Times Square – 42nd Street (New York City Subway)

Times Square – 42nd Street   New York City Subway rapid transit station complex
Entrance to subway stations at 42nd Street
Station statistics
Address	area of West 42nd Street, Broadway & Seventh Avenue New York, NY 10036
Borough	Manhattan
Locale	Times Square, Midtown Manhattan
Coordinates	40.756°N 73.987°W / 40.756; -73.987
Division	A (IRT), B (BMT)
Line	IRT 42nd Street Shuttle       BMT Broadway Line       IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line       IRT Flushing Line
Services	1  (all times)       2  (all times)       3  (all times)       7  (weekdays at all times) <7> (rush hours until 10:00 p.m., peak direction)       N  (all times)       Q  (all times)       R  (all except late nights)       S  (all except late nights)
System transfers	IND Eighth Avenue Line (A  C  E  trains) at 42nd Street – Port Authority Bus Terminal
Connection	New York City Bus: M7, M20, M42, M104, X17, X22, X30, X31
Levels	4
Other information
Opened	June 3, 1917 (June 3, 1917)
Accessible	(all except 42nd Street Shuttle; passageway to 42nd Street – Port Authority Bus Terminal is also accessible)
Traffic
Passengers (2010)	58,422,597 (complex)  0.6%
Rank	1 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)

Times Square – 42nd Street is a large station complex of the New York City Subway, located under Times Square at the intersection of 42nd Street, Seventh Avenue, and Broadway in Midtown Manhattan. When considered together with 42nd Street – Port Authority Bus Terminal, it is the busiest complex in the system, serving 58,422,597 passengers in 2010.

The complex provides free transfers between the IRT 42nd Street Shuttle, the BMT Broadway Line, the IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line and the IRT Flushing Line, with a long transfer to the IND Eighth Avenue Line one block west at 42nd Street – Port Authority Bus Terminal. It is served by the:

• 1, 2, 3, N and Q trains at all times
• R and 42nd Street Shuttle trains at all times except late nights
• 7 train on weekdays
• <7> trains during rush hours in the peak direction

Modern mosaic   Modern mosaic   Stairway sign prior to the W train being discontinued   HEET Exit

IRT 42nd Street Shuttle platforms

Times Square New York City Subway rapid transit station
Station statistics
Division	A (IRT)
Line	IRT 42nd Street Shuttle
Services	S  (all except late nights)
Structure	Underground
Platforms	3 side platforms (all connected at west end)
Tracks	3
Other information
Opened	October 27, 1904 (October 27, 1904)
Former/other names	42nd Street
Station succession
Next north	Tracks 1 and 3: (Terminal) Track 4: 50th Street (no regular service)
Next south	Grand Central: S
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)

Times Square was originally a local station called 42nd Street on New York City's first subway in 1904. Since 1918, three shuttle tracks have served it; the southbound express track was removed and replaced by a temporary wooden platform for access to the original northbound express track.

Platforms are located on both sides (at the old local platforms) and where the southbound express track was; all three platforms connect on the west (railroad north) side. This walkway crosses the northbound local track on a bridge that can be lifted for the only access to that track, via a merge into the northbound IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line local track along the original subway alignment (north of the current Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line station). This track merge is only used for overnight swaps and special railfan excursion trains. The other three tracks used to curve parallel to this one.

There is no track connection between the northbound local and the other two tracks anywhere along the shuttle. Two of the three tracks end at bumper blocks at the west end of the platforms.

Because of the curvature on the platforms, gap fillers are used to bridge the gap between train and platform. An underpass which used to connect the original side platforms lies between the downtown local track and the two express and the uptown local tracks of the BMT Broadway Line, which runs perpendicular to the shuttle.

Image gallery

Wall treatment showing mosaic name tablet and terra cotta cornice   Closeup of original Times Square mosaic tablet   Original tile-work of the station still left over (2010)   Close-up of original tiles with greek motifs   Original mosaics with number 42   Bumper block

Further reading

• Lee Stokey. Subway Ceramics : A History and Iconography. 1994. ISBN 978-0963548610

BMT Broadway Line platforms

Times Square – 42nd Street New York City Subway rapid transit station
Uptown platform
Station statistics
Division	B (BMT)
Line	BMT Broadway Line
Services	N  (all times)       Q  (all times)       R  (all except late nights)
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2 island platforms cross-platform interchange
Tracks	4
Other information
Opened	January 5, 1918 (January 5, 1918)
Accessible	(Transfer accessible to IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line & IRT Flushing Line platforms only)
Station succession
Next north	49th Street (local): N  Q  R  57th Street – Seventh Avenue (express): Q
Next south	34th Street – Herald Square: N  Q  R
Next north	49th Street (northbound only): N  Q  R
Next south	34th Street – Herald Square: N  Q  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)

Times Square – 42nd Street is an express station on the BMT Broadway Line that has four tracks and two island platforms. Connections to the other lines are at the northern end of the platforms. This station received a minor overhaul in the late 1970s when MTA fixed the station's structure and the overhaul appearance, and it repaired staircases and platform edges, removed pedestrian ramps, and replaced lighting. In 2004-2006, the station received a major overhaul and repairs, including upgrading the station for ADA compliance and restoring the original late 1910s tiling. MTA repaired the staircases, retiled the walls, added new tiling on the floors, upgraded the station's lights and the public address system, installed ADA yellow safety treads along the platform edge, and installed new signs and new trackbeds in both directions.

