Times Square–42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal station

The Times Square–42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal station is a New York City Subway station complex located under Times Square and the Port Authority Bus Terminal, at the intersection of 42nd Street, Seventh and Eighth Avenues, and Broadway in Midtown Manhattan. The complex allows free transfers between the IRT 42nd Street Shuttle, the BMT Broadway Line, the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line and the IRT Flushing Line, with a long transfer to the IND Eighth Avenue Line one block west at 42nd Street–Port Authority Bus Terminal. The complex is served by the 1, 2, 3, 7, A, E, N, and Q trains at all times; the W train during weekdays; the C, R, and 42nd Street Shuttle (S) trains at all times except late nights; and <7> trains during rush hours in the peak direction. A free passageway from the shuttle platform to the station, served by the , is open during the day from 6 a.m. to 12 a.m.
The present shuttle platforms were built for the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) as a local station on the city's first subway line, which was approved in 1900. The station opened on October 27, 1904, as one of the original 28 stations of the New York City Subway. As part of the Dual Contracts between the IRT and the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT), the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line platforms opened in 1917, followed by the Broadway Line platforms in 1918 and the Flushing Line platforms in 1928. The original platforms were also reconfigured to serve the shuttle. The Eighth Avenue Line platforms opened in 1932 as part of the Independent Subway System (IND). The complex has been reconstructed numerous times over the years. The free transfer between the IRT and BMT opened in 1948 while the transfer to the IND opened in 1988. The complex, excluding the IND station, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. In the early 21st century, the shuttle station was reconfigured.
Excluding closed platforms, the Flushing Line and shuttle stations have one island platform and two tracks, while the Broadway Line, Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line, and Eighth Avenue Line stations have two island platforms and four tracks. All platforms and most of the station complex is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, except for the IND passageway. The Times Square–42nd Street complex is the busiest station complex in the system, serving 65,020,294 passengers in 2019.
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== History ==
The IRT platforms have been connected to each other as a transfer station as the lines opened: first between the 42nd Street Shuttle and the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line in 1917, then the transfer was incorporated with the Flushing Line in 1927. On December 24, 1932, a passageway was opened, connecting the IND Eighth Avenue Line station and the IRT platforms, with a new entrance at West 41st Street between Seventh Avenue and Eighth Avenue. The passageway was not located within a fare control, and passengers had to pay an extra fare to transfer between the IND and the IRT station. The free transfer between the IRT and BMT was added on July 1, 1948. The block-long passageway that runs west to the 42nd Street–Port Authority Bus Terminal station on the IND Eighth Avenue Line was reopened within fare control on December 11, 1988.
=== First subway ===
Planning for a subway line in New York City dates to 1864. However, development of what would become the city's first subway line did not start until 1894, when the New York State Legislature authorized the Rapid Transit Act. The subway plans were drawn up by a team of engineers led by William Barclay Parsons, chief engineer of the Rapid Transit Commission. It called for a subway line from New York City Hall in lower Manhattan to the Upper West Side, where two branches would lead north into the Bronx. A plan was formally adopted in 1897, which called for the subway to run under several streets in lower Manhattan before running under Fourth Avenue, 42nd Street, and Broadway. A previous proposal had called for the entire length of the subway to use Broadway, but the "awkward alignment...along Forty-Second Street", as the commission put it, was necessitated by objections to using the southernmost section of Broadway. Legal challenges were resolved near the end of 1899. The Rapid Transit Construction Company, organized by John B. McDonald and funded by August Belmont Jr., signed the initial Contract 1 with the Rapid Transit Commission in February 1900, in which it would construct the subway and maintain a 50-year operating lease from the opening of the line. In 1901, the firm of Heins & LaFarge was hired to design the underground stations. Belmont incorporated the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) in April 1902 to operate the subway.
The present shuttle station at Times Square–42nd Street was constructed as part of the route segment underneath 42nd Street and Times Square, which extended from Park Avenue and 41st Street to Broadway and 47th Street. Construction on this section of the line began on February 25, 1901. Work for that section had been awarded to Degnon-McLean. The Times Square–42nd Street station opened on October 27, 1904, as one of the original 28 stations of the New York City Subway from City Hall to 145th Street on the West Side Branch. Times Square itself had recently been renamed (from Long Acre Square) in order to give the new subway station a distinctive name.
