103rd Street station (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)

For other uses, see 103rd Street.

The 103rd Street station is a local station on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Lexington Avenue and 103rd Street in East Harlem, it is served by the 6 train at all times, the <6> train during weekdays in the peak direction, and the 4 train during late nights.

103 Street  ​
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Station statistics
Address	East 103rd Street & Lexington Avenue New York, New York
Borough	Manhattan
Locale	East Harlem
Coordinates	40.79029°N 73.947687°W / 40.79029; -73.947687
Division	A (IRT)[1]
Line	IRT Lexington Avenue Line
Services	4  (late nights) ​   6  (all times) <6>  (weekdays until 8:45 p.m., peak direction)
Transit	NYCT Bus: M101, M102, M103[2]
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	4
Other information
Opened	July 17, 1918 (106 years ago) (1918-07-17)[3]
Opposite- direction transfer	Yes
Traffic
2023	2,601,308[4]  4.5%
Rank	136 out of 423[4]
Services Preceding station New York City Subway Following station 110th Street 4  ​6  <6> toward Pelham Bay Park Local 96th Street 4  ​6  <6> toward Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall does not stop here
Location Show map of New York City Subway Show map of New York City Show map of New York
Track layout Legend to 110th Street express tracks to 86th Street to 96th Street Upper level Lower level
Street map
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times Stops late nights only Stops rush hours in the peak direction only

This station was constructed as part of the Dual Contracts by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company and opened in 1918. It was renovated in 1990 and in 2015–2016.

History

Construction and opening

Following the completion of the original subway, there were plans to construct a line along Manhattan's east side north of 42nd Street. The original plan for what became the extension north of 42nd Street was to continue it south through Irving Place and into what is now the BMT Broadway Line at Ninth Street and Broadway. In July 1911, the IRT had withdrawn from the talks, and the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) was to operate on Lexington Avenue. The IRT submitted an offer for what became its portion of the Dual Contracts on February 27, 1912.^[5][6]

In 1913, as part of the Dual Contracts, which were signed on March 19, 1913,^[7] the Public Service Commission planned to split the original Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) system from looking like a "Z" system (as seen on a map) to an H-shaped system. The original system would be split 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.^[8][9] It was predicted that the subway extension would lead to the growth of the Upper East Side and the Bronx.^[10][11]

The 103rd Street station opened on July 17, 1918, with service initially running between Grand Central–42nd Street and 167th Street via the line's local tracks.^[3][12] On August 1, the "H system" was put into place, with through service beginning on the new east and west side trunk lines, and the institution of the 42nd Street Shuttle along the old connection between the sides.^[13][14] The cost of the extension from Grand Central was $58 million (equivalent to $1,174,884,956 in 2023).^[15]

Later years

The city government took over the IRT's operations on June 12, 1940.^[16][17] A renovation of the 103rd Street station was funded as part of the MTA's 1980–1984 capital plan.^[18] The MTA received a $106 million (equivalent to $310,869,955 in 2023) grant from the Urban Mass Transit Administration in October 1983; most of the grant would fund the renovation of eleven stations,^[19][20] including 103rd Street.^[19] This station was renovated in 1990.

The Downtown platform was renovated in 2015, with the placement of new white wall tiles, new floor tiles and benches. From January 26, 2016, to May 23, 2016, the Uptown platform was closed for renovation and was done in the same style as the Downtown platform. This was completed about a month earlier than planned.^[21]

Station layout

Ground	Street level	Entrances/exits
Mezzanine		Fare control, station agent, MetroCard machines
Platform level	Side platform
	Northbound local	← toward Pelham Bay Park or Parkchester (110th Street) ← toward Woodlawn late nights (110th Street)
	Northbound express	← do not stop here
	Southbound express	→ do not stop here →
	Southbound local	→ toward Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall (96th Street) → → toward New Lots Avenue late nights (96th Street) →
	Side platform

Wall tiles prior to 2015 renovation

This underground station has four tracks and two side platforms. The two center express tracks are used by the 4 and 5 trains during daytime hours.^[22] The 6 stops here at all times, and the 4 stops here during late nights.^[23][24] The station is between 110th Street to the north and 96th Street to the south.^[25]

All other stations between Grand Central–42nd Street and 125th Street on the line, except 110th Street, have the local tracks on an upper level and express ones on the lower level, with emergency exits provided at local stations for emergency egress.^[22]

Both platforms have their original trim line, which has "103" tablets on it at regular intervals, and name tablets, which read "103RD STREET" in the original mosaic. Prior to the 1990 station renovation, mosaic tiles were used so as to depict the 103rd Street mosaic as a sign hanging down from a horizontal support beam above. These "signholders" were covered over in 1990. An emergency phone is present immediately to the south of the southbound local platform.

The 1990 ceramic artwork here is called Neo-Boriken by Nitza Tufiño, based on the neighborhood's Caribbean and Latin American heritage. According to the accompanying plaque, P.R.O.M.I.S.E. (Puerto Rican Organization for Growth Research Education and Self Sufficiency) helped to fund the murals.^[26] This is one of two projects Tufiño made for MTA Arts & Design; the other, Westside Views – a community project for which she was the lead artist – can be found at 86th Street.^[27]

Exits

The station's only entrance/exit is a mezzanine above the platforms and tracks near the south end. It has two staircases from each platform, a waiting area that can be used as a crossover, turnstile bank, token booth, and two street stairs going up to the southeast and southwest corners of 103rd Street and Lexington Avenue.^[28] The mezzanine has mosaics indicating uptown and downtown directions. The fences surrounding each exit stairway are unusual as each section of the fence is at a different elevation, as they are located on Duffy's Hill, a sharp incline, on Lexington Avenue between 102nd and 103rd Streets.

