57 Street–7 Avenue  ​​​
Downtown island platform
Station statistics
Address	West 57th Street & Seventh Avenue New York, New York
Borough	Manhattan
Locale	Midtown Manhattan
Coordinates	40°45′56″N73°58′48″W / 40.765461°N 73.980088°W /40.765461; -73.980088
Division	B (BMT)[1]
Line	BMT Broadway Line
Services	N  (all times) ​  Q  (all times) ​  R  (all except late nights) ​  W  (weekdays only)
Transit	New York City Bus:M7,M20,M31,M57
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2island platforms cross-platform interchange
Tracks	4
Other information
Opened	July 10, 1919 (105 years ago) (1919-07-10)[2]
Accessible	ADA-accessible (Accessible entrance only provided at northeast corner of 55th Street and 7th Avenue; entrance at the southwest corner of 57th Street and 7th Avenue is not accessible)
Opposite- direction transfer	Yes
Former/other names	Midtown–57th Street
Traffic
2023	7,787,658[3]  21.1%
Rank	25 out of 423[3]
Services Preceding station New York City Subway Following station Lexington Avenue–63rd Street N  ​Q  ​R  toward96th Street Express Times Square–42nd Street N  ​Q  towardConey Island–Stillwell Avenue Fifth Avenue–59th Street N  ​R  ​W  viaLexington Avenue–59th Street Local 49th Street N  ​Q  ​R  ​W  viaTimes Square–42nd Street
Location Show map of New York City Subway Show map of New York City Show map of New York
Track layout Legend toLexington Avenue–63rd Street Local trackways end toFifth Avenue–59th Street Local trackways begin to49th Street toTimes Square–42nd Street
Street map
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times except late nights Stops all times Stops weekdays during the day Stops rush hours only (limited service) Stops rush hours in the peak direction only (limited service)

The57th Street–Seventh Avenue station (signed as the57th Street station) is an expressstation on theBMT Broadway Line of theNew York City Subway. Located inMidtown Manhattan at the intersection of57th Street andSeventh Avenue, it is served by theN andQ trains at all times, theR train at all times except late nights, and theW train on weekdays. It is directly adjacent toCarnegie Hall.

TheNew York Public Service Commission adopted plans for what was known as the Broadway–Lexington Avenue route on December 31, 1907. This route began atthe Battery and ran underGreenwich Street, Vesey Street, Broadway toNinth Street, private property toIrving Place, and Irving Place andLexington Avenue to theHarlem River. After crossing under the Harlem River intothe Bronx, the route split at Park Avenue and 138th Street, with one branch continuing north to and alongJerome Avenue toWoodlawn Cemetery, and the other heading east and northeast along 138th Street,Southern Boulevard, andWestchester Avenue toPelham Bay Park. In early 1908, the Tri-borough plan was formed, combining this route, the under-constructionCentre Street Loop Subway in Manhattan andFourth Avenue Subway in Brooklyn, aCanal Street subway from the Fourth Avenue Subway via the Manhattan Bridge to theHudson River, and several other lines in Brooklyn.^{[4]: 207–227 [5]}

The Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company submitted a proposal to the Commission, dated March 2, 1911, to operate the Tri-borough system (but under Church Street instead of Greenwich Street), as well as a branch along Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 59th Street from Ninth Street north and east to theQueensboro Bridge; the Canal Street subway was to merge with the Broadway Line instead of continuing to the Hudson River. The city, the BRT, and theInterborough Rapid Transit Company (which operated the firstsubway and fourelevated lines in Manhattan) came to an agreement, and sent a report to theNew York City Board of Estimate on June 5, 1911. The line along Broadway to 59th Street was assigned to the BRT, while the IRT obtained theLexington Avenue line, connecting with its existing route atGrand Central–42nd Street. Construction began on Lexington Avenue on July 31, and on Broadway the next year. TheDual Contracts, two operating contracts between the city and the BMT and IRT, were adopted on March 4, 1913. Operation of the Broadway Line was assigned to theBrooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT; after 1923, theBrooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation or BMT) in theDual Contracts, adopted on March 4, 1913.^{[4]: 224–241}

This station opened on July 10, 1919.^[6][7] Initially, the station was only served by local trains from Brooklyn, whereas express trains terminated at Times Square.^[8][9]

The station was operated by the BMT until the city government took over the BMT's operations on June 1, 1940.^[10][11] This station underwent an overhaul in the late 1970s, which included fixing the station's structure and replacing the original wall tiles, old signs, and incandescent lighting with 1970s modern-look wall tile band and tablet mosaics, signs and fluorescent lights. Staircases and platform edges were also repaired.

