Lexington Avenue / 51st – 53rd Streets (New York City Subway)

Lexington Avenue / 51st – 53rd Streets
New York City Subway rapid transit station complex
Entrance to the IRT Lexington Avenue Line platform
Station statistics
Address	East 53rd Street & Lexington Avenue New York, NY 10022
Borough	Manhattan
Locale	Midtown Manhattan
Coordinates
Division	A (IRT), B (IND)
Line	IRT Lexington Avenue Line IND Queens Boulevard Line
Services	4  (late nights)       6  (all times) <6> (weekdays until 8:45 p.m., peak direction)       E  (all times)       M  (weekdays until 11:00 p.m.)
Transit connections	NYCT Bus: M101, M102, M103, X2, X5, X22, X22A, X31 MTA Bus: BxM1
Structure	Underground
Levels	2
Other information
Opened	1989
Traffic
Passengers (2014)	20,513,370 (station complex)  1.2%
Rank	10 out of 421
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times Stops late nights only Stops rush hours in the peak direction only Stops weekdays only

Lexington Avenue / 51st – 53rd Streets is a New York City Subway station complex on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line and IND Queens Boulevard Line. Located on Lexington Avenue and stretching from 51st Street to 53rd Street in Midtown Manhattan, it is served by the:

• 6 and E trains at all times
• M trains during weekdays
• <6> trains during weekdays in the peak direction
• 4 trains during late nights

In 2013, the station complex was ranked tenth in ridership, with 20,262,110 passengers entering the station. It is planned for the 55th Street station from Phase 3 of the Second Avenue Subway to connect to this complex.

IRT Lexington Avenue Line platforms

51st Street
New York City Subway rapid transit station
Downtown local platform
Station statistics
Address	East 51st Street & Lexington Avenue New York, NY 10022
Coordinates
Division	A (IRT)
Line	IRT Lexington Avenue Line
Services	4  (late nights)       6  (all times) <6> (weekdays until 8:45 p.m., peak direction)
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Other information
Opened	July 17, 1918 (1918-07-17)
Accessible
Station succession
Next north	59th Street: 4  6  <6>
Next south	Grand Central – 42nd Street: 4  6  <6>
Next north	125th Street: 4  6  <6>
Next south	Grand Central – 42nd Street: 4  6  <6>
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times Stops late nights only Stops rush hours in the peak direction only

51st Street on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line, opened on July 17, 1918, is a local station with two local tracks and two side platforms. The two express tracks, used by the 4 and 5 trains during daytime hours, pass through a lower level and are not visible from the platforms. Both platforms have emergency exits from the lower level express tracks.

The station features modern beige bricks over the original tiles, but the standard IRT-style mosaics remain intact. There is a crossunder at the extreme north end of the platforms with an elevator on each side and an escalator on the Brooklyn Bridge-bound side. A ceramic artwork called Tunnel Vision by Nina Yankowitz was installed here in 1989.

A passageway, built in 1989, connects to the fare control areas and platforms of the IND Queens Boulevard Line beyond the crossunder on the northbound side.

The platforms are approximately 25 feet below street level and the station's full-time fare control areas are at the center of each. A staircase of seven steps goes up to a turnstile bank and outside fare control, there is a token booth and four street stairs. The ones on the Bronx-bound side go up either eastern corners of Lexington Avenue and East 51st Street while the ones on the Brooklyn Bridge-bound side go up to either western corners.

The Brooklyn Bridge-bound platform has a part-time fare control area near the south end. A seven-step staircase goes up to a turnstile bank and outside fare control, there is a customer assistance booth and one staircase going up to the front entrance of the Doubletree Metropolitan Hotel on the southwest corner of Lexington Avenue and East 50th Street. It is the southernmost station on the Lexington Avenue Line to be directly under Lexington Avenue itself. South from here, the line shifts slightly westward to Park Avenue.

Image gallery

• 

  51st Street tiles

• 

  Southbound street stair

IND Queens Boulevard Line platform

Lexington Avenue – 53rd Street
New York City Subway rapid transit station
Station statistics
Address	Lexington Avenue & East 53rd Street New York, NY 10022
Coordinates
Division	B (IND)
Line	IND Queens Boulevard Line
Services	E  (all times)       M  (weekdays until 11:00 p.m.)
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2
Other information
Opened	August 19, 1933 (1933-08-19)
Accessible
Station succession
Next north	Court Square – 23rd Street: E  M
Next south	Fifth Avenue / 53rd Street: E  M
Next north	Queens Plaza: E  M
Next south	50th Street (via Queens Blvd): E  (southbound only) 47th–50th Streets – Rockefeller Center (via 6th): M
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times Stops weekdays only

Lexington Avenue – 53rd Street on the IND Queens Boulevard Line opened on August 19, 1933 and has two tracks and one island platform. It is eighty feet below street level, as the line had to pass beneath all of the north–south subway lines that were built before it. As a result, long escalators and staircases are required to reach the mezzanine from the platform.

