110th Street station (IRT Ninth Avenue Line)

110th Street was a local station on the demolished IRT Ninth Avenue Line in Manhattan, New York City. It had two levels. The lower level was built first and had two tracks and two side platforms and served local trains. The upper level was built as part of the Dual Contracts and had one track that served express trains that bypassed this station. It opened on June 3, 1903 and closed on June 11, 1940. The next southbound stop was 104th Street. The next northbound stop was 116th Street. This station was one of the few to have elevators as it was the highest station in the entire system, also this height reportedly made this station very popular for suicide jumps. The common suicides, combined with the line's 90° turns from Ninth Avenue (now Columbus Avenue) onto Eighth avenue (now Frederick Douglass Boulevard), subsequently earned the station, and the area of track around it, the nickname Suicide Curve.[2]

For other uses, see 110th Street.
110th St.
Former Manhattan Railway elevated station
110th Street Station's suicide curve looking south from Morningside Park with the station platforms and the elevator tower’s peaked roof visible on the left.
LocationWest 110th Street and Manhattan Avenue
New York, NY
Upper West Side and Morningside Heights, Manhattan
Coordinates40°48′4.02″N 73°57′34.7″W
Operated byInterborough Rapid Transit Company
Line(s)Ninth Avenue Line
Platforms2 side platforms
Tracks3
(1 upper level)
(2 lower level)
History
OpenedJune 3, 1903 (June 3, 1903)
ClosedJune 11, 1940 (June 11, 1940)[1]
Former services
Preceding station Interborough Rapid Transit Following station
116th Street
toward 155th Street or Burnside Avenue
 Sixth Avenue
Local
 104th Street
toward South Ferry
Ninth Avenue
Local

According to Douglas (2004), the station was a popular site for suicide jumpers. In 1927, The New York Times reported that:

The number of suicides from the 110th Street Station of the Sixth Avenue elevated is ruining the business of the merchants with shops below, according to [the merchants].... According to [a spokesperson] there were eleven suicides from that station in the past year, and the effect has been such that potential customers prefer to walk a little farther rather than risk seeing a person hurtle from above.[3][4]

References
  1. "Tonight to See City Pass Goal of Unification". New York Daily News. June 10, 1940. p. 37. Retrieved June 30, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. "Ninth Avenue Local". Station Reporter. Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2009-01-25.
  3. Douglas, George H. (2004): Skyscrapers: A Social History of the Very Tall Building in America. McFarland & Company, ISBN 0-7864-2030-8. (110th St station popular for suicides: p. 170).
    • "Merchants Complain Suicides Hurt Business; Seek Way to Guard 110th St. Elevated Station" - New York Times, January 31, 1927, p. 19
1900 postcard of the same suicide curve at another angle, prior to the construction of the station.
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