138th Street–Grand Concourse station

138th Street–Grand Concourse, also signed as 138th St-Mott Haven or simply Mott Haven on station signage, is a local station on the IRT Jerome Avenue Line of the New York City Subway, located at the T-intersection of East 138th Street and the Grand Concourse in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the Bronx. It is served by the 4 train at all times except during rush hour's in the peak direction, and the 5 train at all times except late nights.

 138 Street–Grand Concourse
 ​
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Northbound station platform
Station statistics
AddressEast 138th Street & Grand Concourse
Bronx, NY 10451
BoroughThe Bronx
LocaleMott Haven
Coordinates40.81303°N 73.929963°W / 40.81303; -73.929963
DivisionA (IRT)
LineIRT Jerome Avenue Line
Services   4  (all except rush hours, peak direction)
​   5  (all except late nights)
Transit NYCT Bus: Bx1, Bx33
StructureUnderground
Platforms2 side platforms
Tracks3
Other information
OpenedJuly 17, 1918 (1918-07-17)
Station code391[1]
Opposite-
direction
transfer		Yes
Former/other namesMott Haven Avenue
Traffic
20191,035,878[2]  9.7%
Rank out of 424[2]
Station succession
Next north149th Street–Grand Concourse (Jerome): 4 
149th Street–Grand Concourse (White Plains): 5 
Next south125th Street: 4  ​5 

History

The station opened on July 17, 1918, as Mott Haven Avenue station, as a southbound extension of the Jerome Avenue Line into the Upper East Side extension of the IRT Lexington Avenue Line. As such, it is the newest station on the line. The segment north of Kingsbridge Road to Woodlawn opened three months earlier.[3]

From November 18, 2019 to March 30, 2020, the northbound platform was temporarily closed for renovations.[4] From April 27, 2020 to July 27, 2020, the southbound platform was temporarily closed for renovations.[5]

Station layout
G Street level Exit/entrance
M Mezzanine Fare control, station agent
P
Platform level		 Side platform
Northbound local ← toward Woodlawn (149th Street–Grand Concourse)
← toward Dyre Avenue or Nereid Avenue (149th Street–Grand Concourse)
Peak-direction express ← PM rush does not stop here
← AM rush does not stop here →
Southbound local → toward Utica Avenue (New Lots Avenue late nights) (125th Street) →
→ toward Flatbush Avenue weekdays, Bowling Green evenings/weekends (125th Street) →
Side platform
The Mott Haven Avenue "MH" Mosaics

This station has two side platforms and three tracks, and is the only other station on the line to be built underground. The center express track is used by the 4 train during rush hours in the peak direction.

Both platform walls have their original mosaic trim line with "MH" tablets on it, a relic of Mott Haven Avenue, the former name of the station. At either ends of the platform, where they were extended in the 1950s, the walls have a blue trim with "138TH ST" in white lettering. Blue i-beam columns run along both platforms at regular intervals with alternating ones having the standard black number plates in white lettering.

The station was built with tablets displaying "Mott Haven" and others displaying "138th Street - Mott Haven." The ones with "138th Street" were painted over with text reading "138th Street - Grand Concourse," but all were eventually covered with black plates reading "138 Street" in white Standard (Akzidenz-Grotesk) lettering.[6] During the station's renovation in the late 2010s, most of the tablets were restored.

It is the southernmost station on the IRT Jerome Avenue Line. To the south, the line crosses the Harlem River into East Harlem, Manhattan and the three tracks merge into two and merge with the IRT Pelham Line to form the four-track IRT Lexington Avenue Line. To the north, the local tracks split into two. One set of tracks (the inner set) continues along Jerome Avenue, and the other set of tracks (the outer set) descends to a lower level and makes a sharp turn to merge with the IRT White Plains Road Line directly west of 149th Street–Grand Concourse. The 5 train uses these tracks during daytime hours.

Until 1972, the station had a connection to the 138th Street Station which served both the Harlem and Hudson Divisions of the New York Central Railroad.[7][8]

Mosaics and signage at 138th Street-Mott Haven

In 2011, the advocacy group Transportation Alternatives took a poll of subway riders to vote for the smelliest subway station in the system, as part of its "rank the stank" contest. This station was ranked the smelliest of four nominated stations, receiving 35% of the votes.[9]

Exits

This station has one mezzanine above the center of the platforms and tracks. Two staircases from each platform go up to a waiting area/crossover, where a turnstile bank provides access to and from the station. Outside fare control, there is a token booth and two staircases going up to the northern corners of East 138th Street and the Grand Concourse. The mezzanine has its original "Uptown Trains" and "Downtown Trains" mosaic tablets and trim line.[10]

References
  1. "Station Developers' Information". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
  2. "Facts and Figures: Annual Subway Ridership 2014–2019". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  3. "Jerome Av. Line Ordered Opened" (PDF). The New York Times. April 13, 1918. p. 15. Retrieved June 5, 2016.
  4. "Uptown 4/5 trains skip 138 St-Grand Concourse". mta.info. Archived from the original on March 31, 2020. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  5. "Downtown 4/5 trains skip 138 St-Grand Concourse". mta.info. March 31, 2020. Archived from the original on March 31, 2020. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  6. Walsh, Kevin (November 23, 2019). "138th Street Station, Mott Haven". Forgotten New York. Archived from the original on April 24, 2020. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  7. "Hagstrom's Street Map of The Bronx". warofyesterday.blogspot.com. 1943. Archived from the original on January 10, 2017.
  8. "Hagstrom's Map of Westchester County, New York; 1943 (Greater New York Roads)". Archived from the original on April 29, 2014. Retrieved April 28, 2014.
  9. Murphy, Michael (August 26, 2011). "138th Street – Grand Concourse Voted the Smelliest Subway Station in New York City". Transport Alternatives. Archived from the original on April 24, 2020. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  10. "138th Street–Grand Concourse Neighborhood Map" (PDF). new.mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. April 2018. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
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