Grand Street station (IND Sixth Avenue Line)

Grand Street is a station on the IND Sixth Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Grand Street and Chrystie Street in the Lower East Side and Chinatown neighborhoods of Manhattan, it is served by the D train at all times and the B train on weekdays.

 Grand Street
 ​
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Station statistics
AddressGrand Street & Chrystie Street
New York, NY 10002
BoroughManhattan
LocaleChinatown, Lower East Side
Coordinates40.718119°N 73.993864°W / 40.718119; -73.993864
DivisionB (IND)
Line   IND Sixth Avenue Line
Services   B  (weekdays until 11:00 p.m.)
​   D  (all times)
Transit NYCT Bus: M103 (on Bowery)
StructureUnderground
Platforms2 side platforms
Tracks2
Other information
OpenedNovember 26, 1967 (1967-11-26)
Station code231[1]
AccessibilitySame-platform wheelchair transfer available
Opposite-
direction
transfer		Yes
Traffic
20198,024,364[2]  11.7%
Rank43 out of 424[2]
Station succession
Next northBroadway–Lafayette Street: B  ​D 
Next southMyrtle Avenue (closed): no regular service
DeKalb Avenue (local): B  ​D 
Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center (express): D 

Opened on November 26, 1967, this station was one of two added as part of the Chrystie Street Connection. The station has two tracks and two narrow side platforms, located approximately 30 feet (9.1 m) below ground. In the original plan for the station, this would have been a four-track, two-island platform station, with a transfer to the Second Avenue Subway. The fourth phase of the Second Avenue Subway, if built, would include new platform(s) connecting to the existing platforms.

History

The station was built as part of the Chrystie Street Connection between the Sixth Avenue Line and the Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridges. The Chrystie Street Connection was first proposed in 1947 as the southern end of the Second Avenue Subway (SAS), which would feed into the two bridges, allowing Sixth Avenue Line trains to access the BMT Jamaica Line, BMT Fourth Avenue Line and the BMT Brighton Line in Brooklyn. Construction started in 1962, and the first part of the connection, including this station, opened on November 26, 1967, when the link between the Sixth Avenue Line and the Manhattan Bridge north tracks opened.[3][4] The connection was fully opened on July 1, 1968, with the opening of the 57th Street station and the opening of the connection between the Sixth Avenue Line and the Williamsburg Bridge.[3] With the connection completed, the most significant service changes ever carried out in the subway's history were introduced.[5][6]

Upon this station's opening the routes of the B and D were rerouted via the new connection. BB trains were relabeled the B, and began to run to Coney Island via the Chrystie Street Connection, the Manhattan Bridge north tracks, Fourth Avenue Line express tracks, and the West End Line. D trains were rerouted from the Culver Line to run to Coney Island via the new Sixth Avenue express tracks, the Chrystie Street Connection, the Manhattan Bridge north tracks, and the Brighton Line.[3][4][7][6]

When the north Manhattan Bridge tracks were closed for repairs from 1986 to 1988, in 1995, and from 2001 to 2004, this station was served by the Grand Street Shuttle to the Sixth Avenue Line and there was no subway service to Brooklyn.[8] A shuttle bus replaced service to Brooklyn from 2001 to 2004.[9][10][11]

Station layout
1960s-era entrance at the northeast corner of Chrystie Street and Grand Street
G Street level Exit/entrance
M Mezzanine Fare control, station agent
P
Platform level		 Side platform
Northbound ← weekdays toward Bedford Park Boulevard or 145th Street (Broadway–Lafayette Street)
← toward 205th Street (Broadway–Lafayette Street)
Southbound → weekdays toward Brighton Beach (DeKalb Avenue) →
→ toward Coney Island (DeKalb Avenue late nights, Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center other times) →
Side platform

The station has two tracks and two narrow side platforms, located approximately 30 feet (9.1 m) below ground.[12] They are column-less, except at staircases, and have a blue trim line with "GRAND ST" in white sans-serif font on it at regular intervals.[9][13] In the original plan for the station, this would have been a four-track, two-island platform station; the Second Avenue Subway would have served the outer tracks while the Sixth Avenue Line served the inner tracks, providing a cross-platform interchange between these two lines.[9][13][14][7]:216–217[15] Although the connection only served Sixth Avenue Line trains, it was essentially the first part of the Second Avenue line that had been constructed.[14][7] There is a sole mezzanine at the center of the station which has two staircases to each platform, a turnstile bank, token booth, and access to the street exits.[16]

