Eighth Street–New York University station

For other uses, see Eighth Street station.

8 Street–New York University
New York City Subway rapid transit station
300px Platform for downtown trains
Station statistics
Address	East 8th Street & Broadway New York, NY 10003
Borough	Manhattan
Locale	Greenwich Village, NoHo
Coordinates
Division	B (BMT)
Line	BMT Broadway Line
Services	N  (all times)       Q  (late nights only)       R  (all except late nights)
Transit connections	NYCT Bus: M1, M2, M3, M55, M8, X27, X28
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	4
Other information
Opened	September 4, 1917 (1917-09-04)
Wireless service
Former/other names	8th Street-NYU
Traffic
Passengers (2018)	5,686,332  2.1%
Rank	75
Station succession
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times except late nights Stops weekdays only Stops late nights and weekends Stops late nights only
Layout

The Eighth Street–New York University station (sometimes shortened as 8th Street–NYU) is a local station on the New York City Subway's BMT Broadway Line. Located at the intersection of Eighth Street and Broadway in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, it is served by the R train at all times except late nights, the W train on weekdays, the N train during late nights and weekends, and the Q train during late nights.

History

Construction and opening

File:8th Street BMT 003.JPG

Name mosaic

File:8th Street BMT 004.JPG

Frieze and directional mosaic

The New York Public Service Commission adopted plans for what was known as the Broadway–Lexington Avenue route on December 31, 1907. This route began at the Battery and ran under Greenwich Street, Vesey Street, Broadway to Ninth Street, private property to Irving Place, and Irving Place and Lexington Avenue to the Harlem River. After crossing under the Harlem River into the Bronx, the route split at Park Avenue and 138th Street, with one branch continuing north to and along Jerome Avenue to Woodlawn Cemetery, and the other heading east and northeast along 138th Street, Southern Boulevard, and Westchester Avenue to Pelham Bay Park. In early 1908, the Tri-borough plan was formed, combining this route, the under-construction Centre Street Loop Subway in Manhattan and Fourth Avenue Subway in Brooklyn, a Canal Street subway from the Fourth Avenue Subway via the Manhattan Bridge to the Hudson River, and several other lines in Brooklyn.

The Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company submitted a proposal to the Commission, dated March 2, 1911, to operate the Tri-borough system (but under Church Street instead of Greenwich Street), as well as a branch along Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 59th Street from Ninth Street north and east to the Queensboro Bridge; the Canal Street subway was to merge with the Broadway Line instead of continuing to the Hudson River. The city, the BRT, and the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (which operated the first subway and four elevated lines in Manhattan) came to an agreement, and sent a report to the New York City Board of Estimate on June 5, 1911. The line along Broadway to 59th Street was assigned to the BRT, while the IRT obtained the Lexington Avenue line, connecting with its existing route at Grand Central–42nd Street. Construction began on Lexington Avenue on July 31, and on Broadway the next year. The Dual Contracts, two operating contracts between the city and the BMT and IRT, were adopted on March 4, 1913.

A short portion of the line, coming off the north side of the Manhattan Bridge through Canal Street to 14th Street–Union Square, opened on September 4, 1917, at 2 P.M., with an eight car train carrying members of the Public Service Commission, representatives of the city government and officials of the BRT, leaving Union Square toward Coney Island. Service opened to the general public at 8 P.M., with trains leaving Union Square and Coney Island simultaneously. The line was served by two services. One route ran via the Fourth Avenue Line and the Sea Beach Line to Coney Island, while the other line, the short line, ran to Ninth Avenue, where passengers could transfer for West End and Culver Line service. The initial headway on the line was three minutes during rush hours, three minutes and forty-five seconds at other times, except during late nights when service ran every fifteen minutes.

Later years

The city government took over the BMT's operations on June 1, 1940. The station's overhaul in the late 1960s included extending the station platforms required for 10 car trains, and fixing the station's structure and the overall appearance (including the staircases and platform edges), replacing the original wall tiles, old signs, and incandescent lighting to the 70's modern look wall tile band and tablet mosaics, signs and fluorescent lights.

In 2001, the station received a state of repairs including upgrading the station for ADA compliance and restoring the original late 1910s tiling, repairing the staircases, re-tiling for the walls, new tiling on the floors, upgrading the station's lights and the public address system, installing ADA yellow safety threads along the platform edge, new signs, and new trackbeds in both directions.

In 2005, the artwork Tim Snell's Broadway Diary mosaics installed on the station platform wall titles in both directions.

Station layout

File:BwyWalk0505 Station8thStBroadway.jpg

Station entrance

Template:NYCS Platform Layout BMT Broadway Line This underground station has four tracks and two side platforms. The inner two tracks are express tracks that do not serve the station.

Exits

The staffed fare control for each platform is at platform level at the center of each platform. There is no free transfer between directions. Outside of fare control, the northbound platform has one street stair to each eastern corner of Broadway and Eighth Street, while the southbound platform has two street stairs to each western corner of that intersection.

Near the southern ends of each platform, one stair ascends from each platform to an intermediate landing on each side. Each landing has an exit-only turnstile and a HEET turnstile. The exits then ascend to their respective northern corners of Broadway and Waverly Place (the southbound platform's exit to the northwest corner, the northbound platform's exit to the northeast corner).

External links

• nycsubway.org—BMT Broadway Subway: 8th Street
• Station Reporter – N Train
• Station Reporter – R Train
• Flickr – Photo of Tim Snell's Cube mural
• Wired New York Forum – Subway mosaics and their artists
• MTA's Arts For Transit – 8th Street–NYU (BMT Broadway Line)
• Eighth Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Waverly Place entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Platforms from Google Maps Street View