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138th Street–Grand Concourse station

Coordinates: 40°48′47″N 73°55′48″W / 40.81303°N 73.929963°W / 40.81303; -73.929963
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 138 Street–Grand Concourse
 "4" train​"5" train
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Northbound station platform
Station statistics
AddressEast 138th Street & Grand Concourse
Bronx, New York
BoroughThe Bronx
LocaleMott Haven
Coordinates40°48′47″N 73°55′48″W / 40.81303°N 73.929963°W / 40.81303; -73.929963
DivisionA (IRT)[1]
LineIRT Jerome Avenue Line
Services   4 all except rush hours, peak direction (all except rush hours, peak direction)
​   5 all except late nights (all except late nights)
TransitBus transport NYCT Bus: Bx1, Bx33
StructureUnderground
Platforms2 side platforms
Tracks3
Other information
OpenedJuly 17, 1918; 106 years ago (1918-07-17)
Opposite-
direction
transfer		Yes
Former/other namesMott Haven Avenue
Traffic
2023785,271[2] Increase 2.4%
Rank336 out of 423[2]
Services
Preceding station New York City Subway New York City Subway Following station
149th Street–Grand Concourse
4 all except rush hours, peak direction
toward Woodlawn
 125th Street
4 all except rush hours, peak direction ​5 all except late nights
via Franklin Avenue–Medgar Evers College
149th Street–Grand Concourse
5 all except late nights
toward Eastchester–Dyre Avenue
Local
Location
138th Street–Grand Concourse station is located in New York City Subway
138th Street–Grand Concourse station
138th Street–Grand Concourse station is located in New York City
138th Street–Grand Concourse station
138th Street–Grand Concourse station is located in New York
138th Street–Grand Concourse station
Track layout

Legend
to 149th St–GC (Jerome)
to 149th St–GC (White Plains)
to 125th Street
Street map

Map

Station service legend
Symbol Description
Stops all times except late nights Stops all times except late nights
Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction

The 138th Street–Grand Concourse station, also signed as 138th Street–Mott Haven or simply as Mott Haven on station signage, is a local station on the IRT Jerome Avenue Line of the New York City Subway, located at the T-intersection of East 138th Street and the Grand Concourse in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the Bronx. It is served by the 4 train at all times except during rush hours in the peak direction, and the 5 train at all times except late nights.

History

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The Mott Haven Avenue "MH" Mosaics along one of the platforms.

The station opened on July 17, 1918, as Mott Haven Avenue station, as a southbound extension of the Jerome Avenue Line into the Upper East Side extension of the IRT Lexington Avenue Line. As such, it is the newest station on the line. The segment north of Kingsbridge Road to Woodlawn opened three months earlier.[3] The city government took over the IRT's operations on June 12, 1940.[4][5] The station was built with tablets displaying "Mott Haven" and others displaying "138th Street–Mott Haven." The ones with "138th Street" were painted over with text reading "138th Street–Grand Concourse", but all were eventually covered with black plates reading "138 Street" in white Standard (Akzidenz-Grotesk) lettering.[6] During the station's renovation in the late 2010s, most of the tablets were restored.

In 1956, the New York City Transit Authority announced plans to add fluorescent lighting to the station. The fluorescent lights were installed along the edges of the station's platforms.[7]

The walls of both platforms retain their original mosaic trim line with "MH" tablets on it – a relic of the station's former name. The platforms were extended at both ends in the 1950s; the design of these platform extensions are in contrast from the original portions, as they have a blue trim with "138TH ST" in white lettering. Blue i-beam columns run along both platforms at regular intervals with alternating ones having the standard black number plates in white lettering.[6]

Until 1972, the station had a connection to the New York Central Railroad's 138th Street Station, which served trains on the railroad's Harlem and Hudson Divisions.[8][9]

Mosaics and signage at 138th Street-Mott Haven

In 2011, the advocacy group Transportation Alternatives took a poll of subway riders to vote for the smelliest subway station in the system, as part of its "rank the stank" contest. This station was ranked the smelliest of four nominated stations, receiving 35% of the votes.[10]

From November 18, 2019, to March 30, 2020, the northbound platform was temporarily closed for renovations.[11] From April 27, 2020, to July 27, 2020, the southbound platform was temporarily closed for renovations.[12]

Station layout

[edit]
Ground Street level Exit/entrance
Mezzanine Fare control, station agent
Platform level Side platform
Northbound local ← "4" train toward Woodlawn (149th Street–Grand Concourse)
← "5" train toward Eastchester–Dyre Avenue or Nereid Avenue (149th Street–Grand Concourse)
Peak-direction express ← "4" train PM rush does not stop here
← "4" train AM rush does not stop here →
Southbound local → "4" train toward Crown Heights–Utica Avenue (New Lots Avenue late nights) (125th Street) →
→ "5" train toward Flatbush Avenue–Brooklyn College weekdays, Bowling Green evenings/weekends (125th Street) →
Side platform

