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5 Avenue–59 Street ​​
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Platform view
Station statistics
Address	East 60th Street & Fifth Avenue New York, New York
Borough	Manhattan
Locale	Midtown Manhattan, Upper East Side
Coordinates	40°45′53″N 73°58′21″W / 40.764779°N 73.972621°W / 40.764779; -73.972621
Division	B (BMT)
Line	BMT Broadway Line
Services	N  (all times) ​   R  (all times except late nights) ​   W  (weekdays only)
Transit	New York City Bus: M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, Q32, SIM3, SIM6, SIM6X, SIM8, SIM8X, SIM10, SIM22, SIM23, SIM24, SIM25, SIM26, SIM30, SIM31
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Other information
Opened	September 1, 1919; 105 years ago (1919-09-01)
Opposite- direction transfer	Yes
Traffic
2023	3,485,505  15.2%
Rank	91 out of 423
Services Preceding station New York City Subway Following station 57th Street–Seventh AvenueN  ​R  ​W via Times Square–42nd Street Lexington Avenue–59th StreetN  ​R  ​W services split
Location Show map of New York City SubwayShow map of New York CityShow map of New York
Track layout Legend to Lexington Avenue–59th Street to 57th Street–Seventh Avenue
Street map
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times except late nights Stops all times Stops weekdays during the day

The Fifth Avenue–59th Street station (signed as Fifth Avenue) is a station on the BMT Broadway Line of the New York City Subway. Located under Grand Army Plaza near the intersection of 5th Avenue and 60th Street in Manhattan, it is served by the N train at all times, the W train on weekdays during the day, and the R train at all times except late nights.

History

Construction and opening

The New York Public Service Commission adopted plans for what was known as the Broadway–Lexington Avenue route on December 31, 1907. This route began at the Battery and ran under Greenwich Street, Vesey Street, Broadway to Ninth Street, private property to Irving Place, and Irving Place and Lexington Avenue to the Harlem River. After crossing under the Harlem River into the Bronx, the route split at Park Avenue and 138th Street, with one branch continuing north to and along Jerome Avenue to Woodlawn Cemetery, and the other heading east and northeast along 138th Street, Southern Boulevard, and Westchester Avenue to Pelham Bay Park. In early 1908, the Tri-borough plan was formed, combining this route, the under-construction Centre Street Loop Subway in Manhattan and Fourth Avenue Subway in Brooklyn, a Canal Street subway from the Fourth Avenue Subway via the Manhattan Bridge to the Hudson River, and several other lines in Brooklyn.

The Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company submitted a proposal to the Commission, dated March 2, 1911, to operate the Tri-borough system (but under Church Street instead of Greenwich Street), as well as a branch along Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 59th Street from Ninth Street north and east to the Queensboro Bridge; the Canal Street subway was to merge with the Broadway Line instead of continuing to the Hudson River. The city, the BRT, and the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (which operated the first subway and four elevated lines in Manhattan) came to an agreement, and sent a report to the New York City Board of Estimate on June 5, 1911. The line along Broadway to 59th Street was assigned to the BRT, while the IRT obtained the Lexington Avenue line, connecting with its existing route at Grand Central–42nd Street. Construction began on Lexington Avenue on July 31, and on Broadway the next year. The Dual Contracts, two operating contracts between the city and the BMT and IRT, were adopted on March 4, 1913.

The original plan there was to build a pair of single-track tunnels under 59th and 60th Streets, rising onto the Queensboro Bridge and crossing the East River to Queens, with stations at Fifth and Lexington Avenues. In July 1914, the Public Service Commission opened bids for the construction of the two tunnels. The Degnon Contracting Company submitted the lowest of five bids for the project at just over $2.8 million. Degnon received the contract and began constructing the tunnels that September. In 1915, the Public Service Commission approved a request from the New York City Board of Estimate to place both tracks under 60th Street and cross the East River in the 60th Street Tunnel.

A. W. King received a $126,000 contract in December 1918 to install finishes at the Lexington Avenue and Fifth Avenue stations on the Broadway Line. The station opened on September 1, 1919, as part of an extension of the Broadway Line from 57th Street–Seventh Avenue to Lexington Avenue/59th Street. Service originally operated northward to Lexington Avenue and southward to Whitehall Street at the southern end of Manhattan. Service to Queens began when the 60th Street Tunnel opened on August 1, 1920.

