New York City Subway stations
The privately held IRT, founded in 1902, constructed and operated the first underground railway line in New York City.
[b] The opening of the first line on October 27, 1904, is commonly cited as the opening of the modern New York City Subway, although some elevated lines of the IRT and BMT that were initially incorporated into the New York City Subway system but then demolished predate this.
The BMT, founded in 1923 and also privately held, was formed from the bankruptcy of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company.
Unification in June 1940 by the New York City Board of Transportation brought the three systems under one operator.
The New York City Transit Authority, created in 1953 to be a public benefit corporation that acquired the rapid transit and surface line (buses and streetcars) infrastructure of the Board of Transportation, remains the operator of the New York City Subway today.
[c] Underground stations in the New York City Subway are typically accessed by staircases going down from street level.
The waist-high turnstiles, the most prominent in the system, were installed beginning in 1993 along with the implementation of MetroCard, though they originally accepted tokens.
Some of the waist-high turnstiles date to the late 20th century, when tokens were used to pay fares; as such, they still have token-return compartments.
[10][11] The newer HEETs resemble several older turnstiles of that design informally called "iron maidens", and are prevalent at subway entrances without token booths to discourage fare evasion.
[12] Both turnstiles are stainless steel and are bidirectional, allowing passengers to enter with fare payment and to exit.
[22][23] Within two months, there was a slight increase in fare-paying riders at the station, although passengers were able to evade fares merely by leaning over the new turnstiles and activating the motion sensors.
Originally, green signified an entrance located at a full-time station booth, which was open 24/7 and had regular waist-high turnstiles.
Yellow signified a part-time booth, to which access to the platforms could be gained using High Entry-Exit Turnstiles (HEETs).
[39] After swiping the card at a turnstile, customers enter the fare-controlled area of the station and continue to the platforms.
[13] Inside fare control are "Off-Hours Waiting Areas", which consist of benches and are identified by a yellow sign.
[41][42][43] Many mezzanines that previously stretched the entire length of a station have been split or partitioned by fencing or permanent walls.
These closed areas have been abandoned or converted into space for Transit Operations or the New York City Police Department.
[46] Many stations are decorated with intricate ceramic tile work, some of it dating back to 1904 when the subway first opened.
[47] Permanent installations, such as sculpture, mosaics, and murals; photographs displayed in lightboxes encourage people to use mass transit.
Some of the art is by internationally known artists such as Elizabeth Murray's Blooming, displayed at Lexington Avenue/59th Street station.
[50] Since the majority of the system was built before 1990, the year the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) went into effect, many New York City Subway stations were not designed to be handicapped-accessible.
On platforms, there may be no amplifications as this is part of MTA policies: The New York City Transit (NYCT) [...] authorizes these types of free expression in subway stations: "Public speaking; distribution of written materials; solicitation for charitable, religious or political causes; and artist performances, including the acceptance of donations.
[55] Since 1987, MTA has sponsored the "Music Under New York" (MUNY) program[56] in which street musicians enter a competitive contest to be assigned to the preferred high traffic locations.
Each year, applications are reviewed and approximately 70 eligible performers are selected and contacted to participate in live auditions held for one day.
[57][58][59][60] At present, more than 100 soloists and groups participate in MUNY providing over 150 weekly performances at 25 locations throughout the transit system, for example Natalia Paruz, a musical saw player, plays at Union Square.
[61] Most station restrooms previously open to the public have been closed and converted to storage spaces or employee use.
[76] During the 21st century, the MTA continued to make efforts in attracting more diverse retailers and vendors to set up shop in the subway system.
To discourage the theft of the lighting fixtures, the New York City Subway system used lightbulbs with reversed threads, which could be screwed into residential lamps.
[81] In 2024, the MTA announced that, as a safety measure, it would install 150,000 LED lights across the subway system by 2026.
The purpose of splitting the platforms is to limit overcrowding by preventing cross-platform interchanges between local and express services.