After the first subway line was completed in 1908, the station was served by local trains along both the West Side (now the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line to Van Cortlandt Park–242nd Street) and East Side (now the Lenox Avenue Line). West Side local trains had their southern terminus at City Hall during rush hours and South Ferry at other times, and had their northern terminus at 242nd Street. East Side local trains ran from City Hall to Lenox Avenue (145th Street).
===Expansion===
To address overcrowding, in 1909, the New York Public Service Commission proposed lengthening platforms at stations along the original IRT subway. As part of a modification to the IRT's construction contracts, made on January 18, 1910, the company was to lengthen station platforms to accommodate ten-car express and six-car local trains. In addition to $1.5 million (equivalent to $ million in ) spent on platform lengthening, $500,000 () was spent on building additional entrances and exits. It was anticipated that these improvements would increase capacity by 25 percent. Platforms at local stations, such as the Times Square station, were lengthened by between . The northbound platform was extended to the north and south, while the southbound platform was lengthened to the south, necessitating a reconfiguration of the Knickerbocker Hotel entrance.
==== Dual Contracts ====
In 1913, as part of the Dual Contracts, the New York City Public Service Commission planned to split the original IRT system into three segments: two north-south lines, carrying through trains over the Lexington Avenue and Broadway–Seventh Avenue Lines, and a west-east shuttle under 42nd Street. This would form a roughly "H"-shaped system. The original alignment under 42nd Street would become a shuttle service, and a new set of platforms would be built for the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line. The Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line station opened on June 3, 1917, as part of an extension of the IRT to South Ferry. It was served by a shuttle train to 34th Street–Penn Station until the rest of the extension opened a year later on July 1, 1918. This meant that the subway would be expanded down the West Side of Manhattan to neighborhoods such as Greenwich Village and the western portion of the Financial District. On August 1, the Dual Contracts' "H system" was put into service, and the former main line platform became part of the 42nd Street Shuttle.
Also planned under the Dual Contracts was the Broadway Line of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT), subsequently the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT). The Broadway Line station was planned as a local station, with the express station to be located at 47th Street. In 1914, the Public Service Commission ordered BRT Chief Engineer Craven to make the Broadway Line station an express station, at the insistence of Brooklynites who wanted an express station in the Theater District of Manhattan. The Broadway Line station opened on January 5, 1918.
Finally, the Dual Contracts also included completing and opening the Steinway Tunnel as part of the new Flushing subway line. The tunnel, running under the East River with trolley loops on both the Manhattan and Queens sides, had sat unused since 1907, when test runs had been performed in the then-nearly-complete tunnel. The route was to go from Times Square through the tunnel over to Long Island City and from there continue toward Flushing. The Flushing Line station opened on March 14, 1927, extending the Flushing Line westward from its previous terminus at Fifth Avenue.
==== Independent Subway System ====
The Eighth Avenue Line station opened on September 10, 1932, as part of the city-operated Independent Subway System (IND)'s initial segment, between Chambers Street and 207th Street. The IND's lower level was built together with the upper level platforms in the late 1920s/early 1930s, but existed as an unfinished shell until it was completed The lower level opened on August 25, 1952, to serve rush hour trains. For most of its existence, the lower level platform was only used for occasional service specials, including summer "Rockaway Special" trains to Beach 98th Street at the Rockaways' Playland beginning in 1958, the Aqueduct Racetrack special fare trains from 1959 to 1981, and rush hour E trains in the 1970s, beginning on March 23, 1970.
===Mid-20th century===
The Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line station was the site of a 1928 wreck that killed 16 people, the second worst in New York City history (the worst being the Malbone Street Wreck in Brooklyn, which killed at least 93).
In Fiscal Year 1937, the express-track side of the southbound Broadway–Seventh Avenue platform was extended to the south to provide ample space at the center door of ten-car trains. In addition, a new entrances to the northwestern corner of Seventh Avenue and 42nd Street through the Rialto Building was opened.
