49th Street (BMT Broadway Line)

49th Street
New York City Subway rapid transit station
Downtown platform
Station statistics
Address	West 49th Street & Seventh Avenue New York, NY 10019
Borough	Manhattan
Locale	Midtown Manhattan
Coordinates	40°45′38″N 73°59′02″W / 40.760423°N 73.983779°WCoordinates: 40°45′38″N 73°59′02″W / 40.760423°N 73.983779°W
Division	B (BMT)
Line	BMT Broadway Line
Services	N  (all times)       Q  (late nights only)       R  (all except late nights)       W  (weekdays only)
Transit connections	New York City Bus: M7, M20, M50, M104
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	4
Other information
Opened	July 10, 1919[1]
Accessible	(northbound only)
Wireless service	[2]
Traffic
Passengers (2015)	8,029,988[3]  6%
Rank	47 out of 422
Station succession
Next north	57th Street – Seventh Avenue: N  Q  R  W
Next south	Times Square – 42nd Street: N  Q  R  W
Next north	none: N  W  Queens Plaza: R
Next south	none; station is not accessible on the southbound platform. (Times Square – 42nd Street: N  Q  R  W )
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times except late nights Stops all times Stops weekdays only
Location

49th Street is a local station on the BMT Broadway Line of the New York City Subway. Located at West 49th Street and Seventh Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, it is served by the N train at all times, the R train at all times except late nights, the W train on weekdays, and the Q train during late nights. It is the only local station on the Broadway line to serve all trains, albeit at different times.

Station layout

Track layout
Legend
to 57 St to Times Sq–42 St

G	Street Level	Exit/Entrance (Elevator at northeast corner of 49th Street and Seventh Avenue for northbound trains only)
P Platform level	Side platform, doors will open on the right
	Southbound local	← ( late nights) toward Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue (Times Square–42nd Street) ← toward Whitehall Street–South Ferry (Times Square–42nd Street) ← toward Bay Ridge–95th Street (Times Square–42nd Street)
	Southbound express	← does not stop here (all except late nights)
	Northbound express	→ does not stop here (all except late nights) →
	Northbound local	→ ( weekdays) toward Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard (57th Street–Seventh Avenue) → → toward 57th Street–Seventh Avenue (late nights) (57th Street–Seventh Avenue) → → toward Forest Hills–71st Avenue (57th Street–Seventh Avenue) →
	Side platform, doors will open on the right

Entrance to downtown trains at 49th Street

This underground station, opened on July 10, 1919,^[1] has four tracks and two side platforms. The two center express tracks are used by the Q train at all times except late nights.

There are four sets of platform-level fare controls, with no crossover or crossunder; each platform has a full-time booth at the north end (49th Street) and a part-time booth at the south end (47th Street). Only the northbound platform is ADA-accessible; an elevator was constructed in conjunction with a new office tower at the northeast corner of West 49th Street and Seventh Avenue. The elevator conceals an out-of-system underground passageway leading to Rockefeller Center and 47th–50th Streets station on the IND Sixth Avenue Line. Yellow tactile treads on both platforms' edges were installed in 2015.

49th Street was originally built in the same style as the other BMT Broadway stations but underwent an experimental renovation in October 1973. New tiling of red glazed brick was installed over the original BMT-style tiled walls, reducing the platforms' widths by several inches; in addition, special ceiling soundproofing and terrazzo flooring were installed. Since the renovation, three of the four street entrances have been reconstructed, leaving only the 47th Street exit on the southbound platform with the red brick appearance; additionally, the soundproofing experiment was not repeated at any other station. Additional false brick tiles were added some time after the 1973 renovation, indicating the presence of a station facility. A passageway leading to an exit at West 47th Street and Broadway was also added after the renovation. Also, one of the staircases on the southbound side is walled off, making only one staircase available to the southbound side.

South of this station, the downtown local track descends slightly, then rises back up. The reason for this is because Broadway and Seventh Avenue meet at its narrow point of Times Square (45th Street), and the downtown local track crosses beneath the uptown local track of the IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line.

References

Passageway to Rockefeller Center

1. Legislative Documents. J.B. Lyon Company. 1920-01-01.
2. "NYC Subway Wireless – Active Stations". Transit Wireless Wifi. Retrieved 2016-05-18.
3. "Facts and Figures: Annual Subway Ridership". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved 2016-04-19.

Further reading

• Lee Stokey. Subway Ceramics : A History and Iconography. 1994. ISBN 978-0-9635486-1-0

External links

• nycsubway.org – BMT Broadway Subway: 49th Street
• Station Reporter — N Train
• Station Reporter — R Train
• 49th Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• 47th Street and Seventh Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View
• 47th Street and Broadway entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Platforms from Google Maps Street View