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47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center (IND Sixth Avenue Line)

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Division
  
B (IND)

Transit connections
  
NYCT Bus: M5, M7, M50

Opened
  
15 December 1940

Locale
  
Midtown Manhattan

Line
  
IND Sixth Avenue Line

Structure
  
Underground

Borough
  
Manhattan

Tracks
  
4

47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center (IND Sixth Avenue Line) httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediacommonsthu

Address
  
Sixth Avenue between West 47th Street & West 50th Street New York, NY 10020

Services
  
B  (weekdays until 11:00 p.m.)       D  (all times)       F  (all times)       M  (weekdays until 11:00 p.m.)

Similar
  
42nd Street–Bryant Park/Fifth, West Fourth Street–W, 34th Street–Herald Square, 23rd Street, Queens Plaza

47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center is an express station on the IND Sixth Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. It is served by the D and F trains at all times, and the B and M trains on weekdays.

Contents

History

47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center opened as part of the mainline portion of the IND Sixth Avenue Line to West Fourth Street–Washington Square, with connections to the IND Queens Boulevard Line to the north. Express service began in 1967 with the completion of express tracks between West Fourth and 34th Streets and the opening of the Chrystie Street Connection.

Station layout

The station has two island platforms and four tracks, like most express stations, but has an unusual track arrangement. The uptown side has the traditional arrangement of local service on the outside track and express service on the inside track, but the downtown side reverses this (local on the inside, express on the outside). This is to avoid level junctions with the IND Queens Boulevard Line, which is perpendicular with the IND Sixth Avenue Line north of this station. Express trains come from the Bronx via a connection from the IND Eighth Avenue Line while local trains come from Queens via either the IND 63rd Street Line or the 53rd Street Tunnels. South of this station, the downtown local track crosses under the express track and the line returns to the traditional arrangement in both directions at 42nd Street–Bryant Park.

Each platform has seven stairs to mezzanine, the north end of the northbound platform has an active tower, and is depressed about ten feet below the southbound platform. This is to prepare the lines to be branched out towards the Bronx and Queens. The color band is Permanent Red, with Chocolate Brown borders, "47" and "50" alternate each other below the tile band. The tiles above and below it are white. Also at this station, there is a sign next to the tower saying "What you punch is what you get"; this sign is referring to the automatic punch boxes on both tracks on the northbound platform. In the case of an emergency or service reroute, the express tracks can also be used to access the 63rd Street tunnel.

Exits

The station has numerous passageways and exits, including fourteen street stairs and an elevator. This does not include several passageways through Rockefeller Center, all of which are outside fare control. The mezzanine has a full-time booth at its north end, at West 49th Street. A passageway to one northern part-time staircase leads to West 50th Street. Another passageway along the west side of 49th Street connects to the 49th Street subway station on the BMT Broadway Line outside of fare control. The middle fare control at West 48th Street has a ghost booth and all-day HEET access. The south fare control at West 47th Street has a part-time booth and more staircases.

  • One stair, on street, to NW corner of 6th Avenue and 50th Street
  • One stair, within Radio City Music Hall building, to east side of 6th Avenue north of 50th Street; usually open late during evening performances
  • One stair, within plaza of 1251 Avenue of the Americas (facing street), to SW corner of 6th Avenue and 50th Street
  • Passageway directly to 1251 Avenue of the Americas
  • Passageway directly to 30 Rockefeller Plaza
  • One stair, within plaza of 1251 Avenue of the Americas (facing street), and one elevator, on street, to NW corner of 6th Avenue and 49th Street
  • One stair, within 30 Rockefeller Plaza, to NE corner of 6th Avenue and 49th Street
  • Two stairs, within courtyard of 1221 Avenue of the Americas (under grade level), to west side of 6th Avenue between 48th and 49th Streets
  • One stair, within Simon & Schuster Building (1230 Avenue of the Americas), to west side of 6th Avenue between 48th and 49th Streets
  • Passageway directly to Simon & Schuster Building
  • One stair, on street, to NE corner of 6th Avenue and 48th Street
  • One stair, on street, to SE corner of 6th Avenue and 48th Street
  • One stair, within plaza of 1211 Avenue of the Americas (facing street), to SW corner of 6th Avenue and 48th Street
  • Passageway directly to 1211 Avenue of the Americas
  • One stair, on street, to NE corner of 6th Avenue and 47th Street
  • One stair, on street, to SE corner of 6th Avenue and 47th Street
  • One stair, on street, to SW corner of 6th Avenue and 47th Street

    • The station was featured in the 1976 film Marathon Man, where the former KK route's emblem is posted on a street entrance of the east side of Sixth Avenue and West 47th Street.

    References

    47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center (IND Sixth Avenue Line) Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA