33rd Street station (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)

33rd Street is a local station on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Park Avenue and 33rd Street in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan, it is served by 6 trains at all times, <6> trains during weekdays in the peak direction, and 4 trains during late night hours.

Not to be confused with 33rd Street–Rawson Street station.

33 Street  ​
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Downtown platform with Arts for Transit artwork on the columns
Station statistics
Address	East 33rd Street & Park Avenue New York, NY 10016
Borough	Manhattan
Locale	Murray Hill, Kips Bay
Coordinates	40°44′47″N 73°58′55″W
Division	A (IRT)
Line	IRT Lexington Avenue Line
Services	4  (late nights) ​      6  (all times) <6>  (weekdays until 8:45 p.m., peak direction)
Transit connections	NYCT Bus: M34 SBS, M34A SBS MTA Bus: BxM1
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	4
Other information
Opened	October 27, 1904 (1904-10-27)[1]
Station code	403[2]
Wireless service	[3][4]
Opposite-direction transfer available	No
Traffic
Passengers (2019)	8,934,900[5]  6.2%
Rank	33 out of 424[5]
Station succession
Next north	Grand Central–42nd Street: 4  ​6  <6> Grand Central (shuttle): no passenger service
Next south	28th Street: 4  ​6  <6>
Location Show map of New York City Subway Show map of New York City Show map of New York
Street map
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times Stops late nights only Stops rush hours in the peak direction only
33rd Street Subway Station (IRT)
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
New York City Landmark No. 1096
MPS	New York City Subway System MPS
NRHP reference No.	04001014[6]
NYCL No.	1096
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	September 17, 2004
Designated NYCL	November 24, 1981[7]

History

Track layout
to 42 St to 28 St

Construction started on the first IRT line in 1900.[8]^:162–191 The part of the line from City Hall to just south of 42nd Street was part of the original IRT line, opened on October 27, 1904 including a local station at 33rd Street.[1]

On April 13, 1948, the platform extensions to accommodate ten-car trains at this station along with those at 23rd Street, and 28th Street were opened for use.[9]

On December 27, 1948, a new entrance to the station at 32nd Street opened for use.[9]

Express stop proposals

It has been proposed several times–by the IRT and members of the public–that this station be rebuilt as an express stop to reduce overcrowding at the Grand Central–42nd Street station one stop to the north. It was estimated that the extra time spent by express trains at 33rd Street would be offset by the reduced dwell times at Grand Central.[10][11]

Station layout

G	Street level	Entrances/exits
P Platform level	Side platform
	Northbound local	← toward Pelham Bay Park or Parkchester (Grand Central–42nd Street) ← toward Woodlawn late nights (Grand Central–42nd Street)
	Northbound express	← do not stop here
	Southbound express	→ do not stop here →
	Southbound local	→ toward Brooklyn Bridge (28th Street) → → toward New Lots Avenue late nights (28th Street) →
	Side platform

There are four tracks and two side platforms, with the express tracks in the middle. The express tracks stay level, while the local tracks slowly incline from south to north to allow for the easier deceleration of local trains.[12] This results in a layout similar to Houston Street on the IRT Broadway-Seventh Avenue Line, the express tracks are at a lower elevation than the local tracks in the northern half of the station. North of the station, the two pairs of tracks in each direction separate into different tunnels because of the presence of the Murray Hill Tunnel, which runs under the center of this section of Park Avenue. The station was renovated in the late 1990s or early 2000s, and contains eagle plaques similar to those at Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall. The plaques contain the numerals "33". Fare control is at the platform level. The station has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2004.[6]

33rd St to 34th St subway cross-section
11th Av	10th & 9th Avs are skipped	8th Av	Madison Square Garden	7th Av	Storefronts	6th Av & Broadway		5th & Madison Avs are skipped	Park Av
mezzanine		A / C / E	concourse	1 / 2 / 3	Former Gimbel's passageway	mezz	PATH		6 / <6>
mezzanine		mezzanine	concourse	mezzanine		N / Q / R / W
7 / <7>			Penn Station			B/D/F/<F>/M

Exits

Exit location[13]	Number of exits	Platform served
NW corner of Park Avenue and 33rd Street	1	Southbound
SW corner of Park Avenue and 33rd Street	1	Southbound
NE corner of Park Avenue and 33rd Street	1	Northbound
SE corner of Park Avenue and 33rd Street	1	Northbound
SE corner of Park Avenue S and 32nd Street	2	Northbound
SW corner of Park Avenue S and 32nd Street	2	Southbound

Image gallery

• 
  Faience plaque by Heins & LaFarge / Grueby Faience Company, 1904.
• 
  Tile name tablet by Heins & LaFarge / John H. Parry Co., 1904.
• 
• 
• 
  The unique fare control ironwork and Art for Transit installation on the columns
• 
  Southbound street stairs
• 
  33rd Street station in 1905

References

1. "Our Subway Open: 150,000 Try It; Mayor McClellan Runs the First Official Train". The New York Times. October 28, 1904. p. 1. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
2. "Station Developers' Information". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
3. "NYC Subway Wireless – Active Stations". Transit Wireless Wifi. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
4. Attached PDF to "Governor Cuomo Announces Wireless Service and New "Transit Wireless WiFi" in Queens and Manhattan Subway Stations", governor.ny.gov
5. "Facts and Figures: Annual Subway Ridership 2014–2019". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
6. "NPS Focus". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. Retrieved November 6, 2011.
7. "Interborough Rapid Transit System, Underground Interior" (PDF). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. November 24, 1981. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
8. Walker, James Blaine (1918). Fifty Years of Rapid Transit — 1864 to 1917. New York, N.Y.: Law Printing. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
9. Report for the three and one-half years ending June 30, 1949. New York City Board of Transportation. 1949. hdl:2027/mdp.39015023094926.
10. Supreme Court Appellate Division-Second Department. pp. 458–460.
11. ERA Headlights. Electric Railroaders Association. 1956.
12. Lavis, Fred (1914). "The New York Rapid Transit Railway Extensions". nycsubway.org. Engineering News. Retrieved May 31, 2018.
13. "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Union Square / Gramercy" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2015. Retrieved August 6, 2015.

Further reading

• Lee Stokey. Subway Ceramics: A History and Iconography. 1994. ISBN 978-0-9635486-1-0

External links

• nycsubway.org – IRT East Side Line: 33rd Street
• Station Reporter — 4 Train
• Station Reporter — 6 Train
• Forgotten NY — Original 28 - NYC's First 28 Subway Stations
• MTA's Arts For Transit — 33rd Street (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)
• 32nd Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• 33rd Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• downtown platform from Google Maps Street View