The 138th Street–Grand Concourse station has two side platforms and three tracks, and is one of only two on the IRT Jerome Avenue Line to be built underground.[13] The 4 train skips this station during rush hours in the peak direction.[14] It is the southernmost station on the IRT Jerome Avenue Line. To the south, the line crosses the Harlem River to the next stop, the 125th Street station in East Harlem, Manhattan. The three tracks merge into two and then merge with the IRT Pelham Line to form the four-track IRT Lexington Avenue Line.[13] To the north, the local tracks split into two: an inner set that continues north to the Jerome Avenue Line's 149th Street–Grand Concourse station, and an outer set that descends to a lower level and makes a sharp turn to merge with the IRT White Plains Road Line directly west of that line's 149th Street–Grand Concourse station. The 5 train uses these tracks during daytime hours.[13]

Both platform walls have their original mosaic trim line with "MH" tablets on it, a relic of Mott Haven Avenue, the former name of the station. At either ends of the platform, where they were extended in the 1950s, the walls have a blue trim with "138TH ST" in white lettering. Blue i-beam columns run along both platforms at regular intervals with alternating ones having the standard black number plates in white lettering.

The station was built with tablets displaying "Mott Haven" and others displaying "138th Street–Mott Haven." The ones with "138th Street" were painted over with text reading "138th Street–Grand Concourse", but all were eventually covered with black plates reading "138 Street" in white Standard (Akzidenz-Grotesk) lettering.[6] During the station's renovation in the late 2010s, most of the tablets were restored.

Until 1972, the station had a connection to the 138th Street Station which served both the Harlem and Hudson Divisions of the New York Central Railroad.[15][16]

Exits

[edit]

This station has one mezzanine above the center of the platforms and tracks. Two staircases from each platform go up to a waiting area/crossover, where a turnstile bank provides access to and from the station. Outside fare control, there is a token booth and two staircases going up to the northern corners of East 138th Street and the Grand Concourse. The mezzanine has its original "Uptown Trains" and "Downtown Trains" mosaic tablets and trim line.[17]

References

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  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.
  2. ^ a b "Annual Subway Ridership (2018–2023)". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
  3. ^ "Jerome Av. Line Ordered Opened" (PDF). The New York Times. April 13, 1918. p. 15. Retrieved June 5, 2016.
  4. ^ "City Transit Unity Is Now a Reality; Title to I.R.T. Lines Passes to Municipality, Ending 19-Year Campaign". The New York Times. June 13, 1940. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on January 7, 2022. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  5. ^ "Transit Unification Completed As City Takes Over I. R. T. Lines: Systems Come Under Single Control After Efforts Begun in 1921; Mayor Is Jubilant at City Hall Ceremony Recalling 1904 Celebration". New York Herald Tribune. June 13, 1940. p. 25. ProQuest 1248134780.
  6. ^ a b c Walsh, Kevin (November 23, 2019). "138th Street Station, Mott Haven". Forgotten New York. Archived from the original on April 24, 2020. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  7. ^ Katz, Ralph (January 27, 1956). "Subway Stations to Get New Lights; $3,750,000 to Be Spent on Fluorescents for I.R.T. and B.M.T. Transfer Points". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  8. ^ "Hagstrom's Street Map of The Bronx". warofyesterday.blogspot.com. 1943. Archived from the original on January 10, 2017.
  9. ^ "Hagstrom's Map of Westchester County, New York; 1943 (Greater New York Roads)". Archived from the original on April 29, 2014. Retrieved April 28, 2014.
  10. ^ Murphy, Michael (August 26, 2011). "138th Street – Grand Concourse Voted the Smelliest Subway Station in New York City". Transport Alternatives. Archived from the original on April 24, 2020. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  11. ^ "Uptown 4/5 trains skip 138 St-Grand Concourse". mta.info. Archived from the original on March 31, 2020. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  12. ^ "Downtown 4/5 trains skip 138 St-Grand Concourse". mta.info. March 31, 2020. Archived from the original on March 31, 2020. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  13. ^ a b c Dougherty, Peter (2020). Tracks of the New York City Subway 2020 (16th ed.). Dougherty. OCLC 1056711733.
  14. ^ "Subway Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. September 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
  15. ^ "Hagstrom's Street Map of The Bronx". warofyesterday.blogspot.com. 1943. Archived from the original on January 10, 2017.
  16. ^ "Hagstrom's Map of Westchester County, New York; 1943 (Greater New York Roads)". Archived from the original on April 29, 2014. Retrieved April 28, 2014.
  17. ^ "138th Street–Grand Concourse Neighborhood Map" (PDF). new.mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. April 2018. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
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