157 Street
Northbound platform, looking south
Station statistics
Address	West 157th Street & Broadway New York, New York
Borough	Manhattan
Locale	Washington Heights
Coordinates	40°50′02″N73°56′38″W / 40.834°N 73.944°W /40.834; -73.944
Division	A (IRT)[1]
Line	IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line
Services	1  (all times)
Transit	NYCT Bus:M4,M5,Bx6,Bx6 SBS (M3,M100,M101 onAmsterdam Avenue) [2]
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2side platforms
Tracks	2
Other information
Opened	November 12, 1904 (121 years ago) (1904-11-12)
Accessible	notADA-accessible; accessibility planned
Traffic
2024	2,238,202[3]  2.2%
Rank	148 out of 423[3]
Services Preceding station New York City Subway Following station 168th Street towardVan Cortlandt Park–242nd Street 145th Street towardSouth Ferry
Non-revenue services and lines Preceding station New York City Subway Following station   no service 96th Street express; one-way operation
Location Show map of New York City Subway Show map of New York City Show map of New York
Track layout Legend to168th Street to145th Street
Street map
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times

The157th Street station is a localstation on theIRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line of theNew York City Subway. Located at the intersection ofBroadway and 157th Street inWashington Heights neighborhood ofManhattan, it is served by the1 train at all times.

The 157th Street station was constructed for theInterborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) as part of thecity's first subway line, which was approved in 1900. Construction of the line segment that includes 157th Street began on May 14 of the same year. The station held asoft opening on October 29, 1904, and officially opened two weeks later on November 12. The station's platforms were lengthened in 1948, and the station was renovated in the late 20th century.

The 157th Street station contains twoside platforms and two tracks. The station was built with tile and mosaic decorations. The platforms contain exits to Broadway's intersection with 157th Street and not connected to each other withinfare control.

Planning for asubway line inNew York City dates to 1864.^[4]: 21 However, development of what would become thecity's first subway line did not start until 1894, when theNew York State Legislature passed the Rapid Transit Act.^{[4]: 139–140} The subway plans were drawn up by a team of engineers led byWilliam Barclay Parsons, the Rapid Transit Commission's chief engineer. It called for a subway line fromNew York City Hall inlower Manhattan to theUpper West Side, where two branches would lead north intothe Bronx.^[5]: 3 A plan was formally adopted in 1897,^[4]: 148 and all legal conflicts concerning the route alignment were resolved near the end of 1899.^[4]: 161

The Rapid Transit Construction Company, organized byJohn B. McDonald and funded byAugust Belmont Jr., signed the initial Contract 1 with the Rapid Transit Commission in February 1900,^[6] under which it would construct the subway and maintain a 50-year operating lease from the opening of the line.^[4]: 165 In 1901, the firm ofHeins & LaFarge was hired to design the underground stations.^[5]: 4 Belmont incorporated theInterborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) in April 1902 to operate the subway.^[4]: 182

The 157th Street station was constructed as part of the IRT's West Side Line (now theBroadway–Seventh Avenue Line) from 133rd Street to a point 100 feet (30 m) north of 182nd Street. Work on this section was conducted by L. B. McCabe & Brother, who started building the tunnel segment on May 14, 1900.^[6] The section of the West Side Line around this station was originally planned as a two-track line, but in early 1901, was changed to a three-track structure to permit train storage in the center track.^{[7]: 93 [8]: 189–190} A third track was added directly north of96th Street, immediately east of the originally planned two tracks.^[9]: 14

Operation of the first subway began on October 27, 1904, with the opening of the original 28 stations of the New York City Subway fromCity Hall to145th Street on the West Side Branch.^[4]: 186 Two days later, service was extended one stop to 157th Street, which at the time was still incomplete.^[10] The station had beensoft opened to allow passengers to travel to theYale–Columbia football game at thePolo Grounds.^[11]

157th Street was formally opened on November 12, 1904, as the first extension to the subway. The station's opening had been delayed by two weeks because there was still painting and plastering work going on in the station. 157th Street thus became the terminal for West Side Line trains,^[12] relieving congestion at 96th Street, which previously had been the terminus for the IRT's local trains.^[13] On March 12, 1906, the IRT was extended from 157th Street to221st Street.^[14] Shuttle trains served the new extension terminating at 157th Street, meaning that passengers south of 157th Street wanting to go to stations on the extension had to transfer at 157th Street.^[15] On May 30, 1906, express trains began running through to 221st Street, eliminating the need to transfer at this station.^[16]

After the first subway line was completed in 1908,^[17] the station was served by West Side local and express trains. Express trains began atSouth Ferry in Manhattan orAtlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, and ended at242nd Street in the Bronx. Local trains ran from City Hall to 242nd Street during rush hours, continuing south from City Hall to South Ferry at other times.^[18] In 1918, the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line opened south ofTimes Square–42nd Street, and the original line was divided into an H-shaped system. The original subway north of Times Square thus became part of the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line. Local trains were sent toSouth Ferry, while express trains used the newClark Street Tunnel to Brooklyn.^[19]