Later years

The station was operated by the BMT until the city government took over the BMT's operations on June 1, 1940. This station was overhauled in the late 1970s. The MTA fixed the station's structure and overall appearance, replacing the original wall tiles, old signs, and incandescent lighting with 1970s modern-look wall tile band and tablet mosaics, signs and fluorescent lights. It also fixed staircases and platform edges.

In 2002, the station received a major overhaul. It received state-of-art repairs as well as an upgrade of the station for ADA compliance and restoration the original late 1910s 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, and installed ADA yellow safety threads along the platform edges, new signs, and new track-beds in both directions.

Station layout

G	Street level	Exit/entrance
M	Mezzanine	Fare control, station agent, MetroCard machines
P Platform level	Side platform, doors will open on the right
	Southbound	← toward Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue via Sea Beach (57th Street–Seventh Avenue) ← toward Whitehall Street–South Ferry weekdays (57th Street–Seventh Avenue) ← toward Bay Ridge–95th Street except nights (57th Street–Seventh Avenue)
	Northbound	→ ( weekdays) toward Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard (Lexington Avenue–59th Street) → → toward Forest Hills–71st Avenue (Lexington Avenue–59th Street) →
	Side platform, doors will open on the right

This underground station has two tracks and two side platforms, with a mezzanine above both the western and eastern ends of the station. The station is served by N trains at all times; R trains at all times except late nights; and W trains on weekdays during the day. The station is between Lexington Avenue/59th Street to the north and 57th Street–Seventh Avenue to the south.

Replicas of BMT directional mosaics "QUEENS TRAINS" and "BROOKLYN TRAINS" are found on the western exit. Each mezzanine has one stair to each platform. Mosaics "5", "Fifth Ave", and the directional signs on each platform, are fully preserved with new tiles encircling around them.

The artwork at the station, Urban Oasis by Ann Schaumburger, was commissioned in 1997 as part of the MTA Arts & Design program. It uses glass mosaic murals to depict families of different types of animals, particularly for the nearby Central Park Zoo. The mosaics in the station include polar bears, snails, parrots, monkeys, and a golden horse.

Exits

The full-time side of the station at the north end, at 60th Street and Fifth Avenue, has three street staircases, one carved into the outer perimeter of Central Park (northwestern corner of that intersection) and the other two on either eastern corner of the intersection. The part-time side at Central Park South, just by the Plaza Hotel, formerly had a booth (closed in 2003) and three street staircases as well: two carved inside Central Park's perimeter, on the northern side of Central Park South, and one to the southern side, inside a building just west of the Plaza Hotel.

Despite its name, the station has no exit at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 59th Street.

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. ^ "Subway To Open Two New Stations; Broadway Line of B.R.T. Will Extend to Lexington Av. and 60th St. Tomorrow. An Entrance at Fifth Av. Central Manhattan to Have Direct Service to All Brooklyn and Coney Island. Express to Times Square. Tunnel to Queens tow Under Way and Expected to be in Use in Six Months". The New York Times. August 31, 1919. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on June 14, 2018. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
3. ^ "Annual Subway Ridership (2018–2023)". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
4. James Blaine Walker, Fifty Years of Rapid Transit, 1864–1917 Archived June 10, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, published 1918, pp. 207-223
5. Engineering News, A New Subway Line for New York City Archived July 5, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Volume 63, No. 10, March 10, 1910
6. James Blaine Walker, Fifty Years of Rapid Transit, 1864–1917 Archived June 10, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, published 1918, pp. 224-241
7. "Reply to M'Adoo on Subway Route; Washington Conference Tomorrow May Settle Differences on Post Office Rights". The New York Times. June 28, 1914. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
8. "Public Hearing on Subway Contracts". The Standard Union. June 27, 1914. p. 1. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
9. "Subway Bids Opened; Five Offers to Construct B.R.T. Line Under Fifty-ninth Street". The New York Times. July 25, 1914. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
10. "Subway Progress". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. November 28, 1914. p. 22. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
11. "Adopts Tunnel To Queens.; Service Board Approves Change in New Subway Route". The New York Times. July 29, 1915. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 4, 2022. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
12. "P. S. Board Approves Tunnel to Queens". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. July 28, 1915. p. 3. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
13. "Contract to Finish Stations". The New York Times. December 1, 1918. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
14. ^ "B. R. T. Subway to Reach Lexington Ave. To-morrow: Station To Be Opened at 60th St. Under Present Station of Interborough's East Side Underground". New-York Tribune. August 31, 1919. p. 10. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 576078090.
15. "New B.R.T. Lines Open.; Broadway-Brighton Trains, on Holiday Schedule, Have Light Traffic" (PDF). The New York Times. August 2, 1920. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 4, 2022. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
16. "Broadway-Fifty-Ninth Street Extension of B.R.T. Subway". The New York Times. August 1, 1920. p. 92. Archived from the original on May 4, 2022. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
17. "B.M.T. Lines Pass to City Ownership; $175,000,000 Deal Completed at City Hall Ceremony-- Mayor 'Motorman No. 1'". The New York Times. June 2, 1940. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 19, 2021. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
18. "City Takes Over B. M. T. System; Mayor Skippers Midnight Train". New York Herald Tribune. June 2, 1940. p. 1. ProQuest 1243059209.
19. "N Subway Timetable, Effective December 15, 2024". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved December 16, 2024.
20. "R Subway Timetable, Effective June 30, 2024". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved December 16, 2024.
21. "W Subway Timetable, Effective December 15, 2024". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved December 16, 2024.
22. "Subway Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. September 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
23. ^ "Urban Oasis". MTA. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
24. Rosenfeld, Lucy D.; Harrison, Marina (2013). Art on Sight: The Best Art Walks In and Near New York City. Countryman Press. p. 143. ISBN 978-0-88150-996-0. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
25. Dunlap, David W. (May 1, 1998). "Next Stop, Murals; Change Here for Uptown Sculpture". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
26. ^ "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Midtown" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2018.