The express tracks north of the station spread out to pass around a crossunder in the Times Square shuttle platforms. This crossunder was sealed off in the 1960s.

On June 1, 1940, the title of the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation was passed to the City of New York, signifying the first phase of unification of New York's subway system with the Independent Subway System as well as eventual public operation of the entire system. (The Interborough Rapid Transit Company would be merged on June 15 of the same year.) At midnight, a ceremony commemorating the transfer, with five hundred people in attendance, was held at the Times Square station. The last BMT train had left the 57th Street station five minutes earlier. When the train arrived at Times Square, BMT president William S. Menden handed over his company's properties to Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia, who then gave them to New York City Board of Transportation chairman John H. Delaney. The Board of Transportation would operate the New York City Transit System until the New York City Transit Authority's creation in 1953.

"42" monogram mosaic

IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line platforms

Times Square – 42nd Street New York City Subway rapid transit station
Platform for the 1 train (right) and Express 2 and 3 trains (left)
Station statistics
Division	A (IRT)
Line	IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line
Services	1  (all times)       2  (all times)       3  (all times)
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2 island platforms cross-platform interchange
Tracks	4
Other information
Opened	June 3, 1917 (June 3, 1917)
Accessible	(Transfer accessible to BMT Broadway Line and IRT Flushing Line platforms only)
Station succession
Next north	50th Street (local): 1  2  72nd Street (express): 2  3
Next south	34th Street – Penn Station: 1  2  3  (Terminal): 3
Next north	59th Street – Columbus Circle (local): 1  2  72nd Street (express): 2  3
Next south	34th Street – Penn Station: 1  2  3
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)

Times Square – 42nd Street is an express station with four tracks and two island platforms. The outer tracks are served by the 1 local train, while the two inner tracks are served by the 2 and 3 express trains, the former of which runs local during late nights and uses the outer tracks. Access to the other lines is provided at the northern end and in the center of each platform. An elevator was recently installed and is now in operation but there are very few signs in the station complex that show where it is.

Just south of the station, a fifth center track begins, formed by a connection from each express track. This track splits back into the two express tracks just before 34th Street – Penn Station. This center track was used in the past for turning rush hour "Gap Trains", which would head back up to The Bronx rather than Lower Manhattan or Brooklyn. It is currently used for turning 3 trains, which terminate here during late nights.

This section of line was the site of a 1928 wreck which killed 16 people, the second worst in New York City history.

Stairs leading to uptown trains   Mosaics work   Platform column

IRT Flushing Line platform

Times Square   New York City Subway rapid transit station
Station statistics
Division	A (IRT)
Line	IRT Flushing Line
Services	7  (weekdays at all times) <7> (rush hours until 10:00 p.m., peak direction)
Structure	Underground
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2
Other information
Opened	March 14, 1927 (March 14, 1927)
Accessible	(Transfer accessible to IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line and BMT Broadway Line platforms only)
Station succession
Next north	Fifth Avenue – Bryant Park: 7  <7>
Next south	(Terminal): 7  <7> 34th Street: under construction
Next north	Grand Central: 7  <7>
Next south	34th Street: under construction
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)

Times Square is the terminal for all 7 <7> service. It has one island platform between the two tracks located deep below West 41st Street. Stairs, escalators and an elevator along the platform lead to various mezzanines. There are "TS" tile mosaics along the station walls. An office is located at the north (compass east) end of the platform. An elevator was recently installed and connects with the Downtown IRT Seventh Avenue platform and then the mezzanine.

The tracks continue south (compass west) beyond the station to an unused storage and layover area. The extension of the Flushing Line, under construction as of April 2009, has work being done to improve this stretch. Third rails will be added, and the tracks inspected or replaced before they are opened to revenue service. The closed lower level platform at 42nd Street – Port Authority Bus Terminal on the IND Eighth Avenue Line was blocking the line but has been removed.

The complex

The IRT platforms have been connected to each other as a transfer station as the lines opened: first between the 42nd Street Shuttle and the Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line in 1918, then the transfer was incorporated with the Flushing Line in 1927. The free transfer between the IRT and BMT was added on July 1, 1948. The block-long passageway that runs west to the 42nd Street – Port Authority Bus Terminal station on the IND Eighth Avenue Line was added within fare control in the mid-1980s. Since 1991, this passageway has contained a piece of public art inspired by the Burma-Shave ads; Norman B. Colp's The Commuter's Lament, or A Close Shave consists of a series of signs attached to the roof of the passageway, reading:

Overslept,

So tired.