On June 1, 1940, the title of the BMT was transferred to the City of New York, signifying the first phase of unification of New York's subway system with the IND as well as eventual public operation of the entire system. The IRT would be merged two weeks later. At midnight, a ceremony commemorating the transfer, with five hundred people in attendance, was held at the Times Square station. The last BMT train had left the 57th Street station five minutes earlier. When the train arrived at Times Square, BMT president William S. Menden handed over his company's properties to Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia, who then gave them to New York City Board of Transportation chairman John H. Delaney. The Board of Transportation operated the New York City Transit System until the creation of the New York City Transit Authority in 1953.
The Flushing Line platforms at Times Square, as well as platforms at all other stations on the Flushing Line with the exception of Queensboro Plaza, were extended in 1955–1956 to accommodate 11-car trains.
The BMT station received a minor overhaul in the late 1970s when the MTA fixed the station's structure and the overall appearance, and it repaired staircases and platform edges, removed pedestrian ramps, and replaced lighting.
=== Late 20th and early 21st centuries ===
The Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC), an agency of the New York state government, had proposed redeveloping the area around a portion of West 42nd Street in 1981. As part of the redevelopment, in 1988, the state and NYCTA announced that they would spend $125 million on renovating the Times Square subway complex. The project was postponed in 1992 after Prudential Insurance and Park Tower Realty, which had committed to developing four buildings in the redevelopment, was given permission to postpone the construction of these buildings.
The station underwent total reconstruction in stages starting in 1994. Phase 1 rebuilt the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line platforms with a new mezzanine, stairs, and elevators, and was completed in 2002. Phase 2, finished in 2006, rebuilt the Broadway Line, Flushing Line, and Eighth Avenue Line portions of the station. In February 2022, the MTA announced that the IRT Flushing Line platforms would receive platform screen doors as part of a pilot program. The announcement came after several people had been shoved onto tracks, including one incident that led to the death of Michelle Go on the BMT platform.
==== Phase 1 and 2 renovation ====
In 1995, the MTA announced it would build a main entrance on the south side of 42nd Street between Seventh Avenue and Broadway. The site of the new entrance was occupied at the time by an "interim" retail space. This entrance opened in July 1997. It features a bright neon and colored glass flashing sign with train route symbols and the word "Subway", as well as an elevator and escalators.
In July 1998, the MTA started accepting bids for the renovation of the Times Square station. The first phase would include renovating the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line platforms, part of the Broadway Line platforms, and the mezzanine, while the second phase would cover the rest of the station. The goal was to reduce congestion and improve rider access, comfort and safety by improving visual lines and increasing pedestrian capacity. The main corridor would be widened and the number of sharp corners would be reduced. In addition, there would be new elevators for ADA accessibility, new escalators, and wider corridors and stairs. William Nicholas Bodouva & Associates designed the materials for the renovation. A US$44 million renovation of the complex began in 1999.
The mezzanine above the BMT Broadway Line, which formerly housed a record shop named Record Mart, was renovated with a large oval balcony looking over the trackway. In 2004, four unisex stall bathrooms were opened on the mezzanine between the IRT and BMT lines; they are staffed and maintained by employees of the Times Square Alliance, the local Business Improvement District. Record Mart reopened in 2007 on the south side of the IRT/BMT corridor,Review and photos of the Times Square bathrooms at Gothamist and when it closed permanently in 2020, it had been Manhattan's oldest operating record store. New entrances were added on the northwest and southwest corners of Seventh Avenue and 42nd Street. The southwest-corner entrance at 5 Times Square has both escalators and stairs. The northwest-corner entrance in 3 Times Square only has stairs because the MTA allowed the building's developer Rudin Management to pay $1.3 million instead of adding two escalators.
In the late 2000s, the MTA began construction on an extension of the IRT Flushing Line to 34th Street, which would require demolishing the IND Eighth Avenue lower level platform. , the lower level platform was being demolished as part of the Flushing Line extension. Transit blogger Benjamin Kabak, who was invited to tour the Flushing Line extension and view construction progress, reported in February 2012 that the lower level platform had been "bisected" by the Flushing Line extension. The tunnels slope down through where the old lower level platform was. On September 13, 2015, the Flushing Line was extended one stop west from Times Square to 34th Street–Hudson Yards.
