34th Street – Herald Square (New York City Subway)

34th Street – Herald Square
New York City Subway rapid transit station complex
Station statistics
Address intersection of West 34th Street, Broadway & Sixth Avenue
New York, NY 10001
Borough Manhattan
Locale Herald Square, Midtown Manhattan
Division B (BMT/IND)
Line BMT Broadway Line
IND Sixth Avenue Line
Services       B  (weekdays until 9:30 p.m.)
      D  (all times)
      F  (all times)
      M  (weekdays until 11 p.m.)
      N  (all times)
      Q  (all times)
      R  (all hours except late nights)
Connection
Structure Underground
Levels 2
Other information
Opened July 1, 1948; 63 years ago (July 1, 1948)[1]
Accessible
Traffic
Passengers (2010) 37,769,752[2]  2.2%
Rank 3 out of 422

34th Street – Herald Square is an underground station complex on the BMT Broadway Line and the IND Sixth Avenue Line of the New York City Subway, and is the third busiest station in the system with 37,769,752 passengers entering the station in 2010.[2] It is located at Herald Square in Midtown Manhattan where 34th Street, Broadway and Sixth Avenue intersect, and is served by:

Contents

Description

This station complex has a long mezzanine above the platforms. Three staircases and two elevators lead to each of the two Broadway line platforms. Three pairs of escalators lead to the Sixth Avenue line platforms (two to the northbound one and one to the southbound one). There is a non-ADA-compliant ramp that leads to an intermediate level. This level has two sets of staircases leading to each of the Sixth Avenue platforms. The elevators to this level are at the north end of the mezzanine by the 35th Street exit (which contains a bank of turnstiles, token booth, and three staircases leading to Broadway and Sixth Avenue).

In addition to this exit, the mezzanine has connections with the two entrances at Broadway/Sixth Avenue and 34th Street. The entrance on the west side is staffed full-time and has two staircases to 34th Street. The northwest staircase has an entrance to an underground Burger King. There is a long passageway containing a single street elevator that leads to PATH at 33rd Street. The entrance on the east side of 34th Street is staffed part-time and when the token booth is closed, only two HEET turnstiles provide access to the mezzanine. This entrance has a passageway that connects to the 35th Street exit and has two pairs of exit-only turnstiles from the mezzanine.

There is another mezzanine at the south end of the Sixth Avenue level that has two staircases leading to each platform. It is directly underneath the PATH station mezzanine (two levels from street level) and has a passageway leading to the entrance at Broadway and 32nd Street. Outside of fare control, there is an entrance leading directly to the two basement levels of J. C. Penney in the Manhattan Mall. There are also escalators that lead to the front entrance of the mall. The entrance at Broadway and 32nd Street is unstaffed, has two street stairs, and one stair to each of the two Broadway platforms on the very south end.

There was once an out-of-system passageway to Pennsylvania Station one block west, but this was closed in the 1990s and passengers now must walk at street level to connect to the commuter railroads.

Renovations

This complex was overhauled in the late 1970s. The Transit Authority fixed the station's structure and renovated its appearance. The overhaul replaced 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. It also fixed staircases and platform edges. In the early 1990s, the station received another major repair, which included an upgrade for ADA-accessibility and modernized wall tiling. The MTA repaired the staircases, re-tiling for the walls, installed new tiling on the floors, upgraded the station's lights and the public address system, installing ADA safety threads along the platform edge, new signs, and new track-beds in both directions.

BMT Broadway Line platforms

34th Street – Herald Square
New York City Subway rapid transit station
Station statistics
Division B (BMT)
Line BMT Broadway Line
Services       N  (all times)
      Q  (all times)
      R  (all hours except late nights)
Platforms 2 island platforms
cross-platform interchange
Tracks 4
Other information
Opened January 5, 1918; 94 years ago (January 5, 1918)[3]
Accessible
Station succession
Next north Times Square – 42nd Street: N  Q  R 
Next south 28th Street (local): N  R 
14th Street – Union Square (express): Q 
Next north Times Square – 42nd Street: N  Q  R 
Next south 14th Street – Union Square: N  Q  R 

The BMT Broadway Line level of 34th Street is an express station that has four tracks and two island platforms. This level opened several years after the opening of the Port Authority Trans-Hudson station; the Sixth Avenue line platforms were built later.

