23rd Street station (BMT Broadway Line)

For other uses, see 23rd Street.

23 Street   ​
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Southbound platform with arriving W train
Station statistics
Address	23rd Street, Fifth Avenue & Broadway New York, New York
Borough	Manhattan
Locale	Flatiron District, Madison Square
Coordinates	40°44′29″N73°59′21″W / 40.741339°N 73.989272°W / 40.741339; -73.989272
Division	B (BMT) [1]
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: M1, 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) (1918-01-05) [2]
Opposite- direction transfer	No
Traffic
2023	4,260,867 [3]   16.9%
Rank	65 out of 423 [3]
Services Preceding station New York City Subway Following station 28th Street N   ​ Q   ​ R   ​ W   via Lexington Avenue–59th Street Local 14th Street–Union Square N   ​ Q   ​ R   ​ W   via Whitehall Street–South Ferry
Location Show map of New York City Subway Show map of New York City Show map of New York
Track layout Legend to 28th Street to 14th St–Union Square
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

The 23rd Street station 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

Construction and opening

Mosaic name tablet

Detail of mosaic frieze

The New York Public Service Commission adopted plans for what was known as the Broadway–Lexington Avenue route on December 31, 1907. This route began at the Battery and ran under Greenwich Street, Vesey Street, Broadway to Ninth Street, private property to Irving Place, and Irving Place and Lexington Avenue to the Harlem River. After crossing under the Harlem River into the Bronx, the route split at Park Avenue and 138th Street, with one branch continuing north to and along Jerome Avenue to Woodlawn Cemetery, and the other heading east and northeast along 138th Street, Southern Boulevard, and Westchester Avenue to Pelham Bay Park. In early 1908, the Tri-borough plan was formed, combining this route, the under-construction Centre Street Loop Subway in Manhattan and Fourth Avenue Subway in Brooklyn, a Canal Street subway from the Fourth Avenue Subway via the Manhattan Bridge to the Hudson River, and several other lines in Brooklyn. ^{[4] [5]}

The Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company submitted a proposal to the commission, dated March 2, 1911, to operate the Tri-borough system (but under Church Street instead of Greenwich Street), as well as a branch along Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 59th Street from Ninth Street north and east to the Queensboro Bridge; the Canal Street subway was to merge with the Broadway Line instead of continuing to the Hudson River. The city, the BRT, and the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (which operated the first subway and four elevated lines in Manhattan) came to an agreement, and sent a report to the New York City Board of Estimate on June 5, 1911. The line along Broadway to 59th Street was assigned to the BRT, while the IRT obtained the Lexington Avenue line, connecting with its existing route at Grand Central–42nd Street. Construction began on Lexington Avenue on July 31, and on Broadway the next year. The Dual Contracts, two operating contracts between the city and the BMT and IRT, were adopted on March 4, 1913. ^[6]

A short portion of the line, coming off the north side of the Manhattan Bridge through Canal Street to 14th Street–Union Square, opened on September 4, 1917, at 2 P.M., with an eight car train carrying members of the Public Service Commission, representatives of the city government and officials of the BRT, leaving Union Square toward Coney Island. Service opened to the general public at 8 P.M., with trains leaving Union Square and Coney Island simultaneously. ^[7] The line was served by two services. One route ran via the Fourth Avenue Line and the Sea Beach Line to Coney Island, while the other line, the short line, ran to Ninth Avenue, where passengers could transfer for West End and Culver Line service. The initial headway on the line was three minutes during rush hours, three minutes and forty-five seconds at other times, except during late nights when service ran every fifteen minutes. ^[8]

23rd Street 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. ^{[9] [10]} 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. ^{[11] [12]}

Later years

View of the station in 1999, before its 2001 renovation

The station's platforms originally could only fit six 67-foot-long (20 m) cars. In 1926, the New York City Board of Transportation received bids for the lengthening of platforms at nine stations on the Broadway Line, including the 23rd Street station, to accommodate eight-car trains. Edwards & Flood submitted a low bid of $101,775 for the project. ^[13] The platform-lengthening project was completed in 1927, bringing the length of the platforms to 535 feet (163 m). ^{[14] [15]}

The city government took over the BMT's operations on June 1, 1940. ^{[16] [17]} The station was renovated in the 1970s to accommodate ten-car trains. As part of the renovation, the original wall tiles, old signs, and incandescent lighting were covered by modern-look wall tile band and tablet mosaics, and new signs and fluorescent lights were installed. Staircases and platform edges were also renovated.

