96 Street
Platform level
Station statistics
Address	96th Street &Second Avenue New York, New York
Borough	Manhattan
Locale	Upper East Side (Carnegie Hill andYorkville);East Harlem
Coordinates	40°47′03″N73°56′50″W / 40.7841°N 73.9472°W /40.7841; -73.9472
Division	B (IND)[1]
Line	IND Second Avenue Line
Services	N  (limited rush hour service only) ​  Q  (all times) ​  R  (one weekday a.m. rush hour trip in the northbound direction only)
Transit	NYCT Bus:M15,M15 SBS,M96 MTA Bus:BxM1,BxM7,BxM10[2] NYC Ferry: Soundview route (at East 90th Street and East End Avenue)
Structure	Underground
Platforms	1island platform
Tracks	2
Other information
Opened	January 1, 2017; 8 years ago (2017-01-01)[3][4]
Accessible	ADA-accessible
Traffic
2024	3,995,561[5]  4.3%
Rank	79 out of 423[5]
Services Preceding station New York City Subway Following station Terminus 86th Street N  ​Q  towardConey Island–Stillwell Avenue Future services 106th Street towardHarlem–125th Street 86th Street N  ​Q  towardConey Island–Stillwell Avenue
Location Show map of New York City Subway Show map of New York City Show map of New York
Track layout Legend S1 S2 Tunnel continues to 105th Street End of tail tracks Tail tracks each store two trains to86th Street S1 S2
Street map
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times Stops rush hours only (limited service) Stops rush hours in the peak direction only (limited service) Stops weekends and weekday evenings

The96th Street station (also known as the96th Street–Second Avenue station) is astation on theIND Second Avenue Line of theNew York City Subway. Located at the intersection ofSecond Avenue and96th Street on the border of theUpper East Side/Yorkville andEast Harlem neighborhoods inManhattan, it is the northernterminus for the first phase of the Second Avenue Line. The station is served by theQ train at all times, as well as limitedN trains and one northbound a.m.R train during rush hours; all three routes terminate at the station. There are two tracks and anisland platform.

The station was not originally proposed as part of theProgram for Action in 1968, but a later revision to that plan entailed building a Second Avenue Subway with one of its stops located at 96th Street. Construction on that project started in 1972, but stalled in 1975 due to lack of funding. In 2007, a separate measure authorized a first phase of the Second Avenue Line to be built between 65th and 105th Streets, with stations at 72nd Street, 86th Street and 96th Street. The station opened on January 1, 2017, as a terminal station, with provisions to extend the line north toHarlem–125th Street in Phase 2. Since opening, the presence of the Second Avenue Subway's three Phase 1 stations has improved real estate prices along the corridor. The 96th Street station was used by approximately 6.2 million passengers in 2019.^[6]

The station, along with the other Phase 1 stations along the Second Avenue Subway, contains features not found in most New York City Subway stations. It is fully compliant with theAmericans with Disabilities Act of 1990, containing two elevators for disabled access. Additionally, the station containsair conditioning and is waterproofed, a feature only found in newer stations. The artwork at 96th Street is "Blueprint for a Landscape", a mural bySarah Sze.

The Second Avenue Line was originally proposed in 1919 as part of amassive expansion of what would become theIndependent Subway System (IND).^{[7][8]: 203} Work on the line never commenced, as theGreat Depression of 1929 crushed the economy.^[9] Numerousplans for the Second Avenue Subway appeared throughout the 20th century, but these were usually deferred due to lack of funds. In anticipation of the never-built new subway line, theSecond andThird Avenueelevated lines were demolished in 1942 and 1955, respectively.^[10][11] The Second Avenue Elevated had one station at92nd Street and another at99th Street,^[12] and the Third Avenue Elevated had a stop on nearby Third Avenue at99th Street.^[13]