On the Brooklyn-bound side, there is a small sign reading "Change Radio Channel to B1", indicating that train operators must change the channel on the route destination box from B2 (IND) to B1 (BMT) before crossing the Manhattan Bridge. Southbound trains leaving this station cross over the north side of the bridge and arrive at DeKalb Avenue or Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center (via the DeKalb Avenue bypass tracks).[17] As the tracks curve onto the bridge, trackways from Canal Street on the Manhattan Bridge branch of the BMT Broadway Line are visible.[18] The north side of the bridge originally led to that station before the current alignment was completed in 1967.[9]

Exits

There are three staircase exits: two going up to the northeastern corner of the intersection of Grand and Chrystie Streets, and one going up to the northwestern corner.[16] The station originally only had the two street stairs to the northeastern corner of the intersection, but due to growing ridership over the years—mainly by commuters from various Brooklyn neighborhoods to Manhattan's Chinatown—the third staircase to the northwestern corner was added in 1999.[19]

Artwork
Musicians playing huqin for passengers in the station; behind them is the Trains of Thought frieze

A painted frieze called Trains of Thought by Andrea Gardner and Sally Heller was installed at the mezzanine and platforms in the late 1990s as the "Creative Stations" program sponsored by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. It features red clay models of R62s/R62As mounted on wood.[20]

Second Avenue Subway plans

In addition to connecting the BMT Nassau Street and IND Sixth Avenue Lines, as well as the Sixth Avenue Line to the Manhattan Bridge, the Chrystie Street Connection is one of the few completed sections of the SAS. The Grand Street station was built to serve as a transfer point between the Sixth Avenue and Second Avenue lines.[9] The connection was built this way because the original 1960s plans for the SAS had Second Avenue and Sixth Avenue Line trains sharing two island platforms in a four-track layout, with connections from the Second Avenue Line to the Sixth Avenue Line and the Manhattan Bridge.[9] Because Second Avenue Subway construction was halted in 1975, this station has only served Sixth Avenue Line trains since its opening. As part of the contemporary Second Avenue Subway construction, a new station is planned for construction below the current station during the fourth and final phase of the project;[21] Phase 1 of the project on the Upper East Side opened on January 1, 2017,[22][23] with Phase 2 in planning[24][25] and two other phases with no funding commitments.[26]

An abandoned segment of the Second Avenue Subway located just south of Grand Street

During modern planning, it was considered to utilize the cross-platform provision, known as the "Shallow Chrystie Option", or to place the tracks under Forsyth Street one block east (the Forsyth Option), both of which could tie into an existing tunnel near the Chatham Square station site south of Canal Street. This tunnel, known as the Confucius Plaza Tunnel, was built in the 1970s along with several sections in Upper Manhattan used for Phases 1 and 2 of the SAS.[9][27][28][29][30] Both these options would require extensive usage of cut-and-cover construction methods, creating large amounts of disturbances to the local community, environmental issues, and possibly requiring the demolition of existing structures.[27][31]

Current plans, however, have the Second Avenue platform to be built below the current one, though a free transfer will still be provided.[9][32][28] The "Deep Chrystie Option", as the selected proposal is called, would instead place the Second Avenue Subway platform below the Sixth Avenue Line tracks, to create the least amount of community disturbance by utilizing tunnel boring machines. Cut-and-cover methods would be utilized only at the station site.[27][33][9] The current platforms would be widened to create space for staircases to a new intermediate mezzanine between the two levels. This new mezzanine level will also include a new fare control area with staircases, escalators and elevators leading to two new station entrances/exits, with one on either side of Grand Street between Chrystie and Forsyth Streets.[33][34][27] Although the Second Avenue Subway platform and the new entrances/exits would be ADA accessible,[34] it is currently unknown if the Sixth Avenue Line platforms will also become ADA accessible. However, the widening of the platforms and additional entrances would likely trigger ADA requirements for adding elevators.[35] To the north of the station, the Second Avenue Subway tunnels would curve to travel under Sara D. Roosevelt Park rather than directly below the Sixth Avenue Line tunnels under Chrystie Street, to avoid steel piles and other obstructions dating from the construction of the Chrystie Street Connection. To the south, the unused tunnel between Pell and Canal Streets could be used as an ancillary facility with the new passenger-service tunnels located beneath and slightly to the west.[28]