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. ^[18] After two mistrials due to his mental incapacity, Goldstein pleaded guilty of manslaughter in October 2006 and sentenced to 23 years in prison. ^[19] 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. ^{[20] [21]}

In 2001, the station received a major refurbishment, including installing ADA yellow safety treads along the platform edges, restoring the original tiling, repairing the staircases, installing new tiling on the floors, new signage and upgrading the station's lighting and installing a public address system.

Station layout

Downtown station entrance

View of station artwork

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 serif font.

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. ^[22]

23rd St subway cross-section

8th Av		7th Av		6th Av				5th Av & Broadway			Park Av
A / C / E		1 / 2 / 3		FM↓	PATH	FM↑		N / Q / R / W			6 / <6>
underpass				underpass

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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 northwestern corner of Broadway and Fifth Avenue, near a mid-block pedestrian crossing. ^[23]

The station's other two fare control areas are at the south end of the station. The one on the Queens-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. ^[23] There is a crossunder here that was closed in the 1990s and is now only used for station facilities.

References

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. "Open New Subway to Times Square". The New York Times. January 6, 1918. p. 3. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
3. "Annual Subway Ridership (2018–2023)". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
4. James Blaine Walker, Fifty Years of Rapid Transit, 1864–1917, published 1918, pp. 207-223
5. Engineering News, A New Subway Line for New York City, Volume 63, No. 10, March 10, 1910
6. James Blaine Walker, Fifty Years of Rapid Transit, 1864–1917, published 1918, pp. 224-241
7. "Broadway Subway Opened To Coney By Special Train. Brooklynites Try New Manhattan Link From Canal St. to Union Square. Go Via Fourth Ave. Tube". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. September 4, 1917. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
8. "Open First Section Of Broadway Line; Train Carrying 1,000 Passengers Runs from Fourteenth Street to Coney Island. Regular Service Begins. New Road Is Expected to Relieve Old System of 15,000 PersonsDaily in Rush Hours. Service Commissioners Jubliant. Schedule Not Fully Arranged". The New York Times. September 5, 1917. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved November 5, 2016.
9. District, New York State Public Service Commission First (1919). Report of the Public Service Commission for the First District of the State of New York For The Year Ending December 31, 1918 Vol. I. New York State Legislature.
10. Legislative Documents. J.B. Lyon Company. January 1, 1920.
11. "New B.R.T. lines open". The New York Times. August 2, 1920. p. 17. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
12. "Broadway - Fifty-Ninth Street Extension of B.R.T. Subway, Opened to Queensboro Plaza, L.I. City". The New York Times. August 1, 1920. p. R-92. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
13. "Bids for B.M.T. Stations; Platforms South of Fourteenth Street to Be Lengthened". The New York Times. July 8, 1926. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved April 28, 2023.
14. "B.M.T. to Operate Eight-car Trains; Platforms in Forty Stations Are Lengthened, Increasing Capacity 33 1-3%". The New York Times. August 2, 1927. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved May 12, 2023.
15. "B. M, T. Station Lengthening Is Nearly Finished: 76 Platforms Are Extended 3,186 Feet to Make Room for 126.000 Additional Passengers in Rush Hours City Carried Out Work I.R.T. Changes Planned, but That Company Refuses to Pay Its Share of Costs". New-York Tribune. August 2, 1927. p. 32. ISSN   1941-0646. ProQuest   1113704092.
16. "B.M.T. Lines Pass to City Ownership; $175,000,000 Deal Completed at City Hall Ceremony-- Mayor 'Motorman No. 1'". The New York Times. June 2, 1940. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 19, 2021. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
17. "City Takes Over B. M. T. System; Mayor Skippers Midnight Train". New York Herald Tribune. June 2, 1940. p. 1. ProQuest   1243059209.
18. Waldman, Amy (January 4, 1999). "Woman Killed in a Subway Station Attack". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved August 31, 2020.
19. 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.
20. Schapiro, Rich (December 5, 2012). "Horrifying subway homicide causes parents to relive daughter's death". NY Daily News. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
21. 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.
22. "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.
23. "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 (in front of Flatiron Building) from Google Maps Street View
• 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