Each platform has three staircases and one elevator to the main mezzanine on the north half and another staircases at the extreme south end to 32nd Street. There are crossovers and switches north of this station, where Q trains switch tracks when they operate to Queens.

In 1996, artist Christopher Janney installed "REACH New York, An Urban Musical Instrument." The piece consists of green racks with sensors hanging along the platforms. Waving one's hands in front of the sensors creates a corresponding sound from the rack.


IND Sixth Avenue Line platforms

34th Street – Herald Square
New York City Subway rapid transit station

34th Street station entrance at night
Station statistics
Division B (IND)
Line IND Sixth Avenue Line
Services       B  (weekdays until 9:30 p.m.)
      D  (all times)
      F  (all times)
      M  (weekdays until 11 p.m.)
Platforms 2 island platforms
cross-platform interchange
Tracks 4
Other information
Opened December 15, 1940; 71 years ago (December 15, 1940)
Accessible
Station succession
Next north 42nd Street – Bryant Park: B  D  F  M 
Next south 23rd Street (local): F  M 
West Fourth Street – Washington Square (express): B  D 
Next north 47th–50th Streets – Rockefeller Center: B  D  F  M 
Next south West Fourth Street – Washington Square: B  D  F  M 

The IND Sixth Avenue Line level is also an express station that has four tracks and two island platforms. The mezzanine elevators are at the north end of the station while the staircases to the Manhattan Mall entrance are at the south end. The platforms have numerous stairs and escalators leading to the main mezzanine.

The platforms are not equal in length, as the northbound one is longer than the southbound one. North of this station are numerous crossovers and switches that allow trains from uptown to terminate here on the express tracks during construction and closures.

During construction on the IND portion of this station, contractors had to counter problems in their path. For one, the BMT and PATH platforms existed decades before this portion of the station was completed. Constructors had to dig deeper in order to pass the original platforms without interference, as well as avoiding wires and pipes.

Until around mid-1980s, there were passageways (but not free transfers) to the adjacent 42nd Street – Bryant Park station to the north and to 34th Street – Penn Station on the IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line.

Prior to the opening of the Chrystie Street Connection in 1967, the express tracks only extended to bumper blocks about 140 feet south of this station, though the tunnels extended for another 260 feet beyond that.


Bombing plot

Main article: Shahawar Matin Siraj

On August 28, 2004, Shahawar Matin Siraj and James Elshafay were arrested for planning to bomb the Herald Square station during the 2004 Republican National Convention. Elshafay cooperated with prosecutors and received a plea deal; Siraj was convicted of conspiracy on four counts, the most serious of which was plotting to bomb a public transportation system, in 2006 and was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2007.[4][5][6]

Notable places nearby

References

  1. ^ New York Times, Transfer Points Under Higher Fare, June 30, 1948, page 19
  2. ^ a b "Facts and Figures: Annual Subway Ridership". New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority. http://mta.info/nyct/facts/ridership/ridership_sub_annual.htm. Retrieved 2011-06-02. 
  3. ^ New York Times, Open New Subway to Times Square, January 6, 1918
  4. ^ Marzulli, John (2006-05-25). "Win in Terror War: Herald Sq. bomb plotter guilty, NYPD vindicated". Daily News. http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/2006/05/25/2006-05-25_win_in_terror_war__herald_sq.html. Retrieved 2010-04-14. 
  5. ^ Rashbaum, William K. (2006-05-25). "Guilty Verdict in Plot to Bomb Subway Station". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/25/nyregion/25herald.html. Retrieved 2010-04-14. 
  6. ^ Rashbaum, William K. (2007-01-09). "Man Gets 30 Years in Subway Bomb Plot". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/09/nyregion/09plot.html. Retrieved 2010-04-14. 

External links