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. Perlmutter, Emanuel (November 16, 1967). "SUBWAY CHANGES TO SPEED SERVICE: Major Alterations in Maps, Routes and Signs Will Take Effect Nov. 26" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  4. Perlmutter, Emanuel (November 27, 1967). "BMT-IND CHANGES BEWILDER MANY; Transit Authority Swamped With Calls From Riders as New System Starts". The New York Times. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  5. Brian J. Cudahy (January 1995). Under the Sidewalks of New York: The Story of the Greatest Subway System in the World. Fordham University Press. p. 132. ISBN 978-0-8232-1618-5.
  6. Gershowitz, Mike (November 24, 1967). "Subway Land Turned Upsidedown". Greenpoint Weekly Star. p. 4. Retrieved August 14, 2016 – via fultonhistory.com.
  7. Raskin, Joseph B. (2013). The Routes Not Taken: A Trip Through New York City's Unbuilt Subway System. New York, New York: Fordham University Press. doi:10.5422/fordham/9780823253692.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-82325-369-2.
  8. "1987 system map". nycsubway.org. 1987. Retrieved August 12, 2009.
  9. "Second Avenue Subway Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS): Appendix B: Development of Alternatives" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved August 5, 2015.
  10. Dewan, Shaila K. (July 23, 2001). "For Riders, Many Riddles, Written in Q's, D's and W's". The New York Times. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  11. Jacobs, Andrew (January 28, 1996). "NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: CHINATOWN/DOWNTOWN;Experiment Fails As Peddlers Vote With Their Feet". The New York Times. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  12. "Second Avenue Subway Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS): Chapter 2: Project Alternatives" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
  13. "The Subway Compromise". The New York Times. July 28, 1969. Retrieved July 9, 2015.
  14. "2nd Avenue Subway – Tentative track plan, Manhattan portion". nycsubway.org. Retrieved August 13, 2016.
  15. "Full text of "Metropolitan transportation, a program for action. Report to Nelson A. Rockefeller, Governor of New York."". Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Authority. November 7, 1967. Retrieved October 1, 2015 – via Internet Archive.
  16. "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Lower East Side" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2015. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  17. Dougherty, Peter (2006) [2002]. Tracks of the New York City Subway 2006 (3rd ed.). Dougherty. OCLC 49777633 – via Google Books.
  18. "Grand Street". nycsubway.org. Retrieved July 7, 2016.
  19. Lee, Denny (February 18, 2001). "NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: CHINATOWN; Will a Shuttered Subway Lead to Shuttered Stops?". The New York Times. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  20. "Artwork: Trains of Thought (Andrea Gardner and Sally Heller)". nycsubway.org. Retrieved July 7, 2016.
  21. "Second Avenue Subway Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS): Proposed Phase 4" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved August 5, 2015.
  22. Siff, Andrew (December 19, 2016). "2nd Avenue Subway Service to Begin New Year's Day: Gov. Cuomo". NBC New York. NBC Universal Media. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
  23. Rivoli, Dan; Sandoval, Edgar; Greene, Leonard (December 18, 2016). "Cuomo promises Second Ave. subway will open Jan. 1". NY Daily News. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
  24. Donohue, Pete (August 7, 2014). "MTA chairman outlines future plans for Phase 2 of Second Ave. subway construction, expansion projects". New York Daily News. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
  25. Fitzsimmons, Emma G. (October 29, 2015). "Anger in East Harlem Over New Delays in 2nd Ave. Subway Plans". The New York Times. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
  26. Donohue, Pete (January 20, 2013). "Second Ave. subway on track to open in 2016: MTA". New York Daily News. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
  27. "Second Avenue Subway Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS): Chapter 2: Project Alternatives" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved August 5, 2015.
  28. "Second Avenue Subway Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS): Deep Chrystie Option" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved July 9, 2015.
  29. Donohue, Pete (June 24, 2013). "Underground subway party could put organizers in hot water: MTA: Gothamist website printed pictures of the bash. MTA says it'll turn over case to NYPD". New York Daily News. Retrieved August 5, 2015.
  30. Kabak, Benjamin (June 25, 2015). "Abandoned SAS segment party prompts NYPD inquiry". secondavenuesagas.com. Retrieved August 5, 2015.
  31. "Second Avenue Subway Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS): Chapter 3: Description of Construction Methods and Activities" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved August 5, 2015.
  32. "Second Avenue Subway Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS): Track Diagram, South of 57th Street" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved July 9, 2015.
  33. "Second Avenue Subway: Tunnel Construction Techniques" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. August 2002. Retrieved August 5, 2015.
  34. "Second Avenue Subway Station Entrances: Community Board 3" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority, DMJM HARRIS, ARUP. May 20, 2003. Retrieved August 5, 2015.
  35. Kabak, Benjamin (February 2, 2016). "Feds, MTA at odds over ADA compliance efforts". Second Avenue Sagas. Retrieved July 17, 2016.
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