157th Street (IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line)

157th Street
New York City Subway rapid transit station

242nd Street-bound platform looking south
Station statistics
Address West 157th Street & Broadway
New York, NY 10032
Borough Manhattan
Locale Washington Heights
Coordinates 40°50′02″N 73°56′38″W / 40.834°N 73.944°W / 40.834; -73.944Coordinates: 40°50′02″N 73°56′38″W / 40.834°N 73.944°W / 40.834; -73.944
Division A (IRT)
Line IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line
Services       1  (all times)
Transit connections NYCT Bus: M4, M5, Bx6
Structure Underground
Platforms 2 side platforms
Tracks 2
Other information
Opened November 12, 1904 (1904-11-12)
Wireless service [1]
Traffic
Passengers (2015) 3,516,545[2] Increase 1%
Rank 145 out of 422
Station succession
Next north 168th Street: 1 
Next south 145th Street (local): 1 
96th Street (express): no regular service

157th Street is a station on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Broadway and 157th Street in the Manhattan neighborhood of Washington Heights, it is served by the 1 train at all times.

History

Track layout
Legend
to 168 St
to 145 St
Original station name mosaic

157th Street first opened, informally and incomplete, on October 29, 1904, as a temporary service to accommodate fans heading to the Yale–Columbia game.[3]

157th Street was formally opened on November 12, 1904. This station was the first to be added to the subway following its opening the previous October 27. The station's opening was delayed by two weeks because there was still painting and plastering work going on in the station.[4]

145th Street, the next station south, was the original terminal.[5][6] On its first day in service, the station was used to allow passengers to get to a football game at the Polo Grounds.[7] After this, 157th Street became the terminal for trains not going via the Lenox Avenue Line. The terminal of 157th Street had facilities for switching trains, relieving congestion at 96th Street. On March 12, 1906, the IRT was extended from 157th Street to 221st Street.[8] Shuttle trains served the new extension terminating at 157th Street, meaning that passengers south of 157th Street wanting to go to stations on the extension had to transfer at 157th Street.[9] On May 30, 1906, express trains began running through to 221st Street eliminating the need to transfer at this station.[10]

In 1948, platforms on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line from 103rd Street to 238th Street were lengthened to 514 feet to allow full ten-car express trains to platform. Previously the stations could only platform six car local trains. The platform extensions were opened in stages. On April 6, 1948, the stations from 103rd Street to Dyckman Street had their platform extensions opened, with the exception of the 125th Street, which had its opened on June 11, 1948.[11][12]

Station layout

G Street level Exit
P
Platform level		 Side platform, doors open on the right
Northbound ← toward Van Cortlandt Park–242nd Street (168th Street)
Southbound → toward South Ferry (145th Street) →
(No service: 96th Street)
Side platform, doors open on the right
Downtown entrances

This station has two tracks and two side platforms. The platforms contain their original trim line that includes "157" mosaics and name tablets reading "157TH ST." There are also directional signs on the tiles containing white lettering on a black background and brown border. Both platforms have tiled columns that run along the entire length and contain "157" painted in black. Some of the columns separating the two tracks have "157" signs in black letting on white borders.

Each platform, narrow by IRT standards, has one same-level fare control area near the middle. Both are fully staffed, containing a turnstile bank and token booth, and have two street stairs, the northbound side to the southeast corners of 157th Street and Broadway and the southbound side to either western corners of the aforementioned intersection. There are no crossovers or crossunders to allow free transfers between directions. Only the South Ferry-bound side token booth is staffed.

References

  1. ↑ "NYC Subway Wireless – Active Stations". Transit Wireless Wifi. Retrieved 2016-05-18.
  2. ↑ "Facts and Figures: Annual Subway Ridership". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
  3. ↑ Cudahy, Brian J. (1995-01-01). Under the Sidewalks of New York: The Story of the Greatest Subway System in the World. Fordham Univ Press. ISBN 9780823216185.
  4. ↑ Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide. F. W. Dodge Corporation. 1904-01-01.
  5. ↑ James Blaine Walker, Fifty Years of Rapid Transit, 1864-1917, published 1918, pp. 162-191
  6. ↑ "New York City subway opens - Oct 27, 1904". HISTORY.com. 1904-10-27. Retrieved 2015-10-25.
  7. ↑ "Subway On East Side Will Be Opened Soon: New Switching Station on West Side Nearly ready, too Football Trains On Today". New York Times. November 12, 1904. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  8. ↑ New York Times, Farthest North in Town by the Interborough, January 14, 1907, page 18
  9. ↑
  10. ↑ "Express to 221st Street: Will Run In the Subway To-day–New 181st Street Station Ready.". Retrieved 2016-09-01.
  11. ↑ Report for the three and one-half years ending June 30, 1949. New York City Board of Transportation. 1949.
  12. ↑ "MORE LONG PLATFORMS; Five Subway Stations on IRT to Accommodate 10-Car Trains". The New York Times. 1948-07-10. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-03-27.

External links

Ceramic cartouche with number "157"
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 157th Street (IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line).
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