External links

• Media related to Fifth Avenue (BMT Broadway Line) at Wikimedia Commons
• nycsubway.org – BMT Broadway Subway: Fifth Avenue
• Station Reporter — N Train
• Station Reporter — R Train
• MTA's Arts For Transit — 5th Avenue–59th Street (BMT Broadway Line)
• Fifth Avenue and 60th Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Central Park South entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Central Park South lobby from Google Maps Street View
• Platforms from Google Maps Street View

v t e Stations of the New York City Subway, by service
Broadway Express	Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard Astoria Boulevard 30th Avenue Broadway 36th Avenue 39th Avenue Queensboro Plaza Lexington Avenue–59th Street Fifth Avenue–59th Street 57th Street–Seventh Avenue 49th Street Times Square–42nd Street 34th Street–Herald Square 28th Street* 23rd Street* 14th Street–Union Square Eighth Street–New York University* Prince Street* Canal Street City Hall* Cortlandt Street* Rector Street* Whitehall Street–South Ferry* Court Street* Jay Street–MetroTech* DeKalb Avenue Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center Union Street* Ninth Street* Prospect Avenue* 25th Street* 36th Street 45th Street* 53rd Street* 59th Street Eighth Avenue Fort Hamilton Parkway New Utrecht Avenue 18th Avenue 20th Avenue Bay Parkway Kings Highway Avenue U 86th Street Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue
Broadway Local	Forest Hills–71st Avenue 67th Avenue 63rd Drive–Rego Park Woodhaven Boulevard Grand Avenue–Newtown Elmhurst Avenue Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue 65th Street Northern Boulevard 46th Street Steinway Street 36th Street Queens Plaza Lexington Avenue–59th Street Fifth Avenue–59th Street 57th Street–Seventh Avenue 49th Street Times Square–42nd Street 34th Street–Herald Square 28th Street 23rd Street 14th Street–Union Square Eighth Street–New York University Prince Street Canal Street City Hall Cortlandt Street Rector Street Whitehall Street–South Ferry Court Street Jay Street–MetroTech DeKalb Avenue Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center Union Street Ninth Street Prospect Avenue 25th Street 36th Street 45th Street 53rd Street 59th Street Bay Ridge Avenue 77th Street 86th Street Bay Ridge–95th Street
Broadway Local	Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard Astoria Boulevard 30th Avenue Broadway 36th Avenue 39th Avenue Queensboro Plaza Lexington Avenue–59th Street Fifth Avenue–59th Street 57th Street–Seventh Avenue 49th Street Times Square–42nd Street 34th Street–Herald Square 28th Street 23rd Street 14th Street–Union Square Eighth Street–New York University Prince Street Canal Street City Hall Cortlandt Street Rector Street Whitehall Street–South Ferry
See also Lists by borough (The Bronx Brooklyn Manhattan Queens) Accessible Closed Terminals Transfer Commons category Note: Service variations, station closures, and reroutes are not reflected here. Stations with asterisks have no regular peak, reverse peak, or midday service on that route. See linked articles for more information.