==== Phase 3 renovation ====
The shuttle platform was the last station in the station complex that lacked ADA-accessibility. Although planning had been completed in 2006, the project was delayed due to a lack of funding. However, as part of the 2015–2019 Capital Program, the MTA scheduled some improvements to make it accessible under the guidelines of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. As part of the program, the 42nd Street Shuttle became ADA-accessible, the shuttle was reconfigured from three tracks to two tracks, and the trains became six cars long. A new platform, wide and located between tracks 1 and 4, was built along the section of the shuttle that runs under 42nd Street, which is located within a straight tunnel. The whole project will cost $235.41 million. The Times Square shuttle platform will be extended east to allow for a second point of entry at Sixth Avenue, with a connection to the IND Sixth Avenue Line as well a second connection to the IRT Flushing Line via its Fifth Avenue station.
The entire Times Square station was rehabilitated with congestion mitigation measures. A wider stairway was installed from the shuttle mezzanine to street level, and a new control area was installed at the bottom of the stairway. The cost of this part of the project is $30 million. In conjunction, a second project added access to the Times Square complex. As part of the project, the eastern platform was closed to public access, and the exit to 43rd Street was closed, covered over, and turned into an emergency exit starting on October 19, 2019. This entrance would be replaced by a new entrance with a twenty-foot wide stairway covered by a canopy. The staircase would lead from the shuttle mezzanine to street level, blocking portions of the station's original finishes. A new control area would be installed at the bottom of the stairway. To further increase capacity, 21 columns were eliminated; other columns at the station were thinned, requiring the underpinning of roof beams; and 142 columns in the concourse area were relocated away from the car doors. The cost of this project is $28.93 million.
The northern section of the original west platform wall dating from 1904 would be removed, and Jamestown, OTS, would build elevators connecting the station with an observation deck at One Times Square. The wall would be broken into sections and moved to the New York Transit Museum to mitigate the adverse effects of the station renovation. To further mitigate damage done to portions of the original station, certain features would be repaired and restored, including the original southwest platform and control area wall finishes, the original cast iron columns, the ceiling plaster ornamentation, and the cast iron guard rails. In addition, the east platform walls that are located within back-of-house space would continue to be protected. The damaged Knickerbocker marble lintel located at the west platform control area would be replicated. To reference portions of the original tracks located at tracks 2 and 3, the granite paving for the shuttle platform would be modified with a veneer steel rail. These sixty-foot-long sections would be located on the new platform between tracks 1 and 4. Finally, a plaque describing the history of the station was installed underneath the replicated Knickerbocker lintel.
The construction contract for the project was originally scheduled to be awarded in June 2018. However, this was delayed by several months because of changes to the project schedule and cost. The construction duration was expected to be extended by three months, and the cost would increase by $25 million, because of additions to the original construction plan. A construction contract was awarded in March 2019, with an estimated completion date of March 2022. The shuttle was temporarily closed in mid-2020 for this work. The new platform opened on September 7, 2021, along with the passageway to the 42nd Street–Bryant Park station. This made the shuttle station ADA-accessible; though the passageway was not yet accessible, elevators were planned to be installed at the Bryant Park end of the passageway.
====Failed terrorist plots====
The Times Square station has been targeted by two failed terrorist plots. In September 2009, Najibullah Zazi and alleged co-conspirators planned suicide bombings on subway trains near this station and the Grand Central–42nd Street station, but the plot was discovered before they could carry it out. There was also an attempted bombing on December 11, 2017, during the morning rush hour, when a pipe bomb device partially detonated in the passageway connecting the IND Eighth Avenue Line station with the rest of the complex.
==Station layout==
Times Square was named for The New York Times. The Times headquarters, built by Times owner Adolph S. Ochs, housed the original subway station (now the shuttle platforms) in its basement.
Five separate stations comprise the Times Square complex. The shallowest station is the 42nd Street Shuttle platform, which runs in an northwest-southeast direction under 42nd Street east of Broadway, and is below street level. The IND Eighth Avenue Line station is below the street, running under Eighth Avenue in approximately a north-south direction, one block west of the other platforms. The IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line station runs under Seventh Avenue and is parallel to the IND Eighth Avenue Line platforms. The BMT Broadway Line station runs in a true north-south alignment under Broadway. The deepest station, serving the IRT Flushing Line, is below street level and runs roughly west-east under 41st Street.
