east to the Queensboro Bridge; the Canal Street subway was to merge with the Broadway Line instead of continuing to the Hudson River. The city, the BRT, and the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (which operated the first subway and four elevated lines in Manhattan) came to an agreement, and sent a report to the New York City Board of Estimate on June 5, 1911. The line along Broadway to 59th Street was assigned to the BRT, while the IRT obtained the Lexington Avenue line, connecting with its existing route at Grand Central–42nd Street. Construction began on Lexington Avenue on July 31, and on Broadway the next year. The Dual Contracts, two operating contracts between the city and the BMT and IRT, were adopted on March 4, 1913.[6]

This station opened on September 1, 1919 as part of an extension of the Broadway Line from 57th Street–Seventh Avenue station to Lexington Avenue/59th Street.[2]

The station was operated by the BMT until the city government took over the BMT's operations on June 1, 1940.[7][8] This station was overhauled in the late 1970s. The MTA fixed the station's structure and overall appearance, replacing the original wall tiles, old signs, and incandescent lighting with 1970s modern-look wall tile band and tablet mosaics, signs and fluorescent lights. It also fixed staircases and platform edges.

In 2002, the station received a major overhaul. It received state-of-art repairs as well as an upgrade of the station for ADA compliance and restoration the original late 1910s tiling. The MTA repaired the staircases, re-tiling for the walls, installed new tiling on the floors, upgraded the station's lights and the public address system, and installed ADA yellow safety threads along the platform edges, new signs, and new track-beds in both directions.

Station layout

G	Street level	Exit/entrance
M	Mezzanine	Fare control, station agent, MetroCard machines
P Platform level	Side platform, doors will open on the right
	Southbound	← toward Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue via Sea Beach (57th Street–Seventh Avenue) ← toward Whitehall Street–South Ferry weekdays (57th Street–Seventh Avenue) ← toward Bay Ridge–95th Street except nights (57th Street–Seventh Avenue)
	Northbound	→ ( weekdays) toward Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard (Lexington Avenue–59th Street) → → toward Forest Hills–71st Avenue (Lexington Avenue–59th Street) →
	Side platform, doors will open on the right

Mosaics

Directional mosaics

This underground station has two tracks and two side platforms, with a mezzanine above both the western and eastern ends of the station. Replicas of BMT directional mosaics “QUEENS TRAINS” and “BROOKLYN TRAINS” are found on the western exit. Each mezzanine has one stair to each platform. Mosaics “5”, “Fifth Ave,” and the directional signs on each platform, are fully preserved with new tiles encircling around them.

Artwork here was made in 1997 by Ann Schaumburger and is called Urban Oasis. It uses glass mosaic murals to depict families of different types of animals, particularly for the nearby Central Park Zoo.

Exits

The full-time side of the station at the north end, at 60th Street and Fifth Avenue, has three street staircases, one carved into the outer perimeter of Central Park (northwestern corner of that intersection) and the other two on either eastern corner of the intersection.[9] The part-time side at Central Park South, just by the Plaza Hotel, formerly had a booth (closed in 2003) and three street staircases as well: two carved inside Central Park's perimeter, on the northern side of Central Park South, and one to the southern side, inside a building just west of the Plaza Hotel.[9]

References

"Glossary". Second Avenue Subway Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) (PDF). Vol. 1. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. March 4, 2003. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 26, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
"Subway To Open Two New Stations; Broadway Line of B.R.T. Will Extend to Lexington Av. and 60th St. Tomorrow. An Entrance at Fifth Av. Central Manhattan to Have Direct Service to All Brooklyn and Coney Island. Express to Times Square. Tunnel to Queens tow Under Way and Expected to be in Use in Six Months". The New York Times. August 31, 1919. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on June 14, 2018. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
"Facts and Figures: Annual Subway Ridership 2014–2019". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
James Blaine Walker, Fifty Years of Rapid Transit, 1864–1917 Archived June 10, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, published 1918, pp. 207-223
Engineering News, A New Subway Line for New York City Archived July 5, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Volume 63, No. 10, March 10, 1910
James Blaine Walker, Fifty Years of Rapid Transit, 1864–1917 Archived June 10, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, published 1918, pp. 224-241
"B.M.T. Lines Pass to City Ownership; $175,000,000 Deal Completed at City Hall Ceremony-- Mayor 'Motorman No. 1'". The New York Times. June 2, 1940. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 19, 2021. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
"City Takes Over B. M. T. System; Mayor Skippers Midnight Train". New York Herald Tribune. June 2, 1940. p. 1. ProQuest 1243059209.
"MTA Neighborhood Maps: Midtown" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transit Authority. 2015. Retrieved July 28, 2016.