v t e Stations of the New York City Subway, by line (physical trackage)
Broadway Line ​​​	[← to Queens Plaza, Queens Blvd. Line via 60th Street Tunnel and connection / ← to Queensboro Plaza, Astoria Line via 60th Street Tunnel] Lexington Avenue–59th Street Fifth Avenue–59th Street [← to Lexington Avenue–63rd Street, 63rd St. lines] 57th Street–Seventh Avenue 49th Street Times Square–42nd Street 34th Street–Herald Square 28th Street 23rd Street 14th Street–Union Square Eighth Street–New York University Prince Street Canal Street [to DeKalb Avenue, 4th Ave./Brighton Lines via Manhattan Bridge →] City Hall Cortlandt Street Rector Street Whitehall Street–South Ferry [to Court Street, Fourth Ave. Line via Montague Street Tunnel →]
See also Lists by borough (The Bronx Brooklyn Manhattan Queens) Accessible Closed Terminals Transfer Commons category Stations and line segments in italics are closed, demolished, or planned (temporary closures are marked with asterisks). Track connections to other lines' terminals are displayed in brackets. Struck through passenger track connections are closed or unused in regular service.

v t e Central Park
Manhattan, New York City
Geographical features Cedar Hill Conservatory Garden Conservatory Water Great Lawn and Turtle Pond Harlem Meer Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir McGowan's Pass North Woods and North Meadow The Pond and Hallett Nature Sanctuary The Ramble and Lake Rat Rock Sawkill (historical) Seneca Village (historical) Sheep Meadow Strawberry Fields
Sculptures and public art 107th Infantry Memorial Alice in Wonderland sculpture Angel of the Waters Balto Simón Bolívar Burnett Memorial Fountain Robert Burns Christopher Columbus Cleopatra's Needle Delacorte Clock Duke Ellington Memorial Frederick Douglass Memorial Eagles and Prey The Falconer Fitz-Greene Halleck Alexander Hamilton Victor Herbert Indian Hunter King Jagiello Monument José Martí Giuseppe Mazzini Samuel Finley Breese Morse Romeo and Juliet José de San Martín Sir Walter Scott Seventh Regiment Memorial William Shakespeare J. Marion Sims (moved 2018) The Gates (temporary, 2005) The Tempest Untermyer Fountain Three Dancing Maidens USS Maine National Monument Daniel Webster Women's Rights Pioneers Monument
Other features Arsenal Ballplayers House Belvedere Castle Bethesda Terrace and Fountain Blockhouse Bridges Bow Carousel Central Park Casino (demolished) Cherry Hill Fountain The Dairy Delacorte Theater Diana Ross Playground Fort Clinton Heckscher Playground Lasker Rink Mall Marionette Theatre McGown's Pass Tavern (demolished) Richard Morris Hunt Memorial Rumsey Playfield Tarr Family Playground Tavern on the Green Victorian Gardens Wollman Rink Zoo Zoo York Wall Zoo York
Events Be-Ins The Concert UAE Healthy Kidney 10K New York Mini 10K Concerto: One Night in Central Park Shakespeare in the Park SummerStage
Transport Border roads Frederick Douglass Circle 110th Street Duke Ellington Circle Eighth Avenue Central Park Fifth Avenue Columbus Circle 59th Street Grand Army Plaza Transverses 66th 79th 85th 97th Subway stations Fifth Avenue–59th Street 59th Street–Columbus Circle 72nd Street 81st Street 86th Street 96th Street 103rd Street Cathedral Parkway–110th Street Central Park North–110th Street
Notable figures Elizabeth Barlow Rogers Andrew Haswell Green Jacob Wrey Mould Frederick Law Olmsted Ignaz Anton Pilat Starr Saphir Calvert Vaux Egbert Ludovicus Viele George E. Waring Jr.
Notable animals Barry Flaco Gus Mandarin Patinkin Pale Male Pattycake
Miscellaneous Birdwatching incident Conservancy Jogger case Medical Unit Popular culture
See also: New York City Department of Parks and Recreation

• Fifth Avenue
• BMT Broadway Line stations
• New York City Subway stations in Manhattan
• Railway stations in the United States opened in 1919
• Midtown Manhattan
• Upper East Side
• Central Park
• 59th Street (Manhattan)