Houston Street station (IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line)

For the demolished station serving the IRT Third Avenue Line, see Houston Street (IRT Third Avenue Line). For the demolished station serving the IRT Ninth Avenue Line, see Houston Street (IRT Ninth Avenue Line).
Template:Short description
Template:Infobox NYCS
The **Houston Street station** is a local station on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at West Houston and Varick Streets in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, it is served by the 1 train at all times and by the 2 train during late nights.

The station was built by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) as part of the Dual Contracts with New York City, and opened on July 1, 1918. The station had its platforms extended in the 1960s, and was renovated in 1994.

## History

### Construction and opening

Template:Stack

The Dual Contracts, which were signed on March 19, 1913, were contracts for the construction and/or rehabilitation and operation of rapid transit lines in the City of New York. The contracts were "dual" in that they were signed between the City and two separate private companies (the Interborough Rapid Transit Company and the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company), all working together to make the construction of the Dual Contracts possible. The Dual Contracts promised the construction of several lines in Brooklyn. As part of Contract 4, the IRT agreed to build a branch of the original subway line south down Seventh Avenue, Varick Street, and West Broadway to serve the West Side of Manhattan.

The construction of this line, in conjunction with the construction of the Lexington Avenue Line, would change the operations of the IRT system. Instead of having trains go via Broadway, turning onto 42nd Street, before finally turning onto Park Avenue, there would be two trunk lines connected by the 42nd Street Shuttle. The system would be changed from looking like a "Z" system on a map to an "H" system. One trunk would run via the new Lexington Avenue Line down Park Avenue, and the other trunk would run via the new Seventh Avenue Line up Broadway. In order for the line to continue down Varick Street and West Broadway, these streets needed to be widened, and two new streets were built, the Seventh Avenue Extension and the Varick Street Extension. It was predicted that the subway extension would lead to the growth of the Lower West Side, and to neighborhoods such as Chelsea and Greenwich Village.

Houston Street opened as the line was extended south to South Ferry from 34th Street–Penn Station on July 1, 1918, and was served by a shuttle. The new "H" system was implemented on August 1, 1918, joining the two halves of the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line and sending all West Side trains south from Times Square. An immediate result of the switch was the need to transfer using the 42nd Street Shuttle in order to retrace the original layout. The completion of the "H" system doubled the capacity of the IRT system.

### Station renovations

On August 9, 1964, the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) announced the letting of a $7.6 million contract to lengthen platforms at stations on the Broadway—Seventh Avenue Line from Rector Street to 34th Street–Penn Station, including Houston Street, and stations from Central Park North–110th Street to 145th Street on the Lenox Avenue Line to allow express trains to be lengthened from nine-car trains to ten-car trains, and to lengthen locals from eight-car trains to ten-car trains. With the completion of this project, the NYCTA project to lengthen IRT stations to accommodate ten-car trains would be complete.

This station was renovated in 1994 by in-house forces.Template:Citation needed

## Station layout

 File:IRT Broadway-Seventh Houston Street Mural (Platform Diving).jpg
 File:Houston Street - Station Stairs.jpg
Template:NYCS Platform Layout IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line/local
This underground station has two side platforms and four tracks. In a fashion similar to the former 91st Street on the same line and 33rd Street on the Lexington Avenue Line, the two center tracks appears to descend within the confines of the station. As a result, the express tracks are at a lower elevation than the local tracks in the northern half of the station. The center tracks are used by the 2 and 3 express trains during daytime hours.

Both platforms have golden mosaic trim lines with blue and green borders and "H" tablets on a light blue background at regular intervals. The large name tablets read "HOUSTON ST." in gold font on a dark blue background and gold border. There are also directional tablets in the same style. Yellow I-beam columns run along both platforms at regular intervals with alternating ones having the standard black station name plate with white Helvetica lettering.

The station's artwork, installed during a 1994 in-house renovation, is entitled *Platform Diving* by Deborah Brown. It consists of murals on both platforms depicting sea creatures in an underwater subway system.

### Exits

All fare control areas in this station are at platform level and there are no crossovers or crossunders. On both sides, a turnstile bank leads to a two staircases going up to West Houston and Varick Streets, either western corners on the South Ferry-bound side and either eastern corners on the Bronx-bound side. Only the Bronx-bound side has a token booth; the South Ferry-bound side is unstaffed.

Both platforms have an unstaffed secondary fare control area towards their south ends. Two high entry/exit turnstiles and one exit-only turnstile leads to two staircases going up to Varick and King Streets, either western corners on the South Ferry-bound side and either eastern corners on the Bronx-bound side.

## External links

Template:Commonscat

* Template:NYCS ref

Template:SoHo, Manhattan
Template:NYCS stations navbox by service
Template:NYCS stations navbox by line

1. ↑ Terms and Conditions of Dual System Contracts. *nycsubway.org*. Public Service Commission (March 19, 1913).
2. ↑ The Dual System of Rapid Transit (1912). Public Service Commission (September 1912).
3. ↑ Template:Cite news
4. ↑ Template:Cite book
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Template:Cite news
6. ↑ Template:Cite news
7. ↑ Template:Cite news
8. ↑ Template:Cite news
9. ↑ Template:Cite news
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 MTA Neighborhood Maps: SoHo / Tribeca. Metropolitan Transportation Authority (2015).