References

1. "Glossary". Second Avenue Subway Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) (PDF). Vol. 1. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. March 4, 2003. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 26, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
2. "Manhattan Bus Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. July 2019. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
3. "Lexington Av. Line to be Opened Today" (PDF). The New York Times. July 17, 1918. p. 13. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 14, 2021. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
4. "Annual Subway Ridership (2018–2023)". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
5. Walker, James Blaine (1918). Fifty Years of Rapid Transit — 1864 to 1917. New York, N.Y.: Law Printing. pp. 230–233. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
6. "Petition for Subway in Lexington Ave". The New York Times. May 22, 1912. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 4, 2022. Retrieved February 16, 2009. A petition is being circulated among the residents and property owners of the section just south of the Grand Central Station, in Park and Lexington Avenues, protesting against the proposed abandonment of the construction of the Subway in Lexington Avenue, between Forty-third and Thirty-second Streets.
7. "Subway Contracts Solemnly Signed; Cheers at the Ceremonial Function When McCall Gets Willcox to Attest" (PDF). The New York Times. March 20, 1913. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 4, 2022. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
8. "Money Set Aside For New Subways; Board of Estimate Approves City Contracts to be Signed To-day with Interboro and B.R.T." (PDF). The New York Times. March 19, 1913. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 7, 2021. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
9. Engineering News-record. McGraw-Hill Publishing Company. 1916. p. 846. Archived from the original on May 4, 2022. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
10. Whitney, Travis H. (March 10, 1918). "The Seventh and Lexington Avenue Subways Will Revive Dormant Sections — Change in Operation That Will Transform Original Four-Tracked Subway Into Two Four-Tracked Systems and Double Present Capacity of the Interborough". The New York Times. p. 12. Archived from the original on May 4, 2022. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
11. "Public Service Commission Fixes July 15 For Opening of The New Seventh and Lexington Avenue Subway Lines — Will Afford Better Service and Less Crowding — Shuttle Service for Forty-Second Street — How the Various Lines of the Dual System Are Grouped for Operation and List of Stations on All Lines". The New York Times. May 19, 1918. p. 32. Archived from the original on May 4, 2022. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
12. "Lexington Subway to Operate To-day". New York Herald. July 17, 1918. p. 8. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
13. "Open New Subway Lines to Traffic; Called a Triumph — Great H System Put in Operation Marks an Era in Railroad Construction — No Hitch in the Plans — But Public Gropes Blindly to Find the Way in Maze of New Stations — Thousands Go Astray — Leaders in City's Life Hail Accomplishment of Great Task at Meeting at the Astor". The New York Times. August 2, 1918. p. 1. Archived from the original on January 6, 2021. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
14. "New "H" System Brings Worst Subway Jam". New-York Tribune. August 2, 1918. pp. 1, 6. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
15. "Finish a New Link of the Dual Subway; Lexington Avenue Line North of Forty-second Street to Begin Local Service Wednesday. Branch Extends to Bronx Through service, with Times SquareGrand Central Shuttle Connections, to Open Soon. Changes in the Bronx". The New York Times. July 11, 1918. p. 20. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 4, 2022. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
16. "City Transit Unity Is Now a Reality; Title to I.R.T. Lines Passes to Municipality, Ending 19-Year Campaign". The New York Times. June 13, 1940. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on January 7, 2022. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
17. "Transit Unification Completed As City Takes Over I. R. T. Lines: Systems Come Under Single Control After Efforts Begun in 1921; Mayor Is Jubilant at City Hall Ceremony Recalling 1904 Celebration". New York Herald Tribune. June 13, 1940. p. 25. ProQuest 1248134780.
18. Goldman, Ari L. (April 28, 1983). "M.T.A. Making Major Addition to Capital Plan". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on April 25, 2022. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
19. Moses, Charles T. (October 3, 1983). "TA Gets Funds to Fix Subways". Newsday. p. 3. ISSN 2574-5298. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
20. Gargan, Edward A. (October 3, 1983). "City Speeding Its Subway Repairs". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on April 28, 2022. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
21. "103rd Street - Full Service Restored - Planned Service Changes". mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. May 23, 2016. Archived from the original on February 11, 2019. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
22. Dougherty, Peter (2006) [2002]. Tracks of the New York City Subway 2006 (3rd ed.). Dougherty. OCLC 49777633 – via Google Books.
23. "4 Subway Timetable, Effective December 15, 2024". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved December 16, 2024.
24. "6 Subway Timetable, Effective December 15, 2024". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved December 16, 2024.
25. "Subway Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. September 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
26. "103rd Street – Nitza Tufiño – Neo-Boriken, 1990". web.mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Archived from the original on September 1, 2019. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
27. "86th Street – Nitza Tufiño – Westside Views, 1989". web.mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Archived from the original on August 19, 2020. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
28. "103rd Street Neighborhood Map". mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. April 2018. Archived from the original on December 27, 2021. Retrieved December 28, 2020.

External links

• nycsubway.org – IRT East Side Line: 103rd Street
• nycsubway.org — Neo-Boriken Artwork by Nitza Tufino (1990)
• Station Reporter — 4 Train
• Station Reporter — 6 Train
• MTA's Arts For Transit — 103rd Street (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)
• 103rd Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Platforms from Google Maps Street View