86th Street station (New York Central Railroad)

This station opened on May 15, 1876 with the introduction of partial rapid transit on the Harlem Line, with sixteen trains a day running between Grand Central Depot and William's Bridge. On the same date, the 110th Street station opened, and both were primarily served by the rapid transit service.[1][2] While the 110th Street station also was served by trains to Golden's Bridge, 86th Street was exclusively used by Tuckahoe and White Plains locals.[3]

On April 29, 1901, the New York Central was granted permission to abandon this station and the 72nd Street station by the New York State Railroad Commissioners. While the station recorded 13,355 passengers in 1879, it only recorded 3,371 in 1900, even though the station was served by twelve daily trains.[4] The station was last listed on the May 20, 1901 timetable and was left off the June 23, 1901 timetable.[5][6] However, an article from 1906 detailing the closure of the 110th Street station noted that many locals stopped at 86th Street.[7]

Currently, the station is used as an emergency exit for Metro-North Railroad in the Park Avenue Tunnel. The staircases are intact and can be accessed from the center median of Park Avenue.[8]^{:10, 72} The station house used to be located in this median, which used to be wider. The layout of this station is different than 59th Street and 72nd Street; the platforms are on the insides of the outer tunnels, between the inner tunnels.[9][10][11] The station platforms were 172 feet (52 m) long, and 18.67 feet (5.69 m) wide. A waiting room was located at the north end of each platform. At the south ends of the platforms staircases led to a mezzanine level where the ticket office was located.[12]