As part of theNew York City Transit Authority's 1968Program for Action, the construction of the full-lengthSecond Avenue Subway was proposed. It was to be built in two phases—the first phase from 126th to 34th Streets, the second phase from 34th to Whitehall Streets.^[14][15] The line's planned stops in Manhattan, spaced farther apart than those on existing subway lines, proved controversial; the Second Avenue line was criticized as a "rich man's express, circumventing theLower East Side with its complexes of high-rise low- and middle-income housing and slums in favor of a silk stocking route."^[8]: 218 People protested for almost a year over the lack of stations at 72nd and 96th Streets; while a Lenox Hill (72nd Street) station^[16] was added in October 1970, the 96th Street station was still not in the official plans, despite the proximity of theMetropolitan Hospital Center to the proposed station.^[8]: 220 In response to public outcry, the MTA announced the addition of a station at 96th Street in 1971.^[17]

Many community representatives requested that a station, in addition to those already proposed, be constructed in the vicinity of 96th Street and Second Avenue, principally to serve theMetropolitan Hospital which provides medical service to large numbers of low-income patients.
After considering the testimony presented at the hearing, the New York City Transit Authority adopted a resolution providing for the construction of a station at 96th Street at a cost of approximately $10,000,000.^[15]

All Second Avenue Subway stations built under the Program for Action would have included escalators, high intensity lighting, improved audio systems, platform edge strips, and non-slip floors to accommodate the needs of the elderly and people with disabilities, but no elevators. Space at each station would have been used for ancillary facilities.^[18] The stations were to be made with brick walls andpavers alongside stainless steel, and would have relatively small dimensions, with 10-foot (3.0 m) mezzanine ceilings. Damaz & Weigel received a contract for the design of the 96th Street station.^[19]: 110

A combination of Federal and State funding was obtained, and despite the controversy over the number of stops and route, a groundbreaking ceremony was held on October 27, 1972, at Second Avenue and 103rd Street.^[20][21][22] Construction began shortly thereafter on what was to be the 99th–105th Streets segment, which was projected to cost $17.48 million (worth about $131,399,000 today).^[23] However, the city soon experienced its most direfiscal crisis yet, due to the stagnant economy of the early 1970s, combined with themassive outflow of city residents to the suburbs, and in September 1975 construction on the line stopped, and the tunnels were sealed.^[22][24] Over the next few decades, the MTA regularly inspected and maintained the tunnel segments (spending $20,000 a year by the early 1990s), to maintain the structural integrity of the streets above, and in case construction would ever resume. Trespassers would often camp in the tunnels until the MTA increased security.^[25]

In 1999, theRegional Plan Association considereda full-length Second Avenue Subway, which include 96th Street as one of its planned 31 stations. The station would serve the Metropolitan Hospital at 97th Street and the then-new high-rise buildings south of 96th Street.^[26]

In March 2007, plans for theconstruction of the Second Avenue Subway were revived.^[27][28] The line's first phase, the "first major expansion" to the New York City Subway in more than a half-century,^[29] included three stations in total (at 72nd, 86th, and 96th Streets), which collectively cost $4.45 to $4.5 billion.^[30][31] Its construction site was designated as being from 105th Street and Second Avenue to 63rd Street and Third Avenue.^[32] The MTA awarded a $337 million contract—one that included constructing the tunnels between 92nd and 63rd Streets, building a launch box for thetunnel boring machine (TBM) at 92nd to 95th Streets, and erecting access shafts at 69th and 72nd Streets—to Schiavone Construction,Skanska USA Civil, and J.F. Shea Construction.^[33] The line's construction commenced on April 15, 2007,^[27][28][34] In April 2007, the second round of planning for the station was finalized.^[35][36]

A ceremonial ground-breaking for the Second Avenue Subway was held on April 12, 2007, three blocks north of the station.^{[28][27][34][37][38]} The contractor prepared the initial construction site at 96th Street on April 23, 2007.^[39] A TBM was originally expected to arrive six to eight months after construction began, but the utility relocation and excavation required to create its "launch box" delayed its deployment from 96th Street down to 63rd Street until May 2010.^[40] The forced evacuation of two buildings near the 96th Street station delayed the contractor's plan to use controlled blasting to remove bedrock in the southern section of the launch box.^[41] The station itself could not be bored because of the soft soil there.^[42] Instead,slurry ordiaphragm walls, 1.1 meters (3.6 ft) wide and 6.1 meters (20 ft) long and about 35 meters (115 ft) deep, were built alongside the sections between East 93rd and 95th Streets. Between East 91st and 93rd Streets, where the rock becomes shallower, 1.1-meter-diameter (3.6 ft)secant piles did the same work at shallower depths.^[42][43] Earth excavation was conducted between walls once they were installed, and box structures were built using a bottom-up construction method. Temporarydecking constituted the top of the boxes, and the decking both braced the excavation and supported the walls and Second Avenue traffic.^[43]

