57th Street–Seventh Avenue (BMT Broadway Line)

57th Street–Seventh Avenue
New York City Subway rapid transit station
Downtown island platform
Station statistics
Address	West 57th Street & Seventh Avenue New York, NY 10019
Borough	Manhattan
Locale	Midtown Manhattan
Coordinates	40°45′56″N 73°58′48″W / 40.765461°N 73.980088°WCoordinates: 40°45′56″N 73°58′48″W / 40.765461°N 73.980088°W
Division	B (BMT)
Line	BMT Broadway Line
Services	N  (all times)       Q  (all times)       R  (all except late nights)       W  (weekdays only)
Transit connections	New York City Bus: M7, M20, M31, M57
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2 island platforms cross-platform interchange
Tracks	4
Other information
Opened	July 10, 1919[1]
Wireless service	[2]
Former/other names	Midtown–57th Street
Traffic
Passengers (2015)	9,512,090[3]  2.1%
Rank	34 out of 422
Station succession
Next north	Fifth Avenue–59th Street: N  R  W  Lexington Avenue–63rd Street (63rd): no regular service (Terminal): Q
Next south	49th Street (local): N  Q  R  W  Times Square–42nd Street (express): Q
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times except late nights Stops all times Stops weekdays only Stops weekends only
Location

57th Street–Seventh Avenue is an express station on the BMT Broadway Line of the New York City Subway. Located in Midtown Manhattan at the intersection of 57th Street and Seventh Avenue, it is served by the N and Q trains at all times, the R train at all times except late nights, and the W train on weekdays.

On the subway map and on announcements, the station is called 57th Street–Seventh Avenue,^[4] but is also sometimes called Midtown–57th Street. It is directly adjacent to Carnegie Hall.

Station layout

G	Street level	Exit/Entrance
M	Mezzanine	Fare control, station agent (Elevator at SW corner of 57th Street and Seventh Avenue. Note: Platform level is not accessible)
P Platform level	Southbound local	← toward Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue (49th Street) ← toward Bay Ridge–95th Street (49th Street) ← toward Whitehall Street weekdays (49th Street)
	Island platform, doors will open on the left, right
	Southbound express	← toward Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue via Brighton (Times Square–42nd Street all except late nights; 49th Street late nights) ← (some rush-hour trips) toward Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue via Sea Beach (Times Square–42nd Street)
	Northbound express	← (and some rush-hour trips) toward Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue (Times Square–42nd Street) → (and some rush-hour trips) (under construction) toward 96th Street (Lexington Avenue–63rd Street) →
	Island platform, doors will open on the left, right
	Northbound local	→ ( weekdays) toward Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard (Fifth Avenue–59th Street) → → toward Forest Hills–71st Avenue (Fifth Avenue–59th Street) →

Track layout
Legend
to Lexington Av–63 St Local trackways end to 5 Av–59 St Local trackways begin to 49 St to 42 St

When this station opened on July 10, 1919,^[5] the BMT Broadway Line had ended north of this station as six trackways, of which only two tracks (local tracks) continued to the 60th Street Tunnel to Queens. The other four trackways, both the express tracks and the outermost trackways (both of the outermost trackways are ramps which have never been used) curve slightly west before ending, which were a provision for the line to run to Upper Manhattan via Central Park West.^[6]

With four tracks and two island platforms, this station is the northernmost express station on the BMT Broadway Line. Much of the BMT system is chained from the zero point here. Most trains use the local tracks, which continue north under 59th and 60th Streets to Queens. All Q trains terminate on the center express tracks, which continue north as the BMT 63rd Street Line to Lexington Avenue–63rd Street, but are not currently used in revenue service. Future plans provide for Q trains to continue past 57th Street under 63rd Street to the Second Avenue Subway, which is currently being built to 96th Street with stops at 72nd, 86th and 96th Streets.^[7]

North of the station, the local tracks continue into the 60th Street Tunnel to Queens, while the express tracks continue to 63rd Street, with switches to the 60th Street tunnel. South of the station, there are also crossovers between the two express tracks, between both northbound tracks, and between both southbound tracks.^[8]

This station underwent an overhaul in the late 1970s, which included fixing the station's structure and replacing the original wall tiles, old signs, and incandescent lighting with 1970s modern-look wall tile band and tablet mosaics, signs and fluorescent lights. Staircases and platform edges were also repaired.

