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Fifth Avenue–59th Street station

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The Fifth Avenue–59th Street station (signed as Fifth Avenue) 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 during the day, and the R train at all times except late nights.

 5 Avenue–59 Street
 "N" train​"R" train​"W" train
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Platform view
Station statistics
AddressEast 60th Street & Fifth Avenue
New York, New York
BoroughManhattan
LocaleMidtown Manhattan, Upper East Side
Coordinates40°45′53″N 73°58′21″W / 40.764779°N 73.972621°W / 40.764779; -73.972621
DivisionB (BMT)[1]
Line   BMT Broadway Line
Services   N all times (all times)
​   R all times except late nights (all times except late nights)
​   W weekdays only (weekdays only)
TransitBus transport New York City Bus: M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, Q32, SIM3, SIM6, SIM6X, SIM8, SIM8X, SIM10, SIM22, SIM23, SIM24, SIM25, SIM26, SIM30, SIM31
StructureUnderground
Platforms2 side platforms
Tracks2
Other information
OpenedSeptember 1, 1919; 105 years ago (1919-09-01)[2]
Opposite-
direction
transfer		Yes
Traffic
20233,485,505[3] Increase 15.2%
Rank91 out of 423[3]
Services
Preceding station New York City Subway New York City Subway Following station
57th Street–Seventh Avenue
N all times ​R all times except late nights ​W weekdays only
via Times Square–42nd Street
 Lexington Avenue–59th Street
N all times ​R all times except late nights ​W weekdays only
services split
Location
Fifth Avenue–59th Street station is located in New York City Subway
Fifth Avenue–59th Street station
Fifth Avenue–59th Street station is located in New York City
Fifth Avenue–59th Street station
Fifth Avenue–59th Street station is located in New York
Fifth Avenue–59th Street station
Track layout

Legend
to Lexington Avenue–59th Street
to 57th Street–Seventh Avenue
Street map

Map

Station service legend
Symbol Description
Stops all times except late nights Stops all times except late nights
Stops all times Stops all times
Stops weekdays during the day Stops weekdays during the day

History

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Construction and opening

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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]

The original plan there was to build a pair of single-track tunnels under 59th and 60th Streets, rising onto the Queensboro Bridge and crossing the East River to Queens, with stations at Fifth and Lexington Avenues.[7][8] In July 1914, the Public Service Commission opened bids for the construction of the two tunnels. The Degnon Contracting Company submitted the lowest of five bids for the project at just over $2.8 million.[9] Degnon received the contract and began constructing the tunnels that September.[10] In 1915, the Public Service Commission approved a request from the New York City Board of Estimate to place both tracks under 60th Street and cross the East River in the 60th Street Tunnel.[11][12]

A. W. King received a $126,000 contract in December 1918 to install finishes at the Lexington Avenue and Fifth Avenue stations on the Broadway Line.[13] The station opened on September 1, 1919, as part of an extension of the Broadway Line from 57th Street–Seventh Avenue to Lexington Avenue/59th Street.[2][14] Service originally operated northward to Lexington Avenue and southward to Whitehall Street at the southern end of Manhattan.[14] Service to Queens began when the 60th Street Tunnel opened on August 1, 1920.[15][16]

Later years

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The station was operated by the BMT until the city government took over the BMT's operations on June 1, 1940.[17][18] 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

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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. The station is served by N trains at all times;[19] R trains at all times except late nights;[20] and W trains on weekdays during the day.[21] The station is between Lexington Avenue/59th Street to the north and 57th Street–Seventh Avenue to the south.[22]

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.

The artwork at the station, Urban Oasis by Ann Schaumburger, was commissioned in 1997 as part of the MTA Arts & Design program.[23][24] It uses glass mosaic murals to depict families of different types of animals, particularly for the nearby Central Park Zoo.[23] The mosaics in the station include polar bears, snails, parrots, monkeys, and a golden horse.[25]

Exits

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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.[26] 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.[26]

Despite its name, the station has no exit at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 59th Street.

References

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  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.
  2. ^ a b "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.
  3. ^ a b "Annual Subway Ridership (2018–2023)". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
  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. ^ "Reply to M'Adoo on Subway Route; Washington Conference Tomorrow May Settle Differences on Post Office Rights". The New York Times. June 28, 1914. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
  8. ^ "Public Hearing on Subway Contracts". The Standard Union. June 27, 1914. p. 1. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
  9. ^ "Subway Bids Opened; Five Offers to Construct B.R.T. Line Under Fifty-ninth Street". The New York Times. July 25, 1914. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
  10. ^ "Subway Progress". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. November 28, 1914. p. 22. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
  11. ^ "Adopts Tunnel To Queens.; Service Board Approves Change in New Subway Route". The New York Times. July 29, 1915. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 4, 2022. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
  12. ^ "P. S. Board Approves Tunnel to Queens". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. July 28, 1915. p. 3. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
  13. ^ "Contract to Finish Stations". The New York Times. December 1, 1918. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
  14. ^ a b "B. R. T. Subway to Reach Lexington Ave. To-morrow: Station To Be Opened at 60th St. Under Present Station of Interborough's East Side Underground". New-York Tribune. August 31, 1919. p. 10. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 576078090.
  15. ^ "New B.R.T. Lines Open.; Broadway-Brighton Trains, on Holiday Schedule, Have Light Traffic" (PDF). The New York Times. August 2, 1920. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 4, 2022. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
  16. ^ "Broadway-Fifty-Ninth Street Extension of B.R.T. Subway". The New York Times. August 1, 1920. p. 92. Archived from the original on May 4, 2022. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  17. ^ "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.
  18. ^ "City Takes Over B. M. T. System; Mayor Skippers Midnight Train". New York Herald Tribune. June 2, 1940. p. 1. ProQuest 1243059209.
  19. ^ "N Subway Timetable, Effective December 17, 2023". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  20. ^ "R Subway Timetable, Effective June 30, 2024". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  21. ^ "W Subway Timetable, Effective December 17, 2023". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  22. ^ "Subway Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. September 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
  23. ^ a b "Urban Oasis". MTA. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  24. ^ Rosenfeld, Lucy D.; Harrison, Marina (2013). Art on Sight: The Best Art Walks In and Near New York City. Countryman Press. p. 143. ISBN 978-0-88150-996-0. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  25. ^ Dunlap, David W. (May 1, 1998). "Next Stop, Murals; Change Here for Uptown Sculpture". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  26. ^ a b "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Midtown" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
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