=== Mezzanine ===
There are several mezzanines throughout the complex, connected by several ramps and stairs. The primary, upper mezzanine is near the level of the shuttle platforms and consists of four passageways in a trapezoidal layout, arranged under 42nd Street, Broadway, 41st Street, and Seventh Avenue. An oval-shaped cut is on the Broadway side of the main mezzanine, below which are the northern ends of the BMT platforms. A pair of escalators to the Flushing Line is at the southwestern corner of this mezzanine. Some parts of the mezzanine have glass-tiled walls, while other parts are clad with white ceramic tile topped by mosaic bands. "Music Under New York" controls various spots within the mezzanine for performers.
Near the south end of the BMT platforms, there is a smaller mezzanine overhead, which leads to exits at 40th Street.
Under the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line platforms, but above the Flushing Line platforms, is a lower mezzanine level extending from west to east. This mezzanine connects to a steep ramp that leads to the passageway to the IND Eighth Avenue Line platforms.
===Exits===
From the Eighth Avenue portion of the complex, there is one street stair to each of the northwest, northeast, and southeast corners of Eighth Avenue and 40th Street. There are two underground passageways to Port Authority Bus Terminal: one between 40th and 41st Streets, and a wheelchair accessible passageway between 41st and 42nd Streets. At the intersection of Eighth Avenue and 42nd Street, there is one street stair to the northwest corner, one stair inside a building on the northeast corner, and one escalator bank inside a building on the southeast corner. One street stair leads to the southwest corner of Eighth Avenue and 43rd Street. Finally, there is one street stair to each of the northwest, southwest, and southeast corners of Eighth Avenue and 44th Street. The southwest-corner entrance also has a wheelchair lift that leads to an elevator. All of these exits are closest to the Eighth Avenue Line platforms and are signed as serving the A, C, E, and 7 trains.
From the Times Square portion of the complex, several exits are signed as serving most or all of the services in the complex. There are two exits inside buildings on 42nd Street west of Seventh Avenue: the north side within 3 Times Square and the south side within 5 Times Square. On the south side of 42nd Street between Seventh Avenue and Broadway, there is an elevator and escalator bank inside the Times Square Tower. The street level fare control at this site features restored original "Times Square" mosaics from the Contract I station walls (now used by the shuttle). One street stair rises to the southeast corner of Broadway and 42nd Street. A block to the south, one stair goes into a building at the northeast corner of 41st Street and Seventh Avenue, and two street stairs go to the southeast corner. An exit-only stair rises to the southwest corner of 41st Street and Broadway.
Two sets of exits on 40th Street are separate from the main mezzanine areas and are signed as only serving certain services. At 40th Street and Seventh Avenue, one stair goes into a building at the southwest corner, and one street stair goes to the southeast corner. These serve a mezzanine above the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line platforms and are signed as serving the 1, 2, 3, 7, and S trains. One street stair rises to each of the corners of 40th Street and Broadway, serving the southern mezzanine above the Broadway Line platforms. Those entrances are signed as serving the N, Q, R, W, and S trains.
There are several closed exits throughout the station complex. Until 1981, there was a stair to the southeastern corner of 41st Street and 8th Avenue. Another stair rose to the south side of 41st Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues in the passageway between the Eighth Avenue Line station and the rest of the station complex, and was closed in 1989 due to very low usage. A street stair to the northeastern corner of 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue, by One Times Square, was closed around 1998–2000.
 Two stairs to the northeastern corner of 41st Street and Seventh Avenue were closed during the same time, as were stairs to both western corners of that intersection. In 2019, a stair to the southwestern corner of 43rd Street and Broadway was closed as part of the shuttle modernization project.
== IRT 42nd Street Shuttle platform ==
The Times Square station on the 42nd Street Shuttle consists of an island platform between tracks 1 and 4, which was completed in 2021. It is wide and is long, with a slight northward curve at the western end. At the east end of the platform is a passageway to the 42nd Street–Bryant Park station, running between tracks 1 and 4.
