Lexington Avenue–63rd Street station: Difference between revisions

Lexington Avenue – 63rd Street
Lexington Avenue – 63rd Street
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
	Upper platform for trains leaving for downtown Manhattan prior to reconstruction for connection to the Second Avenue Subway
Station statistics
Address	Lexington Avenue & East 63rd Street; New York, NY 10065
Borough	Manhattan
Locale	Upper East Side
Coordinates	40°45′53″N 73°57′59″W / 40.764649°N 73.966398°W
Division	B (BMT/IND)
Line	BMT 63rd Street Line; IND 63rd Street Line
Services	F (all times) <F> (two rush hour trains, peak direction); N (limited weekday rush hour service only); Q (all times); R (one a.m. rush hour trip in the northbound direction only)
System transfers	With MetroCard only:; 4 (all times); 5 (all times except late nights); 6 (all times) <6> (weekdays until 8:45 p.m., peak direction) at 59th Street ; N (all times); R (all times except late nights); W (weekdays only) at Lexington Avenue / 59th Street ; (Transfer stations are not accessible)
Transit	New York City Bus: M101, M102, M103; MTA Bus: BxM1;
Structure	Underground
Levels	2
Platforms	2 island platforms (1 on each level, half of each in passenger service)
Tracks	4 (2 on each level); (1 in passenger service on each level)
Other information
Opened	October 29, 1989; 34 years ago
Accessible	ADA-accessible
Opposite-; direction; transfer	Yes
Traffic
2023	3,736,349 8.2%
Rank	81 out of 423
Station succession
Next north	Template:NYCS next; Template:NYCS next
Next south	Template:NYCS next; Template:NYCS next
Location
Street map
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 during the day
	Stops weekends during the day
	Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction
	Stops all times except weekdays in the peak direction
	Stops all times except nights and rush hours in the peak direction
	Stops rush hours only
	Stops rush hours in the peak direction only
	Station is closed
	(Details about time periods)

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Revision as of 20:55, 28 January 2012

Lexington Avenue – 63rd Street is a two-level station shared by the BMT and IND 63rd Street Lines of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Lexington Avenue and 63rd Street, it is served by the F train at all times. Downtown-bound trains use the upper level, and Queens-bound trains use the lower level. The original wall tiles installed in this station were red-orange. There are a total of ten escalators, six staircases and two elevators. Two additional staircases between the platform levels are at the eastern end of platforms, past the elevator.

Layout

From the street, there are two short escalators from the northwest corner, a staircase from the southwest corner, and a short elevator hidden around the corner from the escalators. From the fare control, there are three long escalators to an intermediate level, and then two long escalators to a lower mezzanine. Here, the bank splits and there are two separate tubes of two escalators each to each platform. The platform elevator has its own two turnstiles, and makes three stops (mezzanine, upper platform, lower platform).

The station may look like a typical one track, one side platform station, but on each level behind the station walls would reveal much more to the station. The walls taken down would expand the "side" platform into an island platform, also revealing an unused track. This track will be used for the connection between the BMT 63rd Street Line and the under construction Second Avenue Subway. When the station was built, it was decided to build a wall to separate the two tracks, as the IND (southern) tracks have always been used, while the BMT (northern) tracks have never seen regular service, only to be used for non-rush hour train storage. As part of the ongoing Second Avenue Subway construction, the walls are being taken down, as part of the preparation of the north side of each platform for future cross-platform interchange.

East of this station on the BMT side, the planned track connections to the Second Avenue Subway curve slightly north. After the tracks end, the roadbed goes on for a few hundred feet.^[5]^[6]

East of this station on the IND side, the turnouts for a connection to Phase 3 of the Second Avenue Subway are clearly visible.^[7] Also to the east, the IND line becomes two-level for the trip through the 63rd Street Tunnel under the East River. The subway uses the two tracks on the upper level. The two track lower level is being connected to the Long Island Rail Road via the East Side Access project. The ESA project will bring trains from the LIRR Main line to Grand Central Terminal. The lower level has not yet been used.

History

The station was built using a combination of cut-and-cover construction and tunneling machines.^[8]^[9] Although the station was completed in 1983, when it was named the Construction Achievement Project of the Year by the Metropolitan Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers, it did not open for passenger service until 1989 when the 63rd Street Tunnel was partially completed.^[2]^[5]^[10]

When the 63rd Street Connector opened in 2001, a free out-of-system transfer to the Lexington Avenue / 59th Street station was added. This was to provide a transfer to the IRT Lexington Avenue Line for F train customers as such a connection had been provided at the Lexington Avenue – 53rd Street station along the previous routing of the F train.

