116th Street station (IRT Lenox Avenue Line)

Coordinates: 40°48′07″N 73°57′00″W / 40.802°N 73.95°W / 40.802; -73.95
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other uses, see 116th Street.

 116 Street
 
M102, M116
StructureUnderground
Platforms2 side platforms
Tracks2
Other information
OpenedNovember 23, 1904; 120 years ago (1904-11-23)
Opposite-
direction
transfer		No
Traffic
20232,014,762[2] Increase 5.2%
Rank166 out of 423[2]
Services
Preceding station New York City Subway New York City Subway Following station
125th Street
via 135th Street
Franklin Avenue–Medgar Evers College
Location
116th Street station (IRT Lenox Avenue Line) is located in New York City Subway
116th Street station (IRT Lenox Avenue Line)
116th Street station (IRT Lenox Avenue Line) is located in New York City
116th Street station (IRT Lenox Avenue Line)
116th Street station (IRT Lenox Avenue Line) is located in New York
116th Street station (IRT Lenox Avenue Line)
Track layout

Legend
to 125th Street
to Central Park North–110th Street
Street map

Map

Station service legend
Symbol Description
Stops all times Stops all times

The 116th Street station is a

Lenox Avenue in Harlem, it is served by the 2 and 3
trains at all times.

The 116th Street station was constructed for the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) as part of the city's first subway line, which was approved in 1900. Construction on the tunnel segment that includes the 116th Street station started on October 2 of the same year. The station opened on November 23, 1904. The station platforms were lengthened in 1910.

The 116th Street station contains two

fare control
.

History

Construction and opening

Planning for a subway line in New York City dates to 1864.[3]: 21  However, development of what would become the city's first subway line did not start until 1894, when the New York State Legislature passed the Rapid Transit Act.[3]: 139–140  The subway plans were drawn up by a team of engineers led by William Barclay Parsons, the Rapid Transit Commission's chief engineer. It called for a subway line from New York City Hall in lower Manhattan to the Upper West Side, where two branches would lead north into the Bronx.[4]: 3  A plan was formally adopted in 1897, and legal challenges were resolved near the end of 1899.[3]: 148  The Rapid Transit Construction Company, organized by John B. McDonald and funded by August Belmont Jr., signed the initial Contract 1 with the Rapid Transit Commission in February 1900,[5] in which it would construct the subway and maintain a 50-year operating lease from the opening of the line.[3]: 165  In 1901, the firm of Heins & LaFarge was hired to design the underground stations.[4]: 4  Belmont incorporated the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) in April 1902 to operate the subway.[3]: 182 

The 116th Street station was constructed as part of the IRT's East Side Branch (now the Lenox Avenue Line). Farrell & Hopper began building the section from 110th Street to 135th Street on August 30, 1900, subcontracting the section north of 116th Street to John C. Rodgers.[5][6]: 252  The excavation was relatively easy because the subway was under one side of Lenox Avenue and there were no street railway tracks to work around.[6]: 252–253 

On November 23, 1904, the East Side Branch opened to

180th Street).[9] Express trains to 145th Street were eliminated in 1906, and West Farms express trains operated through to Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn.[10]

Service changes and station renovations

To address overcrowding, in 1909, the New York Public Service Commission proposed lengthening the platforms at stations along the original IRT subway.[11]: 168  As part of a modification to the IRT's construction contracts made on January 18, 1910, the company was to lengthen station platforms to accommodate ten-car express and six-car local trains. In addition to $1.5 million (equivalent to $50.6 million in 2024) spent on platform lengthening, $500,000 (equivalent to $16.9 million in 2024) was spent on building additional entrances and exits. It was anticipated that these improvements would increase capacity by 25 percent.[12]: 15  The platforms at the 116th Street station were extended 55 feet (17 m) to both the north and south.[12]: 112  On January 23, 1911, ten-car express trains began running on the East Side Branch.[11]: 168 [13]