External links

Media related to Fifth Avenue (BMT Broadway Line) at Wikimedia Commons
nycsubway.org – BMT Broadway Subway: Fifth Avenue
Station Reporter — N Train
Station Reporter — R Train
MTA's Arts For Transit — 5th Avenue–59th Street (BMT Broadway Line)
Fifth Avenue and 60th Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
Central Park South entrance from Google Maps Street View
Central Park South lobby from Google Maps Street View
Platforms from Google Maps Street View

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[SASDEIS-DIVISION-1] "Glossary". Second Avenue Subway Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) (PDF). Vol. 1. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. March 4, 2003. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 26, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2021.

[Opening-2] "Subway To Open Two New Stations; Broadway Line of B.R.T. Will Extend to Lexington Av. and 60th St. Tomorrow. An Entrance at Fifth Av. Central Manhattan to Have Direct Service to All Brooklyn and Coney Island. Express to Times Square. Tunnel to Queens tow Under Way and Expected to be in Use in Six Months". The New York Times. August 31, 1919. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on June 14, 2018. Retrieved May 31, 2019.

[riderref-3] "Facts and Figures: Annual Subway Ridership 2014–2019". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2020.

[4] James Blaine Walker, Fifty Years of Rapid Transit, 1864–1917 Archived June 10, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, published 1918, pp. 207-223

[5] Engineering News, A New Subway Line for New York City Archived July 5, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Volume 63, No. 10, March 10, 1910

[6] James Blaine Walker, Fifty Years of Rapid Transit, 1864–1917 Archived June 10, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, published 1918, pp. 224-241

[7] "B.M.T. Lines Pass to City Ownership; $175,000,000 Deal Completed at City Hall Ceremony-- Mayor 'Motorman No. 1'". The New York Times. June 2, 1940. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 19, 2021. Retrieved May 14, 2022.

[p1243059209-8] "City Takes Over B. M. T. System; Mayor Skippers Midnight Train". New York Herald Tribune. June 2, 1940. p. 1. ProQuest 1243059209.

[MTAMaps-Midtown-2015-9] "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Midtown" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transit Authority. 2015. Retrieved July 28, 2016.

Stations of the New York City Subway, by service
Broadway Express	Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard Astoria Boulevard 30th Avenue Broadway 36th Avenue 39th Avenue Queensboro Plaza Lexington Avenue–59th Street Fifth Avenue–59th Street 57th Street–Seventh Avenue 49th Street Times Square–42nd Street 34th Street–Herald Square 28th Street* 23rd Street* 14th Street–Union Square Eighth Street–New York University* Prince Street* Canal Street City Hall* Cortlandt Street* Rector Street* Whitehall Street–South Ferry* Court Street* Jay Street–MetroTech* DeKalb Avenue Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center Union Street* Ninth Street* Prospect Avenue* 25th Street* 36th Street 45th Street* 53rd Street* 59th Street Eighth Avenue Fort Hamilton Parkway New Utrecht Avenue 18th Avenue 20th Avenue Bay Parkway Kings Highway Avenue U 86th Street Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue
Broadway Local	Forest Hills–71st Avenue 67th Avenue 63rd Drive–Rego Park Woodhaven Boulevard Grand Avenue–Newtown Elmhurst Avenue Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue 65th Street Northern Boulevard 46th Street Steinway Street 36th Street Queens Plaza Lexington Avenue–59th Street Fifth Avenue–59th Street 57th Street–Seventh Avenue 49th Street Times Square–42nd Street 34th Street–Herald Square 28th Street 23rd Street 14th Street–Union Square Eighth Street–New York University Prince Street Canal Street City Hall Cortlandt Street Rector Street Whitehall Street–South Ferry Court Street Jay Street–MetroTech DeKalb Avenue Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center Union Street Ninth Street Prospect Avenue 25th Street 36th Street 45th Street 53rd Street 59th Street Bay Ridge Avenue 77th Street 86th Street Bay Ridge–95th Street
Broadway Local	Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard Astoria Boulevard 30th Avenue Broadway 36th Avenue 39th Avenue Queensboro Plaza Lexington Avenue–59th Street Fifth Avenue–59th Street 57th Street–Seventh Avenue 49th Street Times Square–42nd Street 34th Street–Herald Square 28th Street 23rd Street 14th Street–Union Square Eighth Street–New York University Prince Street Canal Street City Hall Cortlandt Street Rector Street Whitehall Street–South Ferry
See also Lists by borough (The Bronx Brooklyn Manhattan Queens) Accessible Closed Terminals Transfer Commons category Note: Service variations, station closures, and reroutes are not reflected here. Stations with asterisks have no regular peak, reverse peak, or midday service on that route. See linked articles for more information.