The island platform replaced a layout dating from the original IRT subway, completed in 1904. It was originally a four-track local stop with two side platforms outside the local tracks. Most of the wall along the side platform for track 1 was removed in 1914 to provide a connection to the new Times Square station on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line. An underpass formerly connected the original side platforms. In 1918, the southbound express track (formerly track 2) was removed and replaced by a temporary wooden platform for access to the original northbound express track (formerly track 3). Track 3's wooden platform was subsequently replaced by a more permanent platform, while the old local platforms still served tracks 1 and 4. Track 3 was taken out of service on November 7, 2020, and was replaced with the island platform. The old platforms were connected on the west (railroad north) side. A movable walkway crossed track 4, the former northbound local track; the walkway could be temporarily removed to allow access to and from that track. Because of the curvature on the platforms, gap fillers under the platforms were used on tracks 1 and 3. These two platforms were concave and curved toward the shuttle trains. Track 1 was long and track 3 was long. Track 4 did not have gap fillers because of the convex curve of the platform, curving away from the shuttle trains. The platform serving Track 4 was only long, and could barely fit the three cars of the shuttle.
===Design===
As with other stations built as part of the original IRT, the station was constructed using a cut-and-cover method. The tunnel is covered by a "U"-shaped trough that contains utility pipes and wires. The bottom of this trough contains a foundation of concrete no less than thick. Each platform consists of concrete slabs, beneath which are drainage basins. The platform next to track 1 contain circular Doric columns spaced every . Prior to the 2019–2022 reconstruction, there were additional columns between the tracks and on track 3's platform, spaced every , which supported the jack-arched concrete station roofs. The renovation removed or relocated many of these columns so they are spaced at wider intervals, and an island platform was built atop tracks 2 and 3. There is a gap between the trough wall and the platform walls, which are made of -thick brick covered over by a tiled finish.
The original decorative scheme for the side platforms consisted of blue tile station-name tablets, blue and pink tile bands, multicolored tile pilasters, a buff faience cornice, and buff faience plaques. The mosaic tiles at all original IRT stations were manufactured by the American Encaustic Tile Company, which subcontracted the installations at each station. The decorative work was performed by faience contractor Grueby Faience Company. The former southbound local platform (serving track 1) still has a vestiges of a doorway to the Knickerbocker Hotel, while the former northbound local platform (which once served track 4) retains a former doorway to the Times Building. Small sections of the original wall remained before the station's reconstruction, with brick wainscoting capped by a marble band and white tiles.
The shuttle station contains three works of art, all by Nick Cave. Every One (2021), in the passageway between the Times Square and 42nd Street–Bryant Park stations, consists of a mosaic flanking 11 digital screens; one side of the mosaic measures long and the other measures long. The mosaic and screens both depict figures in "Soundsuits", sculptural costumes made in a variety of materials. The two other artworks are Each One at the new shuttle entrance and Equal All on the island platform.
===Track layout===
North of the station, track 4 merges into the northbound IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line local track along the original subway alignment, north of the current Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line station. The other three tracks once curved parallel to this. Track 1 ends at a bumper block at the west end of the platform. Track 3 originally also ended at a bumper block at the west end of its platform. There is no track connection between track 4 and the other tracks anywhere along the shuttle.
== BMT Broadway Line platforms ==
The Times Square–42nd Street station on the BMT Broadway Line is an express station, with four tracks and two island platforms. The N and Q trains stop here at all times. The R stops here at all times except late nights, while the W stops here during weekdays. Two stairs and one elevator from each platform ascend to the primary mezzanine. At the far south end of each platform, two stairs ascend to the southern BMT mezzanine. Near the center of the southbound platform, a set of stairs rises to the 41st Street corridor of the primary mezzanine.
The tunnel is covered by a "U"-shaped trough that contains utility pipes and wires. The bottom of this trough contains a concrete foundation no less than thick. Each platform consists of concrete slabs, beneath which are drainage basins. The platforms contain I-beam columns spaced every . Additional columns between the tracks, spaced every , support the jack-arched concrete station roofs. The trackside walls also contain exposed I-beam columns, dividing the trackside walls into 5-foot-wide panels. The panels on the trackside walls consist of white square ceramic tiles. A frieze with multicolored geometric patterns runs atop the trackside walls, and a plaque with a framed white "42" tile is placed inside the frieze every 15 feet. The walls at the south ends of the platforms are not tiled.
