Division A (IRT) Structure Underground Opened 30 May 1906 Locale Washington Heights Tracks 2 | Services 1 (all times) Depth 120 feet (37 m) Borough Manhattan Added to NRHP 30 March 2005 | |
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Line IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line Transit connections NYCT Bus: M3, Bx3, Bx11, Bx13, Bx35, Bx36
GWB Bus Station (at 179 St) Address New York, NY 10033, United States Similar 191st Street, Dyckman Street, 207th Street, 215th Street, Van Cortlandt Park–242 | ||
181st Street is a local station on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of St. Nicholas Avenue and 181st Street in Washington Heights, Manhattan, it is served by the 1 train at all times.
Contents
History
The West Side Branch of the first subway was extended northward to a temporary terminus of 221st Street and Broadway on March 12, 1906 with the station at 181st Street not yet open. The 181st Street station opened on May 30, 1906, and on this date express trains on the Broadway branch began running through to 221st Street, eliminating the need to transfer at 157th Street to shuttles.
In 1948, platforms on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line from 103rd Street to 238th Street were lengthened to 514 feet to allow full ten-car express trains to platform. Previously the stations could only platform six car local trains. The platform extensions were opened in stages. On April 6, 1948, the stations from 103rd Street to Dyckman Street had their platform extensions opened, with the exception of the 125th Street, which had its opened on June 11, 1948.
Station layout
This station, which is 120 feet (37 m) below the surface, has four elevators and a footbridge connecting the two side platforms at the northern end of the station. When the station opened on May 30, 1906, there had only been two elevators on the station's east side, but in 1909, two more elevators were added to the west side. There is evidence of manually-operated double-deck elevators as well as two closed footbridges toward the southern end of the station.
There is only a set of emergency stairs for emergency egress in case of a fire, so all riders must take an elevator at to enter or exit the station except in emergencies.
The station was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. As part of the Multiple Property Submission of the Historic Resources of the New York City Subway System, the 181st Street Station is significant in the areas of transportation, community planning, engineering, and architectural design.
Exits
There are two exits to this station at either eastern corner of St. Nicholas Avenue and 181st Street. The northeast-corner entrance is inside a building and the southeast-corner entrance is on the street.
The station serves Yeshiva University and the George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal.
During construction
During the station's construction in the mid-1900s, the Fort George Mine Tunnel was being built to take the Interborough Rapid Transit Company's Broadway–Seventh Avenue line through upper Manhattan. Due to the steep terrain, the tunnel had to be mined using explosives. During construction on October 24, 1903, a 300-ton boulder, weakened by such an explosive, gave way, killing 10 miners. Six miners were killed instantly, while eight were injured; four later died of their injuries. The dead miners consisted of eight Italian immigrants, the foreman from Italy, and an electrician from Germany.
2009 collapse
On August 16, 2009, at around 10:30 pm, a 25-foot section of the bricks lining the roof of the station collapsed onto both uptown and downtown tracks and platforms. It fell from the 35 foot high curved ceiling. Nobody was injured at the time of the incident. This caused suspension of the 1 service between 168th Street and Dyckman Street stations in both directions for eight days. The MTA was providing free shuttle bus service between 168th Street and Dyckman for that period. Full end-to-end service on the 1 was restored on August 24, 2009, except that trains were skipping the 181st Street station. The station reopened to passengers on August 31, 2009.
There was also a partial ceiling collapse at the same station in 2007, according to Judith M. Kunoff, Chief Architect for the NYC Transit Authority.
According to NY1, the repairs to the station cost $30 million and did not start until the end of 2012.
Bus service
The station and the nearby George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal are served by ten local MTA Regional Bus Operations routes and various interstate bus routes.