Southbound street stair

In 1918, the

Clark Street Tunnel to Brooklyn.[14]

The city government took over the IRT's operations on June 12, 1940.

rollsigns with numbered designations for each service. The first such fleet, the R12, was put into service in 1948.[17] The route to White Plains Road, formerly the route to West Farms, became known as the 2, while the route to Lenox Avenue–145th Street became the 3.[18] The New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) announced plans in 1956 to add fluorescent lights above the edges of the station's platforms.[19] In 1959, all 2 and 3 trains became express.[20]

Starting on March 2, 1998, the tunnel was reconstructed along with the cracked tunnel floor, and the 116th Street station was closed for a complete renovation. This was done to correct a major water problem that had existed for many years due to the presence of the Harlem Creek and other

137th Street–City College station on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line. Each of the two Lenox Avenue Line tracks were alternately taken out of service and supplemental shuttle bus service connecting to other lines in the area were provided for much of this time.[24][25]

Station layout

Ground Street level Exit/entrance
Platform level Side platform
Northbound ← "2" train toward Wakefield–241st Street (125th Street)
← "3" train toward Harlem–148th Street (125th Street)
Southbound "2" train toward Flatbush Avenue–Brooklyn College (Central Park North–110th Street) →
"3" train toward New Lots Avenue (34th Street–Penn Station late nights) (Central Park North–110th Street) →
Side platform

The station has two tracks and two

Fare control
is at platform level. There are no crossovers or crossunders between the two side platforms to allow free transfer between directions.

Design

As with other stations built as part of the original IRT, the station was constructed using a

cut-and-cover method.[6]: 237  The tunnel is covered by a U-shaped trough that contains utility pipes and wires. The bottom of this trough contains a foundation of concrete no less than 4 inches (100 mm) thick.[30]: 9  The platforms consist of 3-inch-thick (7.6 cm) concrete slabs, beneath which are drainage basins. The original platforms contain circular, cast-iron Doric-style columns spaced every 15 feet (4.6 m), while the platform extensions contain I-beam columns. Additional columns between the tracks, spaced every 5 feet (1.5 m), support the jack-arched concrete station roofs.[4]: 4 [30]: 9  There is a 1-inch (25 mm) gap between the trough wall and the platform walls, which are made of 4-inch (100 mm)-thick brick covered over by a tiled finish.[30]
: 9 

The original decorative scheme consisted of blue tile station-name tablets, buff tile bands, a light blue terracotta cornice, and dark blue terracotta plaques.[30]: 41  The mosaic tiles at all original IRT stations were manufactured by the American Encaustic Tile Company, which subcontracted the installations at each station.[30]: 31  The decorative work was performed by tile contractor Manhattan Glass Tile Company and terracotta contractor Atlantic Terra Cotta Company.[30]: 41  It features extensive mosaics featuring Harlem history and famous African-Americans. It was fully renovated as part of the 1998 Lenox Avenue subway reconstruction project. The reconstruction project gave this station all new wall tiling and restored the "116" terra cotta wall cartouches.

The artworks here are Minton's Playhouse on the uptown platform, and Movers and Shakers on the downtown platform (both by Vincent Smith, 1999).[31]

Exits

Two staircases from each platform lead to the intersection of Lenox Avenue and West 116th Street. The staircases from the southbound platform lead to the western corners, while those from the northbound platform lead to the eastern corners.[32]