To address overcrowding, in 1909, theNew York Public Service Commission proposed lengthening the platforms at stations along the original IRT subway.^[20]: 168 As part of a modification to the IRT's construction contracts made on January 18, 1910, the company was to lengthen station platforms to accommodate ten-car express and six-car local trains. In addition to $1.5 million (equivalent to $50.6 million in 2024) spent on platform lengthening, $500,000 (equivalent to $16.9 million in 2024) was spent on building additional entrances and exits. It was anticipated that these improvements would increase capacity by 25 percent.^[21]: 15 The northbound platform at the 157th Street station was extended 70 feet (21 m) to the south and 60 feet (18 m) to the north,^[21]: 113 while the southbound platform was not lengthened.^[21]: 106 Six-car local trains began operating in October 1910,^[20]: 168 and ten-car express trains began running on the West Side Line on January 24, 1911.^{[20]: 168 [22]} Subsequently, the station could accommodate six-car local trains, but ten-car trains could not open some of their doors.^[23]

Work to construct new entrances at the station was 49 percent completed in Fiscal Year 1924.^[24]

The city government took over the IRT's operations on June 12, 1940.^[25][26] Platforms at IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line stations between103rd Street and238th Street, including those at 157th Street, were lengthened to 514 feet (157 m) between 1946 and 1948, allowing full ten-car express trains to stop at these stations.^[23] A contract for the platform extensions at 157th Street and eight other stations on the line was awarded to Spencer, White & Prentis Inc. in October 1946,^[27] with an estimated cost of $3.891 million.^[28] The platform extensions at these stations were opened in stages. On April 6, 1948, the platform extension at 157th Street opened.^[23][29] At the same time, the IRT routes were given numbered designations with the introduction of"R-type" rolling stock, which containedrollsigns with numbered designations for each service.^[30] The route to 242nd Street became known as the1.^[31] In 1959, all 1 trains became local.^[32]

As part of its 2025–2029 Capital Program, the MTA has proposed making the station wheelchair-accessible in compliance with theAmericans with Disabilities Act of 1990.^[33]

G	Street level	Entrance/exit
P Platform level	Side platform
	Northbound	← towardVan Cortlandt Park–242nd Street(168th Street)
	Southbound	→ towardSouth Ferry(145th Street) → →(No regular service (express track):96th Street)
	Side platform

This station was part of the original subway, and has twoside platforms and two tracks.^[34] The station is served by the1 at all times^[35] and is between168th Street to the north and145th Street to the south.^[36]

The platforms were originally 350 feet (110 m) long, like at other stations north of96th Street,^{[5]: 4 [37]: 8} but as a result of the 1948 platform extension, became 520 feet (160 m) long.^[23] The platform extensions are at the rear ends of the original platforms: the southbound platform was extended northward and the northbound platform was extended southward.^[37]: 40

As with other stations built as part of the original IRT, the station was constructed using acut-and-cover method.^[38]: 237 The tunnel is covered by a U-shaped trough that contains utility pipes and wires. The bottom of this trough contains afoundation ofconcrete no less than 4 inches (100 mm) thick.^[37]: 9 Each platform consists of 3-inch-thick (7.6 cm) concrete slabs, beneath which are drainage basins. The original platforms containI-beam columns spaced every 15 feet (4.6 m). Additional columns between the tracks, spaced every 5 feet (1.5 m), support thejack-arched concrete station roofs.^{[5]: 4 [37]: 9} The tiled columns that run along the entire length and contain "157" painted in black.^[39] Some of the columns between the tracks have "157" signs in black lettering on white borders.^[40] 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.^[37]: 9

The decorative scheme consists of blue/green tile tablets; buff tile bands; a green terracotta cornice; and buff terracotta plaques.^[37]: 40 The mosaic tiles at all original IRT stations were manufactured by the American Encaustic Tile Company, which subcontracted the installations at each station.^[37]: 31 The decorative work was performed by tile contractor Manhattan Glass Tile Company and terracotta contractorAtlantic Terra Cotta Company.^[37]: 40 The platforms contain their original trim line that includes "157" mosaics and name tablets reading "157TH ST." There are also directional signs on the tiles containing white lettering on a black background and brown border.^[41]

Each platform has one same-levelfare control area near the middle. Both are fully staffed, containing aturnstile bank and token booth, and each has two street stairs. The northbound side's two exits lead to the southeast corner of 157th Street and Broadway, and the southbound side's two exits lead to the northwest corner of the intersection. There are no crossovers or crossunders to allow free transfers between directions. Only the South Ferry-bound side token booth is staffed.^[42]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to157th Street (IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line).

• nycsubway.org –IRT West Side Line: 157th Street
• Station Reporter –1 Train
• The Subway Nut –157th Street PicturesArchived June 14, 2017, at theWayback Machine
• 157th Street downtown entrance from Google Maps Street View
• 157th Street uptown entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Platforms from Google Maps Street View

• Future accessible New York City Subway stations
• IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line stations
• Washington Heights, Manhattan
• Broadway (Manhattan)
• New York City Subway stations in Manhattan
• Railway stations in the United States opened in 1904
• 1904 establishments in New York City

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