Image gallery

Lower platform for trains leaving for Queens
Orange tiles of the station dating to the late 1980s
Elevator at Brooklyn-bound platform

References

^ "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.
^ ^a ^b Lorch, Donatella (October 29, 1989). "The 'Subway to Nowhere' Now Goes Somewhere". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
^ ^a ^b "Annual Subway Ridership (2018–2023)". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
^ "Facts and Figures: 2010 Annual Subway Ridership". New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved 2011-05-18.
^ ^a ^b Brennan, Joseph (2002). "Abandoned Stations: Lexington Ave (63 St) north side". Retrieved 2011-10-20.
^ Julia, Solis (2005). New York Underground: The Anatomy of a City. New York: Routledge. p. 93. ISBN 0415950139. Retrieved 2011-10-20.
^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGx0HlxYFKw The provision for the future 2nd Avenue Subway can be seen towards the left, at the 5:18 mark into the video.
^ "Despite Protests, Judge Allows Work on 63d St. Subway Station". The New York Times. May 18, 1976. Retrieved 2011-10-20.
^ Burks, Edward C. (September 24, 1976). "Coming: Light at End Of the 63d St. Tunnel". The New York Times. p. 29. Retrieved 2011-10-20.
^ "Construction Achievement Project of the Year Award". ASCE Metropolitan Section. Retrieved 2011-10-20.

External links

Media related to Lexington Avenue – 63rd Street (New York City Subway) at Wikimedia Commons

nycsubway.org – IND 6th Ave./63rd St. Line: Lexington Avenue–63rd Street
Station Reporter — F Train
Lexington Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View
63rd Street elevator from Google Maps Street View

[SASDEIS-DIVISION-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.

[nyt-1989-10-29-2] Lorch, Donatella (October 29, 1989). "The 'Subway to Nowhere' Now Goes Somewhere". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-09-26.

[riderref-3] "Annual Subway Ridership (2018–2023)". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2024.

[2010-rider-4] "Facts and Figures: 2010 Annual Subway Ridership". New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved 2011-05-18.

[brennan-5] Brennan, Joseph (2002). "Abandoned Stations: Lexington Ave (63 St) north side". Retrieved 2011-10-20.

[6] Julia, Solis (2005). New York Underground: The Anatomy of a City. New York: Routledge. p. 93. ISBN 0415950139. Retrieved 2011-10-20.

[7] ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGx0HlxYFKw The provision for the future 2nd Avenue Subway can be seen towards the left, at the 5:18 mark into the video.

[8] "Despite Protests, Judge Allows Work on 63d St. Subway Station". The New York Times. May 18, 1976. Retrieved 2011-10-20.

[9] Burks, Edward C. (September 24, 1976). "Coming: Light at End Of the 63d St. Tunnel". The New York Times. p. 29. Retrieved 2011-10-20.

[10] "Construction Achievement Project of the Year Award". ASCE Metropolitan Section. Retrieved 2011-10-20.

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@@ Line 39: / Line 39: @@
 East of this station on the BMT side, the planned track connections to the Second Avenue Subway curve slightly north. After the tracks end, the roadbed goes on for a few hundred feet.<ref name="brennan">{{cite web |url=http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/abandoned/lex63.html |title=Abandoned Stations: Lexington Ave (63 St) north side |first=Joseph |last=Brennan |year=2002 |accessdate=2011-10-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Julia |first=Solis |title=New York Underground: The Anatomy of a City |year=2005 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |isbn=0415950139 |page=93 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=EpdwcewZ2rgC&pg=PA93 |accessdate=2011-10-20}}</ref>
-East of this station on the IND side, the turnouts for a connection to Phase 3 of the [[Second Avenue Subway]] are clearly visible.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGx0HlxYFKw ''The provision for the future 2nd Avenue Subway can be seen towards the left, at the 5:18 mark into the video.''</ref>  Also to the east but below the IND 63rd Street Line, the unused lower level of the [[63rd Street Tunnel]] is intended for the [[Long Island Railroad|Long Island Railroad's]] [[East Side Access]] to [[Grand Central Terminal|Grand Central]]. It has not been used yet.
+East of this station on the IND side, the turnouts for a connection to Phase 3 of the [[Second Avenue Subway]] are clearly visible.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGx0HlxYFKw ''The provision for the future 2nd Avenue Subway can be seen towards the left, at the 5:18 mark into the video.''</ref>  Also to the east, the IND line becomes two-level for the trip through the [[63rd Street Tunnel]] under the [[East River]]. The subway uses the two tracks on the upper level. The two track lower level is being connected to the [[Long Island Rail Road]] via the [[East Side Access]] project. The ESA project will bring trains from the [[Main Line (Long Island Rail Road)|LIRR Main line]] to [[Grand Central Terminal]]. The lower level has not yet been used.
 == History ==