66th Street–Lincoln Center station

Southern (65th St) southbound street stair

Planning for the city's first subway line dates to the Rapid Transit Act, authorized by the New York State Legislature in 1894.[6]^:139–140 The subway plans were drawn up by a team of engineers led by William Barclay Parsons, chief engineer of the Rapid Transit Commission. It called for a subway line from New York City Hall in lower Manhattan to the Upper West Side, where two branches would lead north into the Bronx.[7]^:3 A plan was formally adopted in 1897, and legal challenges were resolved near the end of 1899.[6]^:148 The Rapid Transit Construction Company, organized by John B. McDonald and funded by August Belmont Jr., signed Contract 1 with the Rapid Transit Commission in February 1900,[8] in which it would construct the subway and maintain a 50-year operating lease from the opening of the line.[6]^:182 In 1901, the firm of Heins & LaFarge was hired to design the underground stations.[7]^:4 Belmont incorporated the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) in April 1902 to operate the subway.[6]^:182

The 66th Street station was constructed as part of the IRT's West Side Line (now the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line) from 60th Street to 82nd Street, for which work had begun on August 22, 1900. Work for that section had been awarded to William Bradley.[8] The 66th Street station opened on October 27, 1904, as one of the original 28 stations of the New York City Subway from City Hall to 145th Street on the West Side Branch.[6]^:186[3]

After the initial system was completed in 1908,[9] the station was served by local trains along both the West Side (now the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line to Van Cortlandt Park–242nd Street) and East Side (now the Lenox Avenue Line). West Side local trains had their southern terminus at City Hall during rush hours and South Ferry at other times, and had their northern terminus at 242nd Street. East Side local trains ran from City Hall to Lenox Avenue (145th Street).[10] In 1918, the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line opened south of Times Square–42nd Street, thereby dividing the original line into an "H" system, and all local trains were sent to South Ferry.[11]

In 1909, to address overcrowding, the New York Public Service Commission proposed lengthening platforms at stations along the original IRT subway.[12]^:168 On January 18, 1910, a modification was made to Contracts 1 and 2 to lengthen station platforms to accommodate ten-car express and six-car local trains. In addition to $1.5 million (equivalent to $41.2 million in 2019) spent on platform lengthening, $500,000 (equivalent to $13,719,643 in 2019) was spent on building additional entrances and exits. It was anticipated that these improvements would increase capacity by 25 percent.[13]^:15 Platforms at local stations, such as the 66th Street station, were lengthened by between 20 to 30 feet (6.1 to 9.1 m). Both platforms were extended to the north and south.[13]^:110

The IRT routes were given numbered designations with the introduction of "R-type" rolling stock. The first such fleet, the R12, was put into service in 1948.[14] The Broadway/West Side route became known as the 1 and the Lenox Avenue route as the 3.[15] The original IRT stations north of Times Square could barely fit five- or six-car local trains depending on the configuration of the trains. Stations on the line from 50th Street to 96th Street, including this station but excluding the 91st Street station, had their platforms extended in the 1950s to accommodate ten-car trains as part of a $100 million rebuilding program. The platform extensions at the local stations were completed by early 1958.[16] Once the project was completed, all 1 trains became local and all 2 and 3 trains became express, and eight-car local trains began operation. Increased and lengthened service was implemented during peak hours on the 1 train on February 6, 1959.[17] Due to the lengthening of the platforms at 86th Street and 96th Street, the intermediate 91st Street station was closed on February 2, 1959, because it was too close to the other two stations.[18][16]

On November 29, 1962, a new entrance at the station opened, leading to the lobby of the Philharmonic (now David Geffen) Hall of Lincoln Center. The entrance led from the downtown platform of the station, but also provided access to the uptown platform by an underpass at the station's south end. This entrance was built as part of a $10.2 million underground complex by the New York City Parks Department for the Philharmonic Hall. The project was partially funded by a Federal grant, and the work was contracted out to Slattery Construction Company.[19]

In April 1988,[20] the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) unveiled plans to speed up service on the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line through the implementation of a skip-stop service: the 9 train.[21] When skip-stop service started in 1989, it was only implemented north of 137th Street–City College on weekdays, and 66th Street was served by both the 1 and the 9.[22][23][24] Skip-stop service ended on May 27, 2005.[25][26]

During the late 20th century, the 66th Street station was renovated to designs by Lee Harris Pomeroy.[27]

Name tablet

Cartouche

As with other stations built as part of the original IRT, the tunnel is covered by a "U"-shaped trough that contains utility pipes and wires. The bottom of this trough contains a foundation of concrete no less than 4 inches (100 mm) thick.[29]^:9 Each platform consists of 3-inch-thick (7.6 cm) concrete slabs, beneath which are drainage basins. The original platforms contain circular, cast-iron Doric-style columns spaced every 15 feet (4.6 m), while the platform extensions contain I-beam columns. Additional columns between the tracks, spaced every 5 feet (1.5 m), support the jack-arched concrete station roofs.[7]^:4[29]^:9 There is a 1-inch (25 mm) gap between the trough wall and the platform walls, which are made of 4-inch (100 mm)-thick brick covered over by a tiled finish.[29]^:9

The decorative scheme consists of yellow faience station-name tablets, buff tile bands, a yellow faience cornice, and blue faience plaques. The decorative work was performed by tile contractor Manhattan Glass Tile Company and faience contractor Grueby Faience Company.[29]^:37 The ceilings of the original platforms and fare control areas contain plaster molding.[29]^:10 The walls at the platform level were renovated in 2004 and are decorated with mosaics designed by New York artist Nancy Spero.

Turnstiles to platform

There are two staircases and one elevator on the southeastern corner of Broadway and 66th Street, leading to the northbound platform. Two staircases and one elevator on the southwestern corner of the same intersection lead to the southbound platform. Both sets of entrances and exits lead directly to their respective platform levels. A third set of exits, at the extreme south end of the southbound platform, contains a stair to the southwestern corner of Columbus Avenue and 65th Street, as well as a passageway to David Geffen Hall. This section of the station contains the crossunder.[30]