68th Street–Hunter College station

Name mosaic

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 In July 1911, the IRT had withdrawn from the talks, and the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) was to operate on Lexington Avenue.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.[6][7]

In 1913, as part of the Dual Contracts, which were signed on March 19, 1913,[8] 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.[9][10] It was predicted that the subway extension would lead to the growth of the Upper East Side and the Bronx.[11][12]

On February 15, 1917, the Public Service Commission agreed to change the name of the under-construction station from 68th Street to 68th Street–Hunter College at the request of officials of Hunter College.[13]

68th Street—Hunter College station opened on July 17, 1918, with service initially running between Grand Central–42nd Street station and 167th Street via the line's local tracks.[3] 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.[14] The cost of the extension from Grand Central was $58 million.[15]

Mezzanine

In 1981, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) listed the station among the 69 most deteriorated stations in the subway system.[16]

This station was renovated in September 1984 as part of the MTA's Adopt-A-Station Program in conjunction with a renovation of Hunter College.[17]

The MTA proposes to build elevators here under the 2010–2014 MTA Capital Program, as part of the MTA's 100 Key ADA-accessible stations program.[18][19] The project would include building elevators at 68th Street and new staircase entrances at 69th Street and Lexington Avenue. In late 2011 and early 2012, the project faced local opposition; opponents claimed the new staircases would ruin the character of 69th Street.[20][21][22] The MTA insisted the new entrances were necessary to reduce congestion at the station's current entrances. The 69th Street Tenants Corporation suggested building new entrances at 67th Street or 70th Street instead,[23]^{:15–4 (PDF p. 212)} although the station does not reach under either of those streets.[23]^{:S-6 to S-8 (PDF pp. 20–22)} The proposal would have required construction of new passageways connecting the platforms to 67th Street to 70th Street, which would be more expensive and take longer to construct.[23]^{:Figures 2–4 and 2–5 (PDF pp. 74–75)}

The MTA originally hoped to award a construction contract by November 2013, but the project stalled for several years. In 2016, the MTA released an environmental assessment for the project, proposing to build a new southbound-only entrance at the southwest corner of 69th Street and Lexington Avenue, and a new northbound-only entrance on the east side of Lexington Avenue midblock between 68th and 69th Streets, at the suggestion of the 69th Street Tenants Corporation.[23] As of July 2017, project design was still delayed, due to unresolved conflicts regarding real estate and infrastructure relocation work.[24] The MTA hoped to award a contract by August 2018,[25] with construction starting in December 2018, and completed in April 2021.[26] As of December 2019, a contract for the elevators' construction was projected to be awarded in July 2020 and be completed by 2023.[27] The project will include a new northbound entrance and mezzanine in a Lexington Avenue storefront between 68th and 69th Streets, as well as a new southbound entrance at Lexington Avenue and 69th Street.[23]^{:Figure 2–10 (PDF p. 83)}

Exterior stair, SW corner of 68th Street and Lexington Avenue

Outside of the large turnstile bank that provides access to and from the station, there is a token booth and a passageway on each side separated from the waiting area by a steel fence. Each passageway leads to a small staircase going up to either northern corner of 68th Street and Lexington Avenue. On the east side of the mezzanine is a short staircase going up to a landing, where a larger staircase goes up to the southeast corner of 68th Street and Lexington Avenue underneath Hunter College's East Building. The west side of the mezzanine has a direct entrance to the West Building of Hunter College and a double-wide marble staircase going up to the plaza on the southwest corner of 68th Street and Lexington Avenue.[37]

The entrance at the southeast corner contains a sign with the word "Subway" in a unique typeface seen only on the Hunter campus.[38] This sign, and other signs around the college campus that are set in the same typeface, was created by Barbara Stauffacher Solomon as part of Ulrich Franzen's 1984 expansion of the campus.[39]