72nd Street (IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line)

72nd Street
New York City Subway rapid transit station
Original Control house (left) and newer Control house, located on opposite sides of 72nd Street
Station statistics
Address	area of West 72nd Street, Broadway & Amsterdam Avenue New York, NY 10023
Borough	Manhattan
Locale	Upper West Side
Coordinates
Division	A (IRT)
Line	IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line
Services	1  (all times)       2  (all times)       3  (all times)
Transit connections	NYCT Bus: M5, M7, M11, M57, M72, M104 MTA Bus: BxM2
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2 island platforms cross-platform interchange
Tracks	4
Other information
Opened	October 27, 1904 (1904-10-27)
Accessible
Wireless service
Traffic
Passengers (2015)	13,341,361  0.3%
Rank	22
Station succession
Next north	79th Street (local): 1  2  96th Street (express): 2  3
Next south	66th Street – Lincoln Center (local): 1  2  Times Square – 42nd Street (express): 2  3
Next north	96th Street: 1  2  3
Next south	66th Street – Lincoln Center (local): 1  2  Times Square – 42nd Street (express): 2  3
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times except late nights Stops all times Stops late nights only
Location
Control House on 72nd Street
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
MPS	Interborough Rapid Transit Subway Control Houses TR
NRHP Reference #	80002684
Added to NRHP	May 6, 1980
72nd Street Subway Station (IRT)
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
MPS	New York City Subway System MPS
NRHP Reference #	04001017
Added to NRHP	September 17, 2004

72nd Street is an express station on the IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line of the New York City Subway, located at the intersection of Broadway, 72nd Street and Amsterdam Avenue (including Verdi Square and Sherman Square) on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It is served by the 1, 2 and 3 trains at all times.

History

Uptown island platform

The 72nd Street station opened on October 27, 1904, as part of the original subway, with trains running from Brooklyn Bridge to 145th Street. The original configuration of the station was inadequate by IRT standards. It had just one entrance (the Control house on the traffic island between 71st and 72nd Streets, now listed on the National Register of Historic Places), and the platforms and stairways were unusually narrow. There were no crossovers or crossunders as the control house had separate turnstile banks and token booths for each side. Express trains ran on the innermost two tracks, while local trains ran on the outer pair.

During the 1950s, the New York City Transit Authority (now MTA) considered converting the station to a local station by walling off the express tracks from the platforms. This would have coincided with 59th Street – Columbus Circle, which is a major transfer point to the IND Eighth Avenue Line, becoming an express stop.

A substantial renovation was completed on October 29, 2002, providing a new, larger control house on the traffic island between 72nd and 73rd Streets and slightly wider platforms at the north end of the station. This control house has two staircases and one elevator from each platform going up to a crossover, where on either side a turnstile bank leads to either 72nd or 73rd Streets. Only the southern turnstile bank has a staffed token booth and the elevators make this station ADA-accessible. This control house has an artwork, Laced Canopy by Robert Hickman, which consists of a mosaic pattern on the central skylight; if looked at in the right way, the knots within the pattern make up the notation for an excerpt of Verdi's Rigoletto. The original control house was renovated and now has a total of five staircases: two to the southbound platform and three to the northbound platform. These staircases go up to a crossover, where on the north side, an unstaffed turnstile bank leads to 72nd Street and on the south side, three High Entry/Exit Turnstiles lead to 71st Street. This control house has artful wrought iron pillars, dating back to the days of the original subway system, as well as decorated ceiling beams.

Station layout

G	Street Level	Exit/Entrance
M	Mezzanine	Fare control, station agent (Elevators inside station house on north side of 72nd Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue)
P Platform level	Northbound local	← toward Van Cortlandt Park ( toward 241st Street late nights) (79th Street)
	Island platform, doors will open on the left, right
	Northbound express	← toward Wakefield – 241st Street (96th Street) ← toward Harlem – 148th Street (96th Street)
	Southbound express	→ toward Flatbush Avenue – Brooklyn College (Times Square – 42nd Street) → → toward New Lots Avenue (Times Square – 42nd Street late nights) (Times Square – 42nd Street) →
	Island platform, doors will open on the left, right
	Southbound local	→ toward South Ferry ( toward Flatbush Avenue – Brooklyn College late nights) (66th Street – Lincoln Center) →

At platform level, the station is similar to its original configuration, with two narrow island platforms and four tracks. There are two station houses, both of which provide entry and exit: the original station house south of 72nd Street, and the new one north of 72nd Street. However, the crossovers and elevator are only in the northernmost station house.

Gallery

• 

  IRT mosaic tapestries

• 

  Detail of the wall decoration with a fleur-de-lis

• 

  Old control house

• 

  Detail of the decorated ceiling with old lights and iron pillars in the old headhouse

• 

  New control house

External links

• nycsubway.org—IRT West Side Line: 72nd Street
• nycsubway.org — Verdi's Rigoletto Artwork by Robert Hickman (2005)
• Station Reporter — 1 Train
• Station Reporter — 2 Train
• Station Reporter — 3 Train
• 72nd Street at The Subway Nut - [1]
• Forgotten NY — Original 28 - NYC's First 28 Subway Stations
• MTA's Arts For Transit — 72nd Street (IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line)
• Newer headhouse at 72nd Street from Google Maps Street View
• Older headhouse at 72nd Street from Google Maps Street View
• Lobby from Google Maps Street View