14th Street – Union Square (New York City Subway)

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14th Street – Union Square   New York City Subway rapid transit station complex
Station entrance within Union Square Park
Station statistics
Address	intersection of East 14th Street, Park Avenue South & Broadway New York, NY 10003
Borough	Manhattan
Locale	Union Square
Coordinates	40°44′05″N 73°59′25″W / 40.73472°N 73.99028°W / 40.73472; -73.99028Coordinates: 40°44′05″N 73°59′25″W / 40.73472°N 73.99028°W / 40.73472; -73.99028
Division	A (IRT), B (BMT)
Line	BMT Broadway Line BMT Canarsie Line IRT Lexington Avenue Line
Services	4  (all times)      5  (all except late nights)      6  (all times) <6>(weekdays until 8:45 p.m., peak direction)      L  (all times)      N  (all times)      Q  (all times)      R  (all except late nights)      W  (weekdays until 11:00 p.m.)
Connection	New York City Bus: M1, M2, M3, M6, M9, M14A/D
Structure	Underground
Levels	3
Other information
Accessible	(BMT Broadway Line & BMT Canarsie Line platforms only)
Traffic
Passengers (2008)	35.546 million[1][2] ▲ 5.34%
Rank	4 out of 422
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops in station at all times Stops all times except late nights Stops late nights only Stops late nights and weekends only Stops weekdays only Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction Stops all times except weekdays Stops rush hours only Stops rush hours in the peak direction only Station is closed (Details about time periods)

14th Street – Union Square is a New York City Subway station complex shared by the IRT Lexington Avenue Line, the BMT Broadway Line, and the BMT Canarsie Line. It is located at the intersection of Fourth Avenue and 14th Street, underneath Union Square in Manhattan, and is served by:

• 4, 6, L, N, and Q trains at all times
• 5 and R trains at all times except late nights
• W trains weekdays
• 6 diamond trains rush hours in the peak direction

The station is an important interconnection point, as it is the one and only station where Canarsie Line riders can transfer to the heavily-used Lexington Avenue Line, and it is also the only station where Broadway Line riders coming in from Brooklyn can transfer to uptown express trains to business locations in east Midtown. 35,545,653 passengers entered this station in 2008, making it the fourth-busiest station of the New York City Subway.^[1]

The station is also located on the border of several neighborhoods with popular business, residential and nightlife destination spots, including the East Village to the southeast, Greenwich Village to the south and southwest, Chelsea to the northwest, and both the Flatiron District and Gramercy to the north and northeast.

There are three originally separate stations here, which were combined sometime after unification of the subways in 1940. They now share a mezzanine, common entrance points, and unified signage. 14th Street Union Square station was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.^[3]

Contents 1 IRT Lexington Avenue Line platforms 2 BMT Broadway Line platforms 3 BMT Canarsie Line platform 4 References 5 External links

[edit] IRT Lexington Avenue Line platforms

14th Street – Union Square   New York City Subway rapid transit station
Station statistics
Division	A (IRT)
Line	IRT Lexington Avenue Line
Services	4  (all times)      5  (all except late nights)      6  (all times) <6>(weekdays until 8:45 p.m., peak direction)
Platforms	2 island platforms, 2 closed side platforms (partially visible)
Tracks	4
Other information
Opened	October 27, 1904[4]
Station succession
Next north	23rd Street (local): 4  6  <6> Grand Central – 42nd Street (express): 4  5  18th Street (closed)
Next south	Astor Place (local): 4  6  <6> Brooklyn Bridge – City Hall (express): 4  5
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops in station at all times Stops all times except late nights Stops late nights only Stops late nights and weekends only Stops weekdays only Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction Stops all times except weekdays Stops rush hours only Stops rush hours in the peak direction only Station is closed (Details about time periods)

14th Street – Union Square on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line has four tracks and two island platforms. The uptown and downtown platforms are offset from each other and slightly curved. Gap-filling movable platforms are automatically operated via proximity sensors mounted on the outside wall when trains arrive. The station has two abandoned local side platforms; the nouthbound one is visible through windows, bordered with wide, bright red frames. It looks like this platform is being used as a utility chase.^{[citation needed]} From the north end of the downtown platform's mezzanine one can see the abandoned southbound side platform through a hole in the plywood. The station's mezzanines are located over the platforms.

On August 28, 1991, an accident occurred just north of the station, killing five people and injuring 215 others in one of the worst wrecks since the Malbone Street Disaster of 1918. The train operator, Robert Ray, had been overshooting platforms on the entire run. Just north of 14th Street – Union Square the train was to be shifted to the local track due to repairs. He had been running the train at 40 mph (65 km/h) in a 10 mph (16 km/h) zone and took the switch so fast that only the front of the first car made the crossover. The third and fourth cars ended up perpendicular to the tracks, having sheared off support columns and split in half. The line suffered heavy damage and service was disrupted for six days (trains terminating at 59th street for the duration) as transit workers toiled around the clock to clean up the wreckage. The entire infrastructure, including signals, switches, track, roadbed, cabling, and 23 support columns needed to be replaced. The motorman was sentenced to 15 years in prison, but was set free in April 2001 for good behavior.