The express tracks north of the station spread out to pass around a crossunder in the Times Square shuttle platforms. This crossunder was sealed off in the 1960s.
== IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line platforms ==
The Times Square–42nd Street station on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line is an express station, with four tracks and two island platforms. The 1, 2, and 3 trains stop here at all times. The station serves as the southern terminal of 3 trains during late nights. The platforms are long, and were extended to the south in 1959. Stairways to the other lines are provided at the northern end and in the center of each platform; two stairways from each platform lead to the lower mezzanine level while the remainder lead to mezzanines above the platforms. An elevator leads from each platform to the upper mezzanine; the southbound elevator also leads to the lower mezzanine and the Flushing Line platform.
The tunnel is covered by a "U"-shaped trough that contains utility pipes and wires. The bottom of this trough contains a concrete foundation no less than thick. Each platform consists of concrete slabs, beneath which are drainage basins. The platforms contain I-beam columns spaced every . Additional columns between the tracks, spaced every , support the jack-arched concrete station roofs. The trackside walls also contain exposed I-beam columns, dividing the trackside walls into 5-foot-wide panels. The panels on the trackside walls consist of white square ceramic tiles. A frieze with multicolored geometric patterns runs atop the trackside walls, and a plaque with a stylized "T" is placed inside the frieze at intervals of every three panels.
Just south of the station, a fifth center track begins, formed by a connection from each express track. This track merges back into the two express tracks just before 34th Street–Penn Station. This center track was used in the past for turning rush hour "Gap Trains", which would head back up north. It is currently used for short turning 3 trains during nights.
==IND Eighth Avenue Line platforms==
The 42nd Street–Port Authority Bus Terminal station on the IND Eighth Avenue Line is an express stop. It is partly underneath the Port Authority Bus Terminal. The A and E trains stop here at all times, while the C train stops here at all times except late nights. It has one operational platform level, two offset island platforms, and a long mezzanine. Formerly, it also had a lower level with a single side platform.
The platform level of the station contains four tracks and two wide offset island platforms; the northbound platform extends from 42nd to 44th Streets, while the southbound platform extends from 40th to 42nd Streets. Passageway to Times Sq-42 St subway station is stair-free but contains ramps; however, these ramps are not ADA access compliant. The station's mezzanine extends four blocks from 40th to 44th Streets, and connects with the rest of the complex by a long passageway underneath 41st Street.
=== Former lower level ===
In addition to the level currently in use, there was formerly a lower platform on the southbound side (one track underneath the downtown local track on the upper level, and one side platform underneath the island platform above). The lower level featured two high-speed escalators to the mezzanine, and three staircases to the upper-level platform. The walls featured 1950s-era cream tiles, a purple and black tile band, and white mosaic name plates with black "42ND ST" text.
Theories differ on why the lower level platform was built. The platform could only be reached by trains originating from Queens via the IND Queens Boulevard Line, and 53rd Street (the current E service). Some commentators have speculated that this was meant to allow Manhattan-bound E trains from Queens to hold at 42nd Street without slowing down service on trains traveling from Central Park West, while the reported purpose of the platform upon its opening was to allow E trains to load and unload passengers without having to wait for one of the two upper level tracks to clear. Others have suggested that the lower level platform was built to prevent the IRT Flushing Line from being extended westward. The IND lower level platform was located just beyond the tail tracks on the IRT Flushing Line platform. Film producers have used the lower level platform for several films, most notably Ghost (1990), starring Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore. By the 2010s, the lower level platform had been bisected by the extension of the Flushing Line.
== IRT Flushing Line platform ==
The Times Square–42nd Street station on the IRT Flushing Line has one island platform and two tracks, located deep below West 41st Street. Stairs, escalators, and an elevator along the platform lead to various mezzanines. There are "TS" tile mosaics along the station walls. An office is located at the north (compass east) end of the platform. An elevator connects with the Downtown IRT Seventh Avenue platform and then the mezzanine.
The platform consists of concrete slabs, beneath which are drainage basins. The platform contains I-beam columns spaced every . Large H-section columns, supporting horizontal I-beams, also support the tall ceilings of the Flushing Line station. Above the escalators, X-supports and diagonally braced lateral beams also support the ceiling. The trackside walls also contain exposed I-beam columns, dividing the trackside walls into 5-foot-wide panels. The panels on the trackside walls consist of white square ceramic tiles. A frieze with multicolored geometric patterns runs atop the trackside walls, and a plaque with a framed white "TS" tile is placed inside the frieze every 15 feet. Similar mosaics run along the bases of the trackside walls as well.
