163 Street–Amsterdam Avenue
Uptown platform after renovation
Station statistics
Address	Amsterdam Avenue & St. Nicholas Avenue New York, New York
Borough	Manhattan
Locale	Washington Heights
Coordinates	40°50′13″N73°56′24″W / 40.836866°N 73.940134°W /40.836866; -73.940134
Division	B (IND)[1]
Line	IND Eighth Avenue Line
Services	A  (late nights) ​  C  (all except late nights)
Transit	NYCT Bus:M3,M100,M101
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2side platforms
Tracks	4 (2 on each level)
Other information
Opened	September 10, 1932 (93 years ago) (1932-09-10)[2]
Closed	March 12, 2018; 7 years ago (2018-03-12) (reconstruction)[3]
Rebuilt	September 27, 2018; 7 years ago (2018-09-27)
Traffic
2024	890,476[4]  6%
Rank	316 out of 423[4]
Services Preceding station New York City Subway Following station 168th Street A  ​C  Terminus Local 155th Street A  ​C  towardEuclid Avenue
Location Show map of New York City Subway Show map of New York City Show map of New York
Track layout Legend to168th Street to155th Street
Street map
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times except late nights Stops late nights only

The163rd Street–Amsterdam Avenue station is a localstation on theIND Eighth Avenue Line of theNew York City Subway, located inWashington Heights, Manhattan, at the intersection ofAmsterdam andSaint Nicholas Avenues. It is served by theC train at all times except nights, when theA train takes over service.

The station opened on September 10, 1932, as part of the city-operatedIndependent Subway System (IND)'s initial segment, theEighth Avenue Line betweenChambers Street and207th Street.^[2][5] Construction of the whole line cost $191.2 million (equivalent to $4,406.5 million in 2024. While theIRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line already provided service to Washington Heights, the new Eighth Avenue subway via St. Nicholas Avenue provided an alternative route.^[6]

Under the 2015–2019MTA Capital Plan, the station underwent a complete overhaul as part of theEnhanced Station Initiative and was entirely closed for several months. Updates included cellular service, Wi-Fi, USB charging stations, interactive service advisories and maps.^[7][8] A request for proposals for the72nd Street,86th Street,Cathedral Parkway–110th Street, and 163rd Street–Amsterdam Avenue stations was issued on June 1, 2017,^[9] and the New York City Transit and Bus Committee officially recommended that the MTA Board should award the $111 million contract to ECCO III Enterprises in October 2017.^[10] As part of the renovations, the station was closed on March 12, 2018^[11] and reopened on September 27, 2018.^[12]

Ground	Street level	Exit/entrance
Mezzanine		Fare control, station agent
Platform level	Side platform
	Northbound local	← toward168th Street(Terminus) ← towardInwood–207th Street late nights(168th Street)
	Southbound local	→ towardEuclid Avenue(155th Street) → → towardFar Rockaway–Mott Avenue late nights(155th Street) →
	Side platform
Lower tracks[13]	Northbound express	← does not stop here
	Southbound express	→ does not stop here →

This underground station has two local tracks and twoside platforms. Two express tracks, used by the A train during daytime hours, run below the station and are not visible from the platforms. To the north, the upper level local tracks become the center tracks of168th Street, allowing C trains to terminate there, while the lower level express tracks become the outer tracks, continuing towards207th Street.^[14]

Both platforms have mosaic name tablets reading "163RD STREET - AMSTERDAM AVE." in whitesans-serif lettering broken onto two lines. The background is yellow with a black border. Small black "163" and directional signs in white lettering run at regular intervals, but there is no trim line on either platform. Grey (previously yellow)I-beam columns run along both platforms, alternating ones having the standard black station name plate with white lettering.The trim line was part of a color-codedtile system used throughout the IND.^[15] The tile colors were designed to facilitate navigation for travelers going away fromLower Manhattan. As such, the yellow tiles used at the 163rd Street station were originally also used at145th Street, the next express station to the south, while a different tile color is used at168th Street, the next express station to the north. Yellow tiles are similarly used at the155th Street station, the only other local station between 145th Street and 168th Street.^[16][17]

This station has a full lengthmezzanine supported by I-beam columns above the platforms, but only the southern half is opened. The open southern half has three staircases from each platform, black I-beams, and two sets ofturnstile banks leading to the center or the extreme south end of the mezzanine. The closed northern half is walled off and retained the original yellow-colored I-beams. The staircases from the platforms to this portion have been removed.

Prior to the station's renovation, the open southern half was split into three sections by two black steel fences, and free transfers between directions were not possible. Outside fare control, there is a token booth. The closed northern half was gated off and had an exit-only turnstile leading to thefare control area at the center, and three gated staircases from each platform.

The 2018 artwork at this station isCiguapa Antellana, me llamo sueño de la madrugada. (who more sci-fi than us), a glassmosaic byFirelei Báez. The artwork consists of four pieces, two on the mezzanine and one on each platform. The mosaic contains leaves and vines, as well as symbolism that is evocative of Baez's Caribbean ancestry.^[18]

Despite the station's name, there is no longer an open exit to 163rd Street. The closed northern half had three exits leading to 163rd Street.^[19][20] By the late 1980s, the exits were closed and eventually sealed. Two of the exits went to the southwest corner,^[21] while the third exit, which was temporarily uncovered as an area to haul out debris from renovations, went to the southeast corner.^[22]

The open southern half of the mezzanine has three exits:

• One stair at the southeast corner of 161st Street and Amsterdam Avenue.
• One stair at the northeast corner of 161st Street and St. Nicholas Avenue.
• One stair built inside 1033 Saint Nicholas Avenue (at the western corner of 162nd Street and Amsterdam Avenue)^[21]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to163rd Street – Amsterdam Avenue (IND Eighth Avenue Line).

• nycsubway.org –163rd Street/Amsterdam Avenue: IND 8th Avenue
• Station Reporter –C Train
• The Subway Nut –163rd Street–Amsterdam Avenue PicturesArchived July 29, 2017, at theWayback Machine
• 161st Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• 162nd Street / Amsterdam Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Platform from Google Maps Street View (2016)
• Platforms from Google Maps Street View (2018; Post-Rebuild)
• Mezzanine from Google Maps Street View (2018; Post-Rebuild)

• Washington Heights, Manhattan
• IND Eighth Avenue Line stations
• New York City Subway stations in Manhattan
• Railway stations in the United States opened in 1932
• 1932 establishments in New York City

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