Division A (IRT) Services 3 (all times) Structure At-grade Opened 13 May 1968 Locale Harlem | Line IRT Lenox Avenue Line Transit connections NYCT Bus: M2 Platforms 1 island platform Borough Manhattan Tracks 2 | |
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Address New York, NY 10039, United States Similar New Lots Avenue, 135th Street, Wakefield–241st Street, Clark Street, Nevins Street | ||
Harlem–148th Street (signed as 148th Street–Lenox Terminal) is a terminal station on the IRT Lenox Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. The station is located in Harlem, though the name is partially erroneous, as the station is actually at the intersection of 149th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard. It is served by the 3 train at all times.
Contents
History
The location and tracks of the station were originally part of the Lenox Avenue Yard opened in 1904, where 3 trains are currently assigned and stored. An extension of the Lenox Avenue line to 149th or 150th Street had been proposed since the Dual Contracts of the 1910s. In 1916, an extension to 149th Street was proposed as part of a connection between the Lenox Avenue Line and the IRT Jerome Avenue Line in the Bronx (served by the 4 train).
In 1957, a station at 150th Street within the Lenox Yard was proposed to better serve the local area (including the nearby Harlem River Houses). The station, and the Bronx extension, had been requested by local citizens since the 1940s due to unreliable bus and surface trolley service. The station was later moved to 149th Street due to the downsizing of the Lenox Yard in the 1960s, with the land sold to the developers that would build the high school and apartment complex above the yard and station (see below).
The new terminal, when completed, was intended to be a replacement for the former terminal at 145th Street station due to the proximity of switches that prevented the station's lengthening to accommodate ten-car trains. However, plans to shut down 145th Street were cancelled due to protests from local residents. 148th Street Station opened on May 13, 1968. The name of the station was to be 149th Street–Seventh Avenue, but because of possible confusion with 149th Street–Grand Concourse, it was changed to 148th Street–Lenox Terminal.
The station sign was reversed as Lenox Terminal–148th Street in the 1990s before reverting back to its original name by 2003.
From 1995 to 2008, this station lacked full-time service, as 3 trains did not operate during late nights. Full-time service was restored on July 27, 2008.
Station layout
This station is the northern terminal of the IRT Lenox Avenue Line. There are two tracks and one island platform here. The tracks end at bumper blocks at the west end of the platform. Next to the station is Lenox Yard, which is used for train storage and has no maintenance facility. The yard predates the station, which was added in 1968 at a relatively low cost, since the yard and the track connection were already there. Formerly, the terminal was one station to the south, at 145th Street. Due to the high ceiling, platform service information signs are hung from heavy cables.
While this station may appear to be underground, it and the adjacent yard are actually at-grade. The Esplanade Gardens apartment complex exists between 147th and 149th streets while Frederick Douglass Academy High School sits between 149th and 150th Streets; both structures rest on pilotis above the station and yard. Unlike other at-grade stations, however, 148th Street is not ADA-accessible because there is a staircase down to platform level.
Exit
The station's only mezzanine is at the west (railroad north) end of the station. From the single island platform, a double-wide stairway leads up to a set of doors that separate the street-level station-house at Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard. There are three turnstiles and a token-booth.