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. ^ a b "Annual Subway Ridership (2018–2023)". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e Walker, James Blaine (1918). Fifty Years of Rapid Transit — 1864 to 1917. New York, N.Y.: Law Printing. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d "Interborough Rapid Transit System, Underground Interior" (PDF). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. October 23, 1979. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 21, 2020. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
  5. ^ a b Report of the Board of Rapid Transit Railroad Commissioners for the City of New York For The Year Ending December 31, 1904 Accompanied By Reports of the Chief Engineer and of the Auditor. Board of Rapid Transit Railroad Commissioners. 1905. pp. 229–236.
  6. ^ a b c Scott, Charles (1978). "Design and Construction of the IRT: Civil Engineering" (PDF). Historic American Engineering Record. pp. 208–282 (PDF pp. 209–283). Archived (PDF) from the original on January 17, 2021. Retrieved December 20, 2020. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  7. ^ Report of the Public Service Commission For The First District of the State of New York For The Year Ending December 31, 1909. Albany: Public Service Commission. 1910. p. 191. Archived from the original on February 5, 2023. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  8. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived
    (PDF) from the original on January 23, 2022. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
  9. ^ The Merchants' Association of New York Pocket Guide to New York. Merchants' Association of New York. March 1906. pp. 19–26.
  10. ^ Brooklyn Daily Eagle Almanac. Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 1916. p. 119. Archived from the original on May 11, 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  11. ^ a b Hood, Clifton (1978). "The Impact of the IRT in New York City" (PDF). Historic American Engineering Record. pp. 146–207 (PDF pp. 147–208). Archived (PDF) from the original on January 17, 2021. Retrieved December 20, 2020. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  12. ^ a b Report of the Public Service Commission for the First District of the State of New York For The Year Ending December 31, 1910. Public Service Commission. 1911. Archived from the original on February 5, 2023. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  13. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived
    from the original on April 5, 2018. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
  14. ^ "Open New Subway Lines to Traffic; Called a Triumph — Great H System Put in Operation Marks an Era in Railroad Construction — No Hitch in the Plans — But Public Gropes Blindly to Find the Way in Maze of New Stations — Thousands Go Astray — Leaders in City's Life Hail Accomplishment of Great Task at Meeting at the Astor". The New York Times. August 2, 1918. p. 1. Archived from the original on January 6, 2021. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  15. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived
    from the original on January 7, 2022. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  16. ^ "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.
  17. ^ Brown, Nicole (May 17, 2019). "How did the MTA subway lines get their letter or number? NYCurious". amNewYork. Archived from the original on March 2, 2021. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
  18. ^ Friedlander, Alex; Lonto, Arthur; Raudenbush, Henry (April 1960). "A Summary of Services on the IRT Division, NYCTA" (PDF). New York Division Bulletin. 3 (1). Electric Railroaders' Association: 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 14, 2020. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
  19. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived
    from the original on May 11, 2023. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  20. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived
    from the original on January 1, 2018. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  21. ^ a b "New York City Transit - History and Chronology". mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Archived from the original on March 24, 2020. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  22. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived
    from the original on March 28, 2020. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  23. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived
    from the original on March 28, 2020. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  24. ^ Newman, Andy (December 12, 1997). "Repairs to Lenox Ave. Tunnel To Affect Many Subway Lines". The New York Times. p. B-8. Archived from the original on March 28, 2020. Retrieved July 31, 2013.
  25. ^ "Lenox Rehab '98 2 3 Lenox Line Service Guide March 2-October 1998". thejoekorner.com. New York City Transit. 1998. Archived from the original on March 28, 2020. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  26. OCLC 49777633 – via Google Books
    .
  27. ^ "2 Subway Timetable, Effective June 26, 2022". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved December 16, 2024.
  28. ^ "3 Subway Timetable, Effective June 30, 2024". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved December 16, 2024.
  29. ^ "Subway Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. April 2025. Retrieved April 2, 2025.
  30. ^ a b c d e f g h Framberger, David J. (1978). "Architectural Designs for New York's First Subway" (PDF). Historic American Engineering Record. pp. 1–46 (PDF pp. 367–412). Archived (PDF) from the original on January 17, 2021. Retrieved December 20, 2020. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  31. ^ "116th Street - Vincent Smith - Minton's Playhouse (uptown), The Movers and Shakers (downtown), 1999". web.mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Archived from the original on April 8, 2020. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  32. ^ "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Harlem / East Harlem" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
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