The wreck occurred between 18th Street station and 14th Street – Union Square on the downtown side at the entry to a former pocket track. Like 72nd Street on the IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line, 14th Street – Union Square was built with extra tracks on the approach to the station. These were between the incoming local and express track and were one old IRT train length long. The idea was to have a 'stacking' track where a train could be held momentarily until the platform cleared for it to enter the station. The tracks here and at 72nd Street were rendered useless when train lengths grew beyond their capacity. When the damage from the 1991 wreck was repaired, the stacking track was removed, but the crossover was not made gentler.

[edit] BMT Broadway Line platforms

14th Street – Union Square New York City Subway rapid transit station
Station statistics
Division	B (BMT)
Line	BMT Broadway Line
Services	N  (all times)      Q  (all times)      R  (all except late nights)      W  (weekdays until 11:00 p.m.)
Platforms	2 island platforms
Tracks	4
Other information
Opened	September 4, 1917[5]
Accessible	(Transfer to IRT Lexington Avenue Line platforms not yet accessible)
Station succession
Next north	23rd Street (local): N  R  W  34th Street – Herald Square (express): N  Q
Next south	Eighth Street – NYU (local): N  R  W  Canal Street (express): N  Q
Next north	34th Street – Herald Square: N  Q  R  W
Next south	DeKalb Avenue (via bridge): Q  Atlantic Avenue – Pacific Street (via bridge bypass): N  DeKalb Avenue (via tunnel): N  R
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops in station at all times Stops all times except late nights Stops late nights only Stops late nights and weekends only Stops weekdays only Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction Stops all times except weekdays Stops rush hours only Stops rush hours in the peak direction only Station is closed (Details about time periods)

14th Street – Union Square on the BMT Broadway Line has four tracks and two island platforms. It is the southernmost station in Manhattan with a cross-platform transfer between the Broadway services. A mosaic on the platform side walls is a depiction of "the junction of Broadway and the Bowery Road, 1828," as the area was once known. The mezzanine level has been reconstructed as well. Some former passageways and stairways have been closed off, including one immediately adjacent to the southernmost staircase on the northbound side. There are crossovers on the mezzanine to the 4, 5, 6, and L services for easy transfers.

This station was overhauled in the late 1970s. MTA replaced the original wall tiles, old signs, and incandescent lighting to the 70's modern wall tile band and tablet mosaics, signs and fluorescent lights. It also fixed staircases and platform edges. In 2002, the station was receiving a major overhaul period. It was received state of repairs as well as upgrading the station for ADA compliance and restoring the original late 1910s tiling. MTA did repair the staircases, re-tiling for the walls, new tiling on the floors, upgrading the station's lights and the public address system, installing ADA yellow safety threads along the platform edge, new signs, and new trackbeds in both directions. The station now has an elevator on both sides of the platform as well as connection to the station entrance and transferring to the IRT Lexington Avenue Line.

In 2005, the artwork was installed here in the station, it is called City Glow by Chiho Aoshima.

[edit] BMT Canarsie Line platform

Union Square New York City Subway rapid transit station
Station statistics
Division	B (BMT)
Line	BMT Canarsie Line
Services	L  (all times)
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2
Other information
Opened	September 21, 1924
Accessible	(transfer to IRT Lexington Avenue Line platforms not yet accessible)
Station succession
Next north	Sixth Avenue: L
Next south	Third Avenue: L
Next north	Eighth Avenue: L
Next south	Myrtle–Wyckoff Avenues: L
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops in station at all times Stops all times except late nights Stops late nights only Stops late nights and weekends only Stops weekdays only Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction Stops all times except weekdays Stops rush hours only Stops rush hours in the peak direction only Station is closed (Details about time periods)

Union Square on the BMT Canarsie Line has two tracks and one island platform, with numerous stairways and exits leading from it. There is one mezzanine attached to this station with entrances on the south side of 14th Street between Broadway and University Place. Other entrances around Union Square serve the other lines. The original mosaic band of sky blue, sea green, lime green and yellow ochre stands clearly visible above new green-bordered tile panels. The station has been renovated and is now ADA-compliant.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• nycsubway.org — IRT East Side Line: 14th Street/Union Square
• nycsubway.org — BMT Broadway Subway: 14th Street/Union Square
• nycsubway.org — BMT Canarsie Line: Union Square
• Station Reporter — 14th Street – Union Square Complex
• Subway Map Station Details 14th Street – Union Square
• MTA's Arts For Transit — 14th Street – Union Square