By the beginning of 2012, the slurry wall for the station site was being taken down.^[44] On June 25, 2012, a $324.6 million contract was awarded to E.E. Cruz and Company and Tully Construction Company for the station's plumbing, electricity, ancillaries, and entrances.^[45] In March 2013, the bulkhead separating the new construction from the 1970s-era tunnel at 99th Street was completed.^[46]

On March 19, 2013, a construction worker got stuck in waist-deep muck at the station site;^[47][48] he was extricated after four hours of rescue efforts, but nearly died after the incident.^[49][50]

In mid-2013, work had resumed in the tunnel segment between 99th Street and 105th Street, involving the addition of track and signals, mechanical and plumbing equipment, and upgrading the tunnels to meet modern fire code standards.^[51][52] As of November 2013^[update], the station was 65% excavated. Rails for the line had arrived and were being stored in the station cavern;^[53] about one-third of the rails for the line had arrived by then, enough for tracks to be laid from 105th to 87th Streets.^[54] By spring 2014, the mezzanine was completed, and roof slabs were being installed; tracks and signal brackets were also installed north of the station.^[55] By April 2015, the station was 67% complete,^[56] and by April 2016, the station was 91% complete.^[57] The station was scheduled to be completed by June 2016,^[58] but this was later pushed back to fall 2016.^[59]

On December 22 and 23, as part of an open house hosted by the MTA, the public was invited to tour the 96th Street station before it opened, to generally positive acclaim.^[60][61] The station opened on January 1, 2017.^[3][4]

Phase 2, which does not have a set timetable for construction,^[62][63] is planned to extend service from 96th Street toHarlem–125th Street. During Phase 2, both East Harlem segments, between 99th Street and 105th Street, and between 110th Street and 120th Street will be connected, modified, and used for normal train service. In 2007, the MTA reported that the segments were in pristine condition.^[64] Under the approved plan, the MTA estimates to complete Phase 2 between 2027 and 2029, by which the Q and rush-hour N trains will be extended to Harlem–125th Street.^[65]

Ground	Street level	Exits/entrances
Mezzanine	Mezzanine	Fare control, station agent,MetroCard andOMNY machines Elevator in plaza on west side of Second Avenue between 95th Street and 96th Street
Platform level	Track 2	← towardConey Island–Stillwell Avenue viaBrighton(86th Street) ← toward Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue viaSea Beach (select rush hour trips)(86th Street)
	Island platform
	Track 1	← toward Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue viaBrighton(86th Street) ← toward Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue viaSea Beach (select rush hour trips)(86th Street)

The 96th Street station is served byQ trains at all times as well as limitedN trains and one northbound a.m.R train during rush hours.^[66] This station is the northern terminus of the Second Avenue Subway;^[67][68] the next stop to the south is86th Street.^[69] It has two tracks and anisland platform.^[28] The station is built so that it is more wide open than most other underground subway stations in the system.^[70] Its design was likened to aWashington Metro station by Michael Horodniceanu, President ofMTA Capital Construction.^[71] The platform is approximately 49 feet (15 m) below ground, making the station the shallowest of the three Phase 1 stations.^[72][73] The platform for the 96th Street station, like the otherSecond Avenue Subway stations, is 27.8 feet (8.5 m) wide.^[74][75] As with other stations on the first phase of the Second Avenue Subway, it was designed and engineered by ajoint venture ofArup andAECOM.^[76]

