47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center station
47–50 Streets–Rockefeller Center | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Structure | Underground | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Platforms | 2 island platforms cross-platform interchange | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tracks | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Opened | December 15, 1940 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Accessible | ![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Opposite- direction transfer | Yes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Traffic | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2023 | 11,387,612[2] ![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rank | 13 out of 423[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center station (formerly 47th Street–50th Street–Rockefeller Center) is an express
The Rockefeller Center station was built for the
The 47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center station contains two
History
Construction
New York City mayor
The IND started advertising bids for the section of the Sixth Avenue Line between 43rd and 53rd Streets in April 1931.
The line was built as a four-track tunnel north of 33rd Street (including the Rockefeller Center station), but there were only two tracks south of that street. The work largely involved
North of 47th–50th Streets,
Opening and use
1940s to 1960s

The station opened on December 15, 1940, as part of the mainline portion of the IND Sixth Avenue Line to
Rockefeller Center Inc., the owners of Rockefeller Center, announced in 1956 that it would construct the Time-Life Building at 1271 Avenue of the Americas, with a passageway from the basement to the Rockefeller Center station.[36] A similar passageway was built from the basement of 1285 Avenue of the Americas, one block north of the Time-Life Building.[37] In February 1958, Rockefeller Center Inc. leased 15,000 square feet (1,400 m2) in the northern mezzanine for 20 years at a total cost of $2 million over that period. Architects Harrison & Abramovitz were hired to redesign the mezzanine with stores similar to Rockefeller Center's underground mall.[38][39] The renovation of the mezzanine was completed in February 1960, along with the passageway to 1271 Avenue of the Americas. Workers installed about 15,000 square feet (1,400 m2) of asbestos floor tiles as part of the project, and they also installed white, gray, and black panels on the walls, ceilings, and columns.[40]
The bellmouths north of the Rockefeller Center station went unused until 1962, when the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) announced it would extend the Sixth Avenue Line to 57th Street as part of the Chrystie Street Connection.[27][41] Construction of the spur cost $13.2 million.[42] With the completion of express tracks between West Fourth and 34th Streets in 1967, the B and D trains started running express on the Sixth Avenue Line.[43] The 57th Street station opened in 1968,[41][42] upon which KK trains began serving the Rockefeller Center station.[44]
1970s to present
As part of the construction of 1211, 1221, and 1251 Avenue of the Americas in the early 1970s, passageways were constructed from the basements of each building to the Rockefeller Center station.[45] The new passageways had been completed by 1974.[46] The NYCTA installed turnstiles and stairways to accommodate the additional passenger traffic, and Rockefeller Center Inc. paid for the improvements.[45] An entrance with glazed-brick walls was added at 48th Street. In addition, Rockefeller Center Inc. built a passageway between 47th and 49th Streets, running parallel to the station's mezzanine.[47] The station was also served by the JFK Express from 1978[48] to 1990 when it was discontinued.[49]
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced in 1990 that it would spend $730 million to renovate 74 subway stations, including the Rockefeller Center station.[50] In 1994, amid a funding shortfall, the administration of mayor Rudy Giuliani proposed delaying the station's renovation.[51][52] That October, the MTA announced it had indefinitely postponed plans for renovating the Rockefeller Center station.[50][53] The station's token booths were shuttered in May 2005, after fare tokens were replaced with MetroCards; station agents were deployed elsewhere in the station to answer passengers' queries. This was part of a pilot program that was tested at seven other stations.[54] By the mid-2000s, the New York City Transit Riders Council had ranked the Rockefeller Center station as among the system's dirtiest subway stations. The group described the station as having leaky ceilings, litter, dirty walls and floors, and water on the floor.[55] The MTA again proposed renovating the station as part of its 2005–2009 capital program, but it postponed these plans in 2005 due to a lack of funding.[56][57] Elevators between the mezzanine and either platform were installed in 2008–2009.[58]
Station layout
Ground | Street level | Exit/entrance |
Mezzanine | Fare control, station agent, Rockefeller Center concourse![]() | |
Platform level |
Northbound local | ← ![]() ![]() ← ![]() |
Island platform ![]() | ||
Northbound express | ← ![]() ← ![]() | |
Southbound local | Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue via Culver (42nd Street–Bryant Park) → ) →
![]() | |
Island platform ![]() | ||
Southbound express | ![]() ![]() |
The 47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center station is an express stop with four tracks and two island platforms.[59]: 124 The D and F stop here at all times,[60][61] while the B and M stop here only on weekdays during the day.[62][63] The B and D run on the express tracks and the F and M run on the local tracks.[64] The next stop to the north is Seventh Avenue for B and D trains, 57th Street for F trains, and Fifth Avenue/53rd Street for M trains, while the next stop to the south is 42nd Street–Bryant Park for all service.[65]

A mezzanine runs above the entire length of the station.[59]: 124 The 47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center station is fully wheelchair-accessible, with elevators connecting the street, mezzanine, and platforms.[66] There are a total of fourteen stairs and two elevators from the mezzanine to the platforms. Each platform has seven stairs and one elevator.[59]: 125 Rockefeller Center's underground mall, built in 1935 as part of the complex's construction,[67] contains passageways to the station's mezzanine.[68] The walls of the station contain red-tile bands bordered in chocolate brown.[69] The tile colors are intended to help riders identify their station more easily, part of a color-coded tile system for the entire IND network.[70]
Track layout
The westernmost track of either platform is used by express trains while the easternmost track is used by local trains. This is to avoid level junctions with the IND Queens Boulevard Line, which is perpendicular with the IND Sixth Avenue Line north of this station.[71][72] As a result, the southbound tracks are the reverse of the New York City Subway's traditional local–express track arrangement, wherein the express track is outside and the local track is inside.[71] To the north of the station, the line splits into two levels.[24] Express trains come from the Bronx via a connection from the IND Eighth Avenue Line while local trains come from Queens via the 53rd Street Tunnel. Both the local and the express tracks can also access the 63rd Street Line, connecting both to Queens and to the Second Avenue Subway.[71]
South of this station, between 43rd and 46th Streets, the line splits into three tunnels: a double-track tunnel for the two northbound tracks and two single tubes for each of the southbound tracks. The downtown express track rises above the other three tracks and crosses above the downtown local track approximately 320 feet (98 m) north of 43rd Street. The line returns to the traditional arrangement in both directions at 42nd Street–Bryant Park, with the local tracks outside the express tracks.[72]
Exits

The station has numerous passageways and exits, including fourteen street stairs and an elevator.
At the northern end of the station, there are passageways directly to
One staircase each leads to the northeast and southeast corners of Sixth Avenue and 48th Street. At the southwest corner of that intersection, there is a staircase within the plaza of 1211 Avenue of the Americas, as well as a passageway directly to that building. The northeast, southeast, and southwest corners of Sixth Avenue and 47th Street each contain one staircase as well.[59]: 125 [73] The entrance on the southwest corner of 47th Street and Sixth Avenue was not opened along with the rest of the station.[74] A passageway leads to other buildings on the west side of Sixth Avenue south of 47th Street.[59]: 125
References
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External links
- nycsubway.org – IND Sixth Avenue Line: 47th–50th Streets/Rockefeller Center
- Station Reporter — B Train
- 50th Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
- 49th Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
- 48th Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
- 47th Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
- Platforms from Google Maps Street View
- Mezzanine from Google Maps Street View