In 2023, a short barrier was installed at the center of the platforms to reduce the probability of passengers being pushed into the tracks.^[12]

55th Street elevator, which is ADA-accessible

57th Street elevator, which is not ADA-accessible

In 1992–1993, the station received a major overhaul with state-of-the-art repairs as well as upgrading the station forADA compliance. The original late 1910s tiling was restored, repairs were made to the staircases, new tiling on the floors, upgrades to the station's lights and public address system, installation of ADA safety treads along the platform edge, new signs, and new trackbeds in both directions. Accessibility to the mezzanine was further increased by the addition of a usable elevator on the southwest corner of 57th Street, which allowed disabled access to the fare booth andMetroCard vending machines. Initially, no elevators were installed from the mezzanine to the platforms; the MTA intended to provide ADA access to the platforms as part of its 2010–2014 Capital Plan.^[13]

Elevators to the platforms had been under design for several years, with the MTA originally planning to award contracts in November 2013,^[14] but the design process was delayed because of preexisting utilities blocking the way of the proposed elevator access.^[15] Other issues includedasbestos abatement, the lack of available space underground for the expansion of the mezzanine, and the need to negotiate with another developer to install elevators. The MTA started working on a revised design in September 2015, and the construction contract was awarded in December 2017, allowing the start of construction.^[16] Ultimately, the location of the platform elevators was moved to the southern end of the station, near 55th Street, necessitating the installation of a new street-to-mezzanine elevator at 55th Street.^[14][17] The elevators were opened in May 2021.^[18]

G	Street level	Exit/entrance
M	Mezzanine	Fare control, station agent Elevators at: southwest corner of 57th Street and Seventh Avenue. northeast corner of 55th Street and Seventh Avenue. Note: only the 55th Street elevator is accessible
P Platform level	Northbound local	← towardAstoria–Ditmars Boulevard(Fifth Avenue–59th Street) ← towardForest Hills–71st Avenue(Fifth Avenue–59th Street) ← toward Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard weekdays (Fifth Avenue–59th Street)
	Island platform
	Northbound express	← toward96th Street(Lexington Avenue–63rd Street) ← toward96th Street (limited rush hour trips)(Lexington Avenue–63rd Street) ← toward96th Street (one AM rush hour trip)(Lexington Avenue–63rd Street)
	Southbound express	← towardConey Island–Stillwell Avenue viaBrighton(49th Street late nights,Times Square–42nd Street other times) → ← toward Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue viaSea Beach (limited rush hour trips)(Times Square–42nd Street) →
	Island platform
	Southbound local	← toward Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue viaSea Beach(49th Street) → ← towardBay Ridge–95th Street(49th Street) → ← towardWhitehall Street–South Ferry weekdays(49th Street) →

The 57th Street–7th Avenue station is the northernmost express station on the BMT Broadway Line. Much of the BMT system ischained from the zero point here.^[19] TheN andQ both stop here at all times; theR stops here except at night; and theW stops here only on weekdays during the day.^[20] N, R and W trains use the local tracks, and Q trains as well as limited rush hour N trains use the express tracks. One weekday a.m. northbound R train crosses from the local track to the express track before stopping here. During the night, the Q makes local stops along the Broadway Line, crossing to the local track from the express track southbound and reverse northbound.^[19] The next stop to the north isFifth Avenue–59th Street for N, R and W trains andLexington Avenue–63rd Street for Q trains as well as those limited rush hour N trains and that one weekday a.m. R train. The next stop to the south is49th Street for local trains andTimes Square–42nd Street for express trains.^[20]

