23rd Street station (BMT Broadway Line)

23 Street
23 Street
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
	Northbound platform
Station statistics
Address	intersection of 23rd Street, Fifth Avenue & Broadway; New York, NY 10010
Borough	Manhattan
Locale	Flatiron District, Madison Square
Coordinates	40°44′29″N 73°59′21″W / 40.741339°N 73.989272°W
Division	B (BMT)
Line	BMT Broadway Line
Services	N (weekends and late nights); Q (late nights only); R (all except late nights); W (weekdays only)
Transit	NYCT Bus: M2, M3, M23 SBS, M55, X27, X28, SIM3, SIM6, SIM6X, SIM10, SIM31; MTA Bus: BM1, BM2, BM3, BM4, BM5
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	4
Other information
Opened	January 5, 1918 (106 years ago)
Opposite-; direction; transfer	No
Traffic
2023	4,260,867 16.9%
Rank	65 out of 423
Station succession
Next north	Template:NYCS next
Next south	Template:NYCS next
Location
Track layout
	Legend
Street map
Station service legend
Symbol	Description
	Stops all times except late nights
	Stops weekdays during the day
	Stops late nights and weekends
	Stops late nights only

23rd Street is a local station on the BMT Broadway Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of 23rd Street, Broadway, and Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District of Manhattan, it is served by the R train at all times except late nights, the W train on weekdays, the N train during late nights and weekends, and the Q train during late nights.

History

This station opened on January 5, 1918, as the BMT Broadway Line was extended north from 14th Street–Union Square to Times Square–42nd Street and south to Rector Street. Service at this station was provided by local services running between Times Square and Rector Street.^[2] Service was extended one station to Whitehall Street–South Ferry on September 20, 1918.^[5]^[6] On August 1, 1920, the Montague Street Tunnel opened, extending local service from Lower Manhattan to DeKalb Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn by traveling under the East River.^[7]^[8]

On January 3, 1999, a schizophrenic man, Andrew Goldstein, pushed 32-year-old journalist and photographer Kendra Webdale onto the tracks from the Brooklyn-bound platform of this station. Webdale was then struck and killed by an oncoming N train.^[9] After two mistrials due to his mental incapacity, Goldstein pleaded guilty of manslaughter in October 2006 and sentenced to 23 years in prison.^[10] The incident led to the passing of Kendra's Law, which allows judges to order people suffering from certain psychological disorders to undergo regular treatment.^[11]^[12]

Station layout

Ground	Street level	Exit/entrance
Platform level	Side platform
	Northbound local	← toward Forest Hills–71st Avenue (28th Street) ← toward Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard weekdays (28th Street) ← toward Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard late nights/weekends (28th Street) ← toward 96th Street late nights (28th Street)
	Northbound express	← do not stop here
	Southbound express	→ do not stop here →
	Southbound local	← toward Bay Ridge–95th Street (14th Street–Union Square) → ← toward Whitehall Street–South Ferry weekdays (14th Street–Union Square) → ← toward Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue via Sea Beach late nights/weekends (14th Street–Union Square) → ← toward Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue via Brighton late nights (14th Street–Union Square)
	Side platform

This underground station has four tracks and two side platforms. The two center tracks are used by the N train on weekdays and Q train at all times except late nights. The platforms have their original trim line, which has "23" tablets on it at regular intervals, and name tablets, which read "23RD STREET" in Times New Roman font.

This station's 1970s overhaul included fixing its structure and the overall appearance by replacing the original wall tiles, old signs, and incandescent lighting to the 1970s modern look wall tile band and tablet mosaics, signs and fluorescent lights. It also included fixing staircases and platform edges. In 2001, the station received a major refurbishment, including upgrading the station for ADA compliance, restoring the original late 1910s tiling, repairing the staircases, re-tiling 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 2002 artwork here is called Memories of Twenty-Third Street by Keith Godard. The platform walls feature mosaics depicting hats that famous people of the Flatiron District wore, including Oscar Wilde, Sarah Bernhardt, and W. E. B. Du Bois.^[13]

Exits

Each platform has two same-level fare control areas. The primary ones are at the north ends of the platforms. The Queens-bound platform has a bank of regular and high exit-only turnstiles, the station's full-time token booth, and four street stairs. Two go up to the northeastern corner of Broadway and 23rd Street (outside Madison Square Park) and the other two go to the southeast. The Brooklyn-bound platform has a bank of regular and high exit-only turnstiles, a now defunct customer assistance booth, and two street stairs. One is connected to fare control via a passageway and goes up to the southeastern corner of 23rd Street and Fifth Avenue outside the Flatiron Building, while the other goes up to the northeastern corner of Broadway and Fifth Avenue, near a mid-block pedestrian crossing.^[14]

The station's other two fare control areas are at the south end of the station. The one on the Manhattan-bound platform is unstaffed, containing High Entry-Exit Turnstiles and one staircase going up to the northeastern corner of 22nd Street and Broadway. The turnstile on the Brooklyn-bound platform is exit-only and has one staircase to the northwest corner of 22nd Street and Broadway.^[14] There is a crossunder here that was closed in the 1990s and is now only used for station facilities.

