Lexington Avenue/51st–53rd Streets (New York City Subway)

Lexington Avenue/51st–53rd Streets
 
New York City Subway rapid transit station complex

Entrance to the IRT Lexington Avenue Line platform
Station statistics
Address East 53rd Street & Lexington Avenue
New York, NY 10022
Borough Manhattan
Locale Midtown Manhattan
Coordinates 40°45′25″N 73°58′19″W / 40.757075°N 73.971977°W / 40.757075; -73.971977Coordinates: 40°45′25″N 73°58′19″W / 40.757075°N 73.971977°W / 40.757075; -73.971977
Division A (IRT), B (IND)
Line       IRT Lexington Avenue Line
IND Queens Boulevard Line
Services       4  (late nights)
      6  (all times) <6> (weekdays until 8:45 p.m., peak direction)
      E  (all times)
      M  (weekdays until 11:00 p.m.)
Transit connections NYCT Bus: M101, M102, M103, X2, X5, X22, X22A, X31
MTA Bus: BxM1
Structure Underground
Levels 2
Other information
Opened December 11, 1988 (1988-12-11)[1]
Wireless service [2]
Traffic
Passengers (2015) 20,479,923 (station complex)[3] Decrease 0.2%
Rank 11 out of 422

Lexington Avenue/51st–53rd Streets is a New York City Subway station complex on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line and IND Queens Boulevard Line. Located on Lexington Avenue and stretching from 51st Street to 53rd Street in Midtown Manhattan, it is served by the:

In 2015, the station complex was ranked eleventh in ridership, with 20,479,923 passengers entering the station.[3] It is planned for the 55th Street station from Phase 3 of the Second Avenue Subway to connect to this complex.

Originally two separate stations, the Lexington Avenue-53rd Street IND station and 51 Street IRT station were connected via a transfer passage opened in 1988 built with the completion of 599 Lexington Avenue.

Station layout

G Street Level Exit/ Entrance
B1
Lexington Avenue Line platforms		 Side platform, doors will open on the right
Northbound local ← toward Pelham Bay Park ( toward Parkchester rush hours and middays) (59th Street)
← toward Woodlawn (late nights) (59th Street)
Southbound local → toward Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall ( toward New Lots Avenue late nights) (Grand Central–42nd Street) →
Side platform, doors will open on the right
B2 Northbound express ← do not stop here
Southbound express → do not stop here →
B3
Queens Boulevard Line platforms		 Southbound ← toward World Trade Center (Fifth Avenue/53rd Street)
← toward Metropolitan Avenue (Fifth Avenue/53rd Street)
Island platform, doors will open on the left
Northbound → toward Jamaica Center–Parsons/Archer (Court Square–23rd Street) →
→ toward Forest Hills–71st Avenue (Court Square–23rd Street) →

IRT Lexington Avenue Line platforms

51st Street
 
New York City Subway rapid transit station

Downtown local platform
Station statistics
Address

East 51st Street & Lexington Avenue
New York, NY 10022

40°45′25″N 73°58′19″W / 40.757075°N 73.971977°W / 40.757075; -73.971977
Division A (IRT)
Line       IRT Lexington Avenue Line
Services       4  (late nights)
      6  (all times) <6> (weekdays until 8:45 p.m., peak direction)
Platforms 2 side platforms
Tracks 2
Other information
Opened July 17, 1918 (1918-07-17)
Accessible
Station succession
Next north 59th Street: 4  6  <6>
Next south Grand Central–42nd Street: 4  6  <6>
Next north 125th Street: 4  6  <6>
Next south Grand Central–42nd Street: 4  6  <6>
Track layout
Legend
to 59 St
to 42 St

51st Street on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line, opened on July 17, 1918, is a local station with two local tracks and two side platforms. The two express tracks, used by the 4 and 5 trains during daytime hours, pass through a lower level and are not visible from the platforms. Both platforms have emergency exits from the lower level express tracks.

The station features modern beige bricks over the original tiles, but the standard IRT-style mosaics remain intact. There is a crossunder at the extreme north end of the platforms with an elevator on each side and an escalator on the Brooklyn Bridge-bound side. A ceramic artwork called Tunnel Vision by Nina Yankowitz was installed here in 1989.

A passageway, built in 1989, connects to the fare control areas and platforms of the IND Queens Boulevard Line beyond the crossunder on the northbound side.

The platforms are approximately 25 feet below street level and the station's full-time fare control areas are at the center of each. A staircase of seven steps goes up to a turnstile bank and outside fare control, there is a token booth and four street stairs. The ones on the Bronx-bound side go up either eastern corners of Lexington Avenue and East 51st Street while the ones on the Brooklyn Bridge-bound side go up to either western corners.