The artwork at the station,Carnegie Hall Montage by Josh Scharf, was commissioned in 1994 as part of theMTA Arts & Design program.^[21][22] The artwork consists of large color portraits of notable people who have performed at Carnegie Hall.^[21][23] The artwork extends onto the station's white, square porcelain wall tiles, which are similar to those in the rest of the system. Some of the tiles bear the names of notable people who have appeared or performed at the venue, as well as the date when they appeared.^[23][24]

North of the station, the line splits into two routes, with connections from the express track to the local track northbound and from the local track to the express track southbound. Afterward, the local tracks ramp down and curve east underCentral Park South,60th Street and thenQueens, while the express tracks continue north under Central Park before they curve east under63rd Street and then north underSecond Avenue. South of the station arediamond crossovers between all four tracks.^[19]

The BMT Broadway Line originally ended north of this station as six trackways. Both the innermost and outermost pairs of trackways curved slightly west before ending, which were a provision for the line to run to Upper Manhattan viaCentral Park West. Only the two center tracks on either side continued to the60th Street Tunnel to Queens.^[25] Both of the outermost trackways are ramps which have never been used, but the innermost tracks eventually connected the express tracks with theBMT 63rd Street Line, which was completed in 1989. Prior to then, the express tracks continued as layup spurs north of the station, running for about 400 feet (120 m). Construction of the 63rd Street Line from 1971 to 1978 continued the section between this station and theLexington Avenue–63rd Street station.

• Stair to NW corner of 7th Avenue and 57th Street (adjacent to theOsborne Apartments)^[26]
• Stair to NE corner of 7th Avenue and 57th Street (adjacent toThe Briarcliffe)^[26]
• Stair and elevator to SW corner of 7th Avenue and 57th Street (adjacent to theRodin Studios)^[26]
• Stair to SE corner of 7th Avenue and 57th Street (adjacent toCarnegie Hall)^[26]
• Stair to NW corner of 7th Avenue and 55th Street (adjacent toPark Central Hotel)^[26]
• Stair and elevator to NE corner of 7th Avenue and 55th Street (adjacent to Hotel Wellington)^[26]
• Stair to SW corner of 7th Avenue and 55th Street^[26]
• Stair to SE corner of 7th Avenue and 55th Street^[26]

North of this station are tunnel stub headings running straight from the local tracks^[27] for a proposed line under Central Park West or Morningside Avenue, that would have terminated either at 145th Street or 155th Street.

When the BRT / BMT was building the Broadway line as part of the Dual Contracts, the company also wanted to be awarded the Central Park West / Eighth Avenue route, which was on the planning boards at that time. The company figured that if they built ramps from the Broadway line that could naturally be extended to an Eighth Avenue line, they would get a toehold on being awarded that line, rather than lose out to the IRT, the only other subway operator when the Dual Contracts were built.^[28] The BMT / BRT never built that line for various reasons including the bankruptcy of the company after theMalbone Street Wreck and Mayor Hylan's plan to include the Eighth Avenue / CPW route in theIND system. The ramps were built but never used for revenue service. They were eventually used for storage until the tracks were disconnected.

The disused trackways for the proposed line ramp up and run for about 500 feet (150 m). The ramp on the northbound side has a Maintenance-of-Way shed built on it,^[29] and the trackway on the southbound side also has a storage shed sitting in it, just north of where the local tracks come in, but this shed is few hundred feet north of the shed on the opposite trackway of the other side of the tunnel. Some of the actual rails remain and can be seen from passing express/63rd Street Line trains, but are covered by many years of dirt. The never-used trackways curve slightly west before ending.^[25][30]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to57th Street – Seventh Avenue (BMT Broadway Line).

• nycsubway.org –BMT Broadway Subway: 57th Street
• MTA's Arts For Transit –57th Street–7th Avenue (BMT Broadway Line)
• 57th Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• 55th Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Platform from Google Maps Street View

• Accessible New York City Subway stations
• BMT Broadway Line stations
• New York City Subway stations in Manhattan
• Railway stations in the United States opened in 1919
• Midtown Manhattan
• Seventh Avenue (Manhattan)
• 57th Street (Manhattan)

• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list
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• New York City Subway station articles with outdated ridership data
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