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 "Open New Subway to Times Square" (PDF). The New York Times. January 6, 1918. p. 3. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
^ ^a ^b "Annual Subway Ridership (2018–2023)". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
^ "Annual Subway Ridership (2018–2023)". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
^ District, New York (State) Public Service Commission First (January 1, 1919). Report of the Public Service Commission for the First District of the State of New York. J.B. Lyon Company.
^ Legislative Documents. J.B. Lyon Company. January 1, 1920.
^ "New B.R.T. lines open" (PDF). The New York Times. August 2, 1920. p. 17. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
^ "Broadway - Fifty-Ninth Street Extension of B.R.T. Subway, Opened to Queensboro Plaza, L.I. City" (PDF). The New York Times. August 1, 1920. p. R-92. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
^ Waldman, Amy (January 4, 1999). "Woman Killed in a Subway Station Attack". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
^ Hartocollis, Anemona (October 11, 2006). "Nearly 8 Years Later, Guilty Plea in Subway Killing". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
^ Schapiro, Rich (December 5, 2012). "Horrifying subway homicide causes parents to relive daughter's death". NY Daily News. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
^ Watkins, Ali (September 11, 2018). "A Horrific Crime on the Subway Led to Kendra's Law. Years Later, Has It Helped?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
^ "23rd Street - Keith Godard - Memories of Twenty-Third Street, 2002". web.mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Archived from the original on August 31, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
^ ^a ^b "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Union Square / Gramercy" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2015. Retrieved August 6, 2015.

External links

nycsubway.org – BMT Broadway Subway: 23rd Street
Station Reporter — N Train
Station Reporter — R Train
MTA's Arts For Transit — 23rd Street (BMT Broadway Line)
Fifth Avenue and 23rd Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
Broadway and 23rd Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
Broadway and 22nd Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
Platforms 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.

[42nd-2] "Open New Subway to Times Square" (PDF). The New York Times. January 6, 1918. p. 3. Retrieved November 5, 2016.

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

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

[5] District, New York (State) Public Service Commission First (January 1, 1919). Report of the Public Service Commission for the First District of the State of New York. J.B. Lyon Company.

[:0-6] Legislative Documents. J.B. Lyon Company. January 1, 1920.

[7] "New B.R.T. lines open" (PDF). The New York Times. August 2, 1920. p. 17. Retrieved November 5, 2016.

[8] "Broadway - Fifty-Ninth Street Extension of B.R.T. Subway, Opened to Queensboro Plaza, L.I. City" (PDF). The New York Times. August 1, 1920. p. R-92. Retrieved August 31, 2020.

[9] Waldman, Amy (January 4, 1999). "Woman Killed in a Subway Station Attack". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 31, 2020.

[10] Hartocollis, Anemona (October 11, 2006). "Nearly 8 Years Later, Guilty Plea in Subway Killing". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 31, 2020.

[Schapiro_2012-11] Schapiro, Rich (December 5, 2012). "Horrifying subway homicide causes parents to relive daughter's death". NY Daily News. Retrieved October 27, 2015.

[12] Watkins, Ali (September 11, 2018). "A Horrific Crime on the Subway Led to Kendra's Law. Years Later, Has It Helped?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 31, 2020.

[13] "23rd Street - Keith Godard - Memories of Twenty-Third Street, 2002". web.mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Archived from the original on August 31, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2020.

[maps-14] "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Union Square / Gramercy" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2015. Retrieved August 6, 2015.

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v t e Stations of the New York City Subway, by service
Broadway Express	Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard Astoria Boulevard 30th Avenue Broadway 36th Avenue 39th Avenue Queensboro Plaza Lexington Avenue–59th Street Fifth Avenue–59th Street 57th Street–Seventh Avenue 49th Street Times Square–42nd Street 34th Street–Herald Square 28th Street* 23rd Street* 14th Street–Union Square Eighth Street–New York University* Prince Street* Canal Street City Hall* Cortlandt Street* Rector Street* Whitehall Street–South Ferry* Court Street* Jay Street–MetroTech* DeKalb Avenue Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center Union Street* Ninth Street* Prospect Avenue* 25th Street* 36th Street 45th Street* 53rd Street* 59th Street Eighth Avenue Fort Hamilton Parkway New Utrecht Avenue 18th Avenue 20th Avenue Bay Parkway Kings Highway Avenue U 86th Street Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue
Broadway Local	Forest Hills–71st Avenue 67th Avenue 63rd Drive–Rego Park Woodhaven Boulevard Grand Avenue–Newtown Elmhurst Avenue Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue 65th Street Northern Boulevard 46th Street Steinway Street 36th Street Queens Plaza Lexington Avenue–59th Street Fifth Avenue–59th Street 57th Street–Seventh Avenue 49th Street Times Square–42nd Street 34th Street–Herald Square 28th Street 23rd Street 14th Street–Union Square Eighth Street–New York University Prince Street Canal Street City Hall Cortlandt Street Rector Street Whitehall Street–South Ferry Court Street Jay Street–MetroTech DeKalb Avenue Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center Union Street Ninth Street Prospect Avenue 25th Street 36th Street 45th Street 53rd Street 59th Street Bay Ridge Avenue 77th Street 86th Street Bay Ridge–95th Street
Broadway Local	Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard Astoria Boulevard 30th Avenue Broadway 36th Avenue 39th Avenue Queensboro Plaza Lexington Avenue–59th Street Fifth Avenue–59th Street 57th Street–Seventh Avenue 49th Street Times Square–42nd Street 34th Street–Herald Square 28th Street 23rd Street 14th Street–Union Square Eighth Street–New York University Prince Street Canal Street City Hall Cortlandt Street Rector Street Whitehall Street–South Ferry
See also Lists by borough (The Bronx Brooklyn Manhattan Queens) Accessible Closed Terminals Transfer Commons category Note: Service variations, station closures, and reroutes are not reflected here. Stations with asterisks have no regular peak, reverse peak, or midday service on that route. See linked articles for more information.