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

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
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 hours except late nights)
Connection	New York City Bus: M1, M2, M3, M14A/D
Structure	Underground
Levels	3
Other information
Opened	July 1, 1948 (July 1, 1948)
Accessible	(BMT Broadway Line & BMT Canarsie Line platforms only)
Traffic
Passengers (2010)	34,730,692  1.4%
Rank	4 out of 422
14th Street-Union Square Subway Station (IRT; Dual System BMT)
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
MPS:	New York City Subway System MPS
NRHP Reference#:	05000671
Added to NRHP:	July 6, 2005
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 BMT Broadway Line, the BMT Canarsie Line and the IRT Lexington Avenue Line. It is located at the intersection of Fourth Avenue and 14th Street, underneath Union Square in Manhattan, and is served by the:

• 4, 6, L, N, and Q trains at all times
• 5 and R trains at all times except late nights
• <6> train weekdays in the peak direction

Information for riders at the 14 Street – Union Square Station

The complex is the only location in the system where Canarsie Line riders as well as Broadway riders from Brooklyn can transfer to the heavily-used Lexington Avenue Line. 34,730,692 passengers entered this station in 2010, making it the fourth-busiest station of the New York City Subway.

The complex 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 Park 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. This complex was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

BMT Broadway Line platforms

14th Street – Union Square New York City Subway rapid transit station
train arriving on the local track
Station statistics
Division	B (BMT)
Line	BMT Broadway Line
Services	N  (all times)       Q  (all times)       R  (all hours except late nights)
Platforms	2 island platforms cross-platform interchange
Tracks	4
Other information
Opened	September 4, 1917 (September 4, 1917)
Accessible	(Transfer to IRT Lexington Avenue Line platforms not yet accessible)
Station succession
Next north	23rd Street (local): N  R  34th Street – Herald Square (express): Q
Next south	Eighth Street – New York University (local): N  R  Canal Street (express): Q
Next north	34th Street – Herald Square: N  Q  R
Next south	DeKalb Avenue (via bridge): Q  Atlantic Avenue – Pacific Street (via bridge bypass): N  Jay Street – MetroTech (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, opened on September 5, 1917 is an express station on the BMT Broadway Line that has four tracks and two island platforms. N and R trains stop at the local tracks while Q trains stop at the express tracks.

It is the southernmost station in Manhattan with a cross-platform interchange between all three 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 and crossover 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.

This station was overhauled in the late 1970s. The MTA replaced the original wall tiles, old signs, and incandescent lighting with the 1970s wall tile band and tablet mosaics, signs and fluorescent lights. They also fixed staircases and platform edges. In 2002, the station was upgraded for ADA-accessibility and its original late 1910s tiling was restored. As part of the upgrade, the MTA repaired the staircases, re-tiled for the walls and floors, upgraded the station's lights and the public address system, installed yellow safety threads along the platform edge, new signs, and new trackbeds in both directions. The station now has an elevator on both platforms as well as connection to the station entrances and passageway to the IRT Lexington Avenue Line.

In 2005, an artwork called City Glow by Chiho Aoshima was installed here.

Image gallery

• 

  Mosaic

• 

  Depiction of the junction of Broadway and the Bowery Road in 1828

• 

  New tile name tablets on the mezzanine with 9-11 memorial

• 

  Elevator to southbound platform from mezzanine

Further reading

• Lee Stokey. Subway Ceramics : A History and Iconography. 1994. ISBN 978-0-9635486-1-0

BMT Canarsie Line platform

Union Square New York City Subway rapid transit station
Elevator and "countdown clock"
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 (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, opened on September 21, 1924 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 in the complex serve the other services that stop here. 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-accessible with a single elevator going up from the platform to the mezzanine.

IRT Lexington Avenue Line platforms

14th Street – Union Square   New York City Subway rapid transit station
Downtown platform for the Express 4 and 5 (right) and local 6 (left), showing the curvature of the station and the movable platforms
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 (in service) cross-platform interchange 2 side platforms (abandoned)
Tracks	4
Other information
Opened	October 27, 1904 (October 27, 1904)
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, opened on October 27, 1904, is an express station on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line that has four tracks and two island platforms. The uptown and downtown platforms are offset from each other and slightly curved. Gap-filling movable platforms on the downtown side are automatically operated via proximity sensors when trains arrive. The station's mezzanines are located over the platforms.

The station has two abandoned local side platforms; the northbound one is visible through windows, bordered with wide, bright red frames. From the north end of the downtown platform's mezzanine, the adjacent side platform can be seen through a hole in the plywood.

On August 28, 1991, an accident just north of the station killed five riders and injured 215 others in one of the worst wrecks since a crash at Times Square – 42nd Street on the IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line in 1928 that killed 16 people. The legally intoxicated train operator, Robert Ray, had been overshooting platforms during the entire run from Woodlawn in the Bronx. Just north of this station, his Brooklyn-bound 4 train was to be shifted to the local track due to repair work on the express one. He was running at 40 mph (65 km/h) at a 10 mph (16 km/h) zone and took the switch so fast that only the first car made it through the crossover. The third and fourth cars ended up perpendicular to the tracks, having sheared off support columns and split in half, while the second, fifth, and sixth cars suffered significant damage as well. All five R62 cars involved were scrapped and the IRT Lexington Line suffered heavy damage. Service was disrupted for six days (with 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. Ray was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 15 years in prison, but released in April 2002 for good behavior.

The wreck occurred at the entry to a former pocket track. Like 72nd Street on the IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line, this station was built with extra tracks on the approach to the station. These were between the local and express tracks and approximately 300 feet (91 m) 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.

Image Gallery

• 

  Old IRT "14" eagle cartouche

• 

  Abandoned side platform behind the wall and the black bars on the right, whose edge is still visible.

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
• nycsubway.org — Framing Union Square Artwork by Mary Miss (1998)
• nycsubway.org — Paradise Artwork by Chiho Aoshima (2005)
• nycsubway.org — City Glow Artwork by Chiho Aoshima (2005)
• Station Reporter — 14th Street – Union Square Complex
• Subway Map Station Details 14th Street – Union Square
• Forgotten NY — Original 28 - NYC's First 28 Subway Stations
• MTA's Arts For Transit — 14th Street – Union Square
• 14th Street and Broadway entrance to Canarsie Line from Google Maps Street View
• 14th Street and Fourth Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View
• entrance by Union Square East from Google Maps Street View
• Union Square East and 15th Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• entrance in Union Square Park from Google Maps Street View
• Union Square West and 16th Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Abandoned Stations - Abandoned Stations - 14th Street side platforms