The Brooklyn Bridge-bound platform has a part-time fare control area near the south end. A seven-step staircase goes up to a turnstile bank and outside fare control, there is a customer assistance booth and one staircase going up to the front entrance of the Doubletree Metropolitan Hotel on the southwest corner of Lexington Avenue and East 50th Street.[4] It is the southernmost station on the Lexington Avenue Line to be directly under Lexington Avenue itself. South from here, the line shifts slightly westward to Park Avenue.[5]

Image gallery

IND Queens Boulevard Line platform

Lexington Avenue–53rd Street
New York City Subway rapid transit station

Looking south on the platform leading to the transfer
Station statistics
Address

Lexington Avenue & East 53rd Street
New York, NY 10022

40°45′30″N 73°58′16″W / 40.758343°N 73.971033°W / 40.758343; -73.971033
Division B (IND)
Line IND Queens Boulevard Line
Services       E  (all times)
      M  (weekdays until 11:00 p.m.)
Platforms 1 island platform
Tracks 2
Other information
Opened August 19, 1933 (1933-08-19)[6][7]
Accessible
Former/other names Lexington–3rd Avenues
Station succession
Next north Court Square–23rd Street: E  M 
Next south Fifth Avenue/53rd Street: E  M 
Next north Queens Plaza: E  M 
Next south 50th Street (via Queens Blvd): E  (southbound only)
47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center (via 6th): M 
Track layout
Legend
to Court Sq–23 St
to 5 Av/53 St

Lexington Avenue–53rd Street on the IND Queens Boulevard Line opened on August 19, 1933[6][7] and has two tracks and one island platform. It was built 70 feet (21 m) below street level, as the line had to pass beneath all of the north–south subway lines that were built before it. As a result, long escalators and staircases are required to reach the mezzanine from the platform.[6][7]

This station has an unstaffed entrance/exit at the east (railroad north) end. One escalator and one elevator from the platform goes up to a turnstile bank, where two staircases go up to either western corners of Third Avenue and 53rd Street. A larger staircase goes up to the entrance plaza of 205 East 53rd Street at the northeast corner. The original name, Lexington–3rd Avenues, came from this exit.

At the extreme west (railroad south) end of the platform, a bank of two escalators and one staircase (which were once the longest in the world), a single escalator, and one ADA-accessible elevator go up to the full-time mezzanine with a token booth, where a turnstile bank provide entrance/exit from the station. One glass-enclosed staircase goes up to the entrance plaza of 132 East 53rd Street at the southeast corner of Lexington Avenue. A larger staircase goes up to a sunken shopping plaza of the Citigroup Center at the northeast corner of the aforementioned intersection.

A shopping arcade outside fare control leads to a staircase and elevator inside the south side of 132 East 53rd Street that go up to the northeast corner of East 52nd Street and Lexington Avenue. Here, there is another token booth and turnstile bank leading to the passageway to the IRT Lexington Avenue Line, which was added in 1989. The passageway extends to the staircases and escalators going down to the IND platform and contains a turnstile bank in the center. In 2003, as part of efforts to ease crowding in the station, a mezzanine was added to connect the passageway to the Third Avenue end of the station.[8]

There are no tiles, trim line, or mosaics on the track walls. East of this station (railroad north), the line goes under the East River to Long Island City, Queens.

Artwork

In 1976, with funding from the Exxon Corporation, this station, as well as three others citywide, received new "artfully humorous graffiti" murals and artwork.[9] Local designer Sperling Elman Inc. received $5,000 to place a new coat of paint on the entrances. The paint was placed "in a variety of colors and in broad stripes."[9]

The 2004 artwork here is called Passing Through by Al Held. It features glass mosaic on the mezzanine walls.

Image gallery

References

  1. ↑ Guide to December 11, 1988, version of the New York City Subway map
  2. ↑ "NYC Subway Wireless – Active Stations". Transit Wireless Wifi. Retrieved 2016-05-18.
  3. 1 2 "Facts and Figures: Annual Subway Ridership". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
  4. ↑ Station Reporter — 51st Street/Lexington Avenue Complex
  5. ↑ "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Midtown East/Grand Central" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 "New Queens Subway Service Will Be Launched Tonight; Tunnel From Manhattan Open to Jackson Heights; Service Will Eventually Be Extended Through To Jamaica" (PDF). Long Island Daily Press. Fultonhistory.com. August 18, 1933. p. 20. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 "New Queens Tube To Open Saturday: Brooklyn-Long Island City Link of City Line Also to Be Put in Operation" (PDF). New York Evening Post. Fultonhistory.com. August 17, 1933. p. 18. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  8. ↑ Feldman, Jason. "Contractors Construct 200-ft.-long Mezzanine Under 53rd St.". New York Construction. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
  9. 1 2 Burks, Edward C. (1976-11-18). "A Subway Elongatomus? Why, It's Preposterous!". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-09-21.

External links

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