If late,

Get fired.

Why bother?

Why the pain?

Just go home

Do it again.

with the last panel being a picture of a bed. The panels were part of an art project that was supposed to last only one year, but was never removed.

This station underwent total reconstruction in stages starting in 1994. The reconstruction included a new entryway on the south side of 42nd Street between Seventh Avenue and Broadway, featuring a bright neon and colored glass flashing sign with the train route symbols and the word "Subway". The street level fare control at this site features restored original "Times Square" mosaics from the Contract I station walls (now used by the shuttle), and both escalators and stairs lead into the complex. There are also similar renovated entrances on the northwest and southwest corners of Seventh Avenue and 42nd Street, the latter of which has both esclators and stairs, while the former has only stairs.

In 1999, a US$44 million renovation of the complex began. The goal was to reduce congestion and improve rider access, comfort and safety by improving visual lines and increasing pedestrian capacity. The main corridor was widened 15 feet (4.6 m), and the number of sharp corners reduced; ADA accessibility was introduced with elevators; new escalators; and other corridors were widened. The mezzanine above the BMT Broadway Line, formerly a record shop, now features a large oval balcony looking over the trackway and has reduced the sense of claustrophobia described by many riders. In 2004, four unisex stall bathrooms were opened on the mezzanine between the IRT and BMT lines; they are staffed and maintained by employees of the Times Square Alliance, the local Business Improvement District. The record shop re-opened in 2007 on the south side of the IRT/BMT corridor.

The mezzanine has been a major featured spot for subway performers ever since the opening of the station. "Music Under New York" controls the spot, which is located by the escalators, opposite the shuttle to Grand Central. Musicians of all types, from musical saw to a brass band, perform there daily.

Relative depths

• IRT 42nd Street Shuttle, 20 feet (6.1 m) below street
• IND Eighth Avenue Line (one block west), 30 feet (9.1 m)
• IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line, 40 feet (12 m)
• BMT Broadway Line, 50 feet (15 m)
• IRT Flushing Line, 60 feet (18 m)

Artwork

Modern artwork installed in the station includes the following:

• New York in Transit by Jacob Lawrence, 2001
• The Return of Spring/The Onset of Winter by Jack Beal, 2001/2005
• Times Square Mural by Roy Lichtenstein, 2002 (collage 1990, fabricated 1994)
• Times Square Times: 35 Times by Toby Buonagurio, 2005
• The Revelers by Jane Dickson, 2008

New York in Transit was Lawrence's last public work before his 2000 death. Lichtenstein completed Times Square Mural in 1994, but installation was delayed until after the station complex's renovation, during which Lichtenstein died in 1997.

Foiled terrorist attack

Najibullah Zazi and alleged co-conspirators were arrested in September 2009 as part of an al-Qaeda Islamist plan to engage in suicide bombings on trains in the New York City subway system, including near the Times Square station, during rush hour that month, and Zazi has pled guilty.

External links

• Abandoned Stations - proposed Grand Central shuttle platform (includes a track diagram)
• nycsubway.org — IRT Grand Central/Times Square Shuttle: Times Square
• nycsubway.org — IRT Flushing Line: Times Square
• nycsubway.org — IRT West Side Line: Times Square/42nd Street (text used with permission)
• nycsubway.org — BMT Broadway Subway: Times Square/42nd Street
• nycsubway.org — New York in Transit Artwork by Jacob Lawrence (2001)
• nycsubway.org — Times Square Mural Artwork by Roy Lichtenstein (1994)
• nycsubway.org — The Return of Spring/The Onset of Winter Artwork by Jack Beal (1999)
• nycsubway.org — Times Square Times: 35 Times Artwork by Toby Buonagurio (2005)
• nycsubway.org — The Revelers Artwork by Jane Dickson (2007)
• Review and photos of the Times Square bathrooms at Gothamist (blog)
• Forgotten NY — Original 28 - NYC's First 28 Subway Stations
• MTA's Arts For Transit — Times Square – 42nd Street, Page 1
• MTA's Arts For Transit — Times Square – 42nd Street, Page 2
• MTA's YouTube Web Page — Advertising Initiatives 9/21/2010 on the 42nd Street (S) Shuttle. Retrieved September 22, 2010. (2:13 video clip)

Entrances on Google Maps Street View

• 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View
• 42nd Street and Broadway entrance from Google Maps Street View
• 43rd Street and Broadway entrance from Google Maps Street View
• 41st Street and Seventh Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View
• 40th Street and Seventh Avenue entrance to IRT Lines only from Google Maps Street View
• 40th Street and Broadway entrance to Broadway Line and Shuttle from Google Maps Street View