The tracks continue south (compass west) beyond the station to the 34th Street station. These tracks formerly led to an unused storage and layover area, but the extension of the Flushing Line, whose trackwork was completed in 2013, included the addition of third rails to the layover tracks, as well as the inspection and replacement of these tracks. The closed lower level platform on the IND Eighth Avenue Line was blocking the line but since removed.
== Artwork ==
George Lewis Heins and Christopher Grant LaFarge were the first commissioned architects of the IRT. They designed the original Times Square Station, which was located at the current Grand Central Shuttle stop.
In many of their stations, Heins and LaFarge use symbolic imagery to honor a neighborhood or its namesake. When Squire Vickers took over as chief designer and architect of the IRT in 1906, he continued this tradition of using symbolism to speak to a station's history.
The colored tile trim of the IRT portions of the station closely resembles the Confederate flag. Scholars believe that Vickers and his colleagues unmistakably reference the symbol of the South to pay homage to New York Times owner Adolph S. Ochs. The Times had built a new headquarters directly above part of the subway station in 1904.Jackowe, David J. "The Times Square Confederate." Civil War Times; Aug 2012, Vol. 51 Issue 4, p. 42. http://www.historynet.com/confederate-flags-in-times-square.htm The Confederacy was a significant part of Ochs' heritage, and the eccentric Vickers relished literary and historical imagery.Underground Renaissance Man: Watch the Aesthetic Walls, Please After a 2010s movement in which Confederate monuments nationwide were removed, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced in August 2017 that these tiles would be replaced; the tiles were subsequently covered with stickers.
File:Times Square Confederate Mosaic - Original.jpg|Original colored tile trim, before the station renovation of the late 1990s
File:Times Square Confederate Mosaic - Modern Version.jpg|Replica of the original trim, installed in 1998
File:Lichtenstein Under Times Square vc.jpg|Times Square Mural by Roy Lichtenstein
File:42nd Street artwork vc.jpg|The Return of Spring/The Onset of Winter by Jack Beal
File:The Revelers vc.jpg|The Revelers by Jane Dickson
File:New York in Transit vc.jpg|New York in Transit by Jacob Lawrence
File:Times Square Times vc.jpg|Times Square Times by Toby Buonagurio
File:Just Go Home 42 Street vc.jpg|The Commuter's Lament by Norman B. Colp
Modern artwork installed in the complex includes the following:
*The Commuter's Lament or A Close Shave by Norman B. Colp, 1991
*New York in Transit by Jacob Lawrence, 2001
* The Return of Spring/The Onset of Winter by Jack Beal, 2001/2005
* Times Square Mural by Roy Lichtenstein, 2002 (collage 1990, fabricated 1994)
* Times Square Times: 35 Times by Toby Buonagurio, 2005
* The Revelers by Jane Dickson, 2008
New York in Transit was Lawrence's last public work before his 2000 death. Lichtenstein died in 1997 before the mural could be installed; he had completed Times Square Mural in 1994, but installation was delayed until after the station complex's renovation.
The Commuter's Lament is a series of signs attached to the roof of the lower passageway, inspired by classic Burma-Shave ads. In order, the signs read Overslept/So tired/If late/Get fired/Why bother?/Why the pain?/Just go home/Do it again.; The last panel is a picture of a bed. The panels were part of an art project that was supposed to last only one year, but were never removed.
== References ==
===Notes===
=== Further reading ===
*
== External links ==
* nycsubway.org – IRT Grand Central/Times Square Shuttle: Times Square
* nycsubway.org – IRT Flushing Line: Times Square
* nycsubway.org – IRT West Side Line: Times Square/42nd Street (text used with permission)
* nycsubway.org – BMT Broadway Subway: Times Square/42nd Street
* nycsubway.org – IND Eighth Avenue Line: 42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal
* MTA's Arts For Transit – 42nd Street–Port Authority Bus Terminal (IND Eighth Avenue Line)
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