In 1992–1993, the station received a major overhaul with state-of-the-art repairs as well as upgrading the station for ADA compliance. The original late 1910s tiling was restored, repairs were made to the staircases, new tiling on the floors, upgrades to the station's lights and public address system, installation of ADA safety treads along the platform edge, new signs, and new trackbeds in both directions. Accessibility to the mezzanine was further increased by the addition of a usable elevator on the southwest corner of 57th Street. While elevators have yet to be installed for platform access, it allows disabled access to the fare booth and MetroCard vending machines.

Before the BMT 63rd Street Line was built in 1989, the express tracks continued as layup spurs north of the station (although construction of the 63rd Street line from 1971 to 1978 continued the section between this station and Lexington Avenue–63rd Street station). The express tracks ran for about 400 feet.

Proposed extension

55th Street stairs

57 Mosaic

North of this station are tunnel stub headings running straight from the local tracks^[9] for a proposed line under Central Park West or Morningside Avenue, that would have terminated at 145th Street or 155th Street.

When the BRT / BMT was building the Broadway line as part of the Dual Contracts, the company also wanted to be awarded the Central Park West / Eighth Avenue route, which was on the planning boards at that time. The company figured that if they built ramps from the Broadway line that could naturally be extended to an Eighth Avenue line, they would get a toehold on being awarded that line, rather than lose out to the IRT, the only other subway operator when the Dual Contracts were built.^[10] The BMT / BRT never built that line for various reasons including the bankruptcy of the company after the Malbone Street Wreck and Mayor Hylan's plan to include the Eighth Avenue / CPW route in the IND system. The ramps were built but never used for revenue service. They were eventually used for storage until the tracks were disconnected.

The disused trackways for the proposed line ramp up and run for about 500 feet.

The ramp on the northbound side has a Maintenance-of-Way shed built on it,^[11] and the trackway on the southbound side also has a storage shed sitting in it, just north of where the local tracks come in, but this shed is few hundred feet north of the shed on the opposite trackway of the other side of the tunnel.

Some of the actual track on the trackways remain, but are covered by many years of dirt. They can be seen from passing trains. The never-used trackways curve slightly west before ending.^[6][12]

References

1. New York Times, Broadway End of Subway Opened, July 10, 1919, page 36
2. "NYC Subway Wireless – Active Stations". Transit Wireless Wifi. Retrieved 2016-05-18.
3. "Facts and Figures: Annual Subway Ridership". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
4. "Subway Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. November 2016. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
5. Legislative Documents. J.B. Lyon Company. 1920-01-01.
6. http://www.nycsubway.org/wiki/New_Subways:_Proposed_Additions_to_Rapid_Transit_System..._(1922) "Section on Broadway Subway Expansion"
7. "MTA Capital Construction - Second Avenue Subway". MTA.info. Retrieved 2013-04-09.
8. "www.nycsubway.org: New York City Subway Track Maps". www.nycsubway.org. 2015-10-09. Retrieved 2015-10-09.
9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6dFkV2n3-Y&feature=related A trackway is visible towards the right at the 2:51 mark into this video, just before the train enters the 57th Street station.
10. Senate, New York (State) Legislature (1916-01-01). Documents of the Senate of the State of New York. E. Croswell.
11. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sToFk6_5Eo&feature=related The shed is visible to the right at the 5:15 mark in the video, as the train leaves the 57th Street station.
12. http://ltvsquad.com/2005/06/19/the-bmt-provision/

External links

• nycsubway.org – BMT Broadway Subway: 57th Street
• Station Reporter – N Train
• Station Reporter – R Train
• Station Reporter – Q Train
• MTA's Arts For Transit – 57th Street–7th Avenue (BMT Broadway Line)
• 57th Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• 55th Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Platform from Google Maps Street View