This station has an un-staffed entrance/exit at the east (railroad north) end. One escalator and one elevator from the platform goes up to a turnstile bank, where two staircases go up to either western corners of Third Avenue and 53rd Street. A larger staircase goes up to the entrance plaza of 205 East 53rd Street at the northeast corner.

At the extreme west (railroad south) end of the platform, a bank of two escalators and one staircase (which were once the longest in the world), a single escalator, and one ADA-accessible elevator go up to the full-time mezzanine with a token booth, where a turnstile bank provide entrance/exit from the station. One glass-enclosed staircase goes up to the entrance plaza of 132 East 53rd Street at the southeast corner of Lexington Avenue. A larger staircase goes up to a sunken shopping plaza of the Citigroup Center at the northeast corner of the aforementioned intersection.

A shopping arcade outside fare control leads to a staircase and elevator inside the south side of 132 East 53rd Street that go up to the northeast corner of East 52nd Street and Lexington Avenue. Here, there is another token booth and turnstile bank leading to the passageway to the IRT Lexington Avenue Line, which was added in 1989. The passageway extends to the staircases and escalators going down to the IND platform and contains a turnstile bank in the center. In 2003, as part of efforts to ease crowding in the station, a mezzanine was added to connect the passageway to the Third Avenue end of the station.

There are no tiles, trim line, or mosaics on the track walls. East of this station (railroad north), the line goes under the East River to Long Island City, Queens.

The 2004 artwork here is called Passing Through by Al Held. It features glass mosaic on the mezzanine walls.

Image gallery

• 

  Lexington Avenue – 53rd Street platform

• 

  Older signage, since removed from the station

• 

  Railfan window picture of train entering Lexington Avenue – 53rd Street station

• 

  Stair at foot of 599 Lexington Avenue

• 

  An train of R160As on the downtown track

• Subway suicide aftermath, E train on 53rd.jpg

  Members of the NYPD ESU investigate a completed subway suicide on the E train platform.

Station layout

G	Street Level	Exit/ Entrance (Elevator at NE corner of 52nd Street and Lexington Avenue)
B1 Lexington Avenue Line platforms	Side platform, doors will open on the right
	Northbound local	← toward Pelham Bay Park ( toward Parkchester rush hours and middays) (59th Street) ← toward Woodlawn (late nights) (59th Street)
	Southbound local	→ toward Brooklyn Bridge – City Hall ( toward New Lots Avenue late nights) (Grand Central – 42nd Street) →
	Side platform, doors will open on the right
B2	Northbound express	← do not stop here
	Southbound express	→ do not stop here →
B3 Queens Boulevard Line platforms	Southbound	← toward World Trade Center (Fifth Avenue / 53rd Street) ← toward Metropolitan Avenue (Fifth Avenue / 53rd Street)
	Island platform, doors will open on the left
	Northbound	→ toward Jamaica Center – Parsons/Archer (Court Square – 23rd Street) → → toward Forest Hills – 71st Avenue (Court Square – 23rd Street) →

External links

• nycsubway.org—IRT East Side Line: 51st Street
• nycsubway.org — Tunnel Vision Artwork by Nina Yankowitz (1989)
• nycsubway.org — Passing Through Artwork by Al Held (2004)
• Station Reporter — 51st Street/Lexington Avenue Complex
• MTA's Arts For Transit — 51st Street/Lexington Avenue-53rd Street Page 1
• MTA's Arts For Transit — Lexington Avenue-53rd Street Page 2
• nycsubway.org—IND Queens Boulevard Line: Lexington Avenue/53rd Street
• MTA's Arts For Transit — Lexington Avenue – 53rd Street
• MTA's Arts For Transit — 51st Street/Lexington Avenue - 53rd Street
• Lexington Avenue and 53rd Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Lexington Avenue and 52nd Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Lexington Avenue and 51st Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Lexington Avenue and 50th Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Third Avenue and 53rd Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Lobby from Google Maps Street View