The station has air-cooling systems to make it at least 10 °F (6 °C) cooler than other subway stations during the summer.^[77] This requires the station to have large ventilation and ancillary buildings, rather than traditional subway grates.^[78] The station is also compliant with current fire codes, whereas most existing stations are not.^[79] Additionally, the station is waterproofed with concrete liners and fully drained.^[80] In early plans, the Second Avenue Subway was supposed to haveplatform screen doors to assist with air-cooling, energy savings, ventilation, and track safety,^[81] but this plan was scrapped in 2012 as cost-prohibitive.^[82] According to an internal study prepared for the MTA in 2020, the 96th Street station could theoretically accommodate half-height platform edge doors. Full-height platform screen doors would be possible but would necessitate the installation of structural bracing and relocation of several mechanical systems.^[83]

South of the station, underneath 92nd Street, is adiamond crossover allowing northbound trains from track S2 to terminate on either track, then go into the storage tracks or proceed south on track S1.^[84][85][86] A section of tunnel north of the station, built in the 1970s between 99th and 105th Streets, was renovated.^[87] The tail tracks north of the station, which currently end at 99th Street, can store four trainsets, two on each track.^[88]

In 2009,MTA Arts & Design selectedSarah Sze from a pool of 300 potential artists to create the artwork for the station.^[89][90] Her work, which was created by Spanish artisans Alcalagres,^[90] consists of blue, violet, and lavender landscapes,^[91][89] as well as depictions of wind blowing things around.^[90] The artwork is located on 4,300 porcelain wall panels.^[92][93][94] The installation is permanent.^[95]

The piece is called "Blueprint for a Landscape" and consists of a dark-blue landscape of things being blown around as if by an incoming train.^[92][90] ANew York Times reporter described it as "fragmented images of scaffolding, birds, chairs and leaves, digitally collaged."^[90] Another piece, in simple blue-and-white colors, consists of depictions of billowing sheets of paper. The work also serves the practical purpose of helping navigation, as the sheets are more closely packed together near the exits than in the middle of the station.^[90] The work features familiar objects—sheets of paper, scaffolding, birds, trees and foliage—caught up in a whirlwind. Each entrance features a different shade of blue and a blueprint-stylevector line design, a visual theme that is integrated with the architecture.^[96][97]

There are 3 entrances and exits, comprising 6 escalators and one elevator.^[85][98]

Location[98]	Exit Type	Number of exits
Entrance 1 Within building, SW corner of Second Avenue and 94th Street[99]	Staircase Escalator	1 staircase 1 escalator
Entrance 2 Plaza, NE corner of Second Avenue and 94th Street[99]	Escalator	3 escalators
Entrance 3 Second Avenue, west side between 95th Street and 96th Street[99]	Elevator	1
Entrance 3 Plaza, SW corner of Second Avenue and 96th Street[99]	Staircase Escalator	1 staircase 2 escalators

There are also two ancillary buildings that store station equipment.^[100][101] Ancillary 1 is at the northeast corner of Second Avenue and 93rd Street, while ancillary 2 is at the SW corner of Second Avenue and 97th Street.^[100][101] TheMetropolitan Hospital Center is one block to the north of the station's northernmost entrance.^[102]

The locations of the station entrances are all south of96th Street.^[103] In 2009, there was a debate over the placement of the location of the street entrances. Because 96th Street divides the neighborhoods of theUpper East Side to the south andEast Harlem to the north, some residents of East Harlem stated that their neighborhood was not served by the Second Avenue Subway.^[104][105]

The surrounding area's real estate prices had been in decline.^[106] However, the value of real estate in the area has risen since 2013,^[107][108] with new construction charging a "subway premium."^[106] Some businesses near the station's construction site lost profits,^[109] but with the opening of the new station, business owners hope to see an increase in patronage.^[110][111]

A writer forThe New Yorker called the station area a partially gentrified "traditional dividing line between East Harlem and the Upper East Side". Unlike for the other two Phase 1 stations, rents for buildings in the station area had not reached their maximum. To illustrate the area's transitional condition, the writer stated that the 96th Street station was situated within a few blocks of a high-crime housing development on First Avenue, an old ice-skating rink frequented by "squeegee men" who would demand money from drivers, a tenement where future PresidentBarack Obama lived in the 1980s, theIslamic Cultural Center of New York, as well as the Mayor of New York City's residence atGracie Mansion.^[42]

• Islamic Cultural Center of New York
• Metropolitan Hospital Center
• Normandie Court

Wikimedia Commons has media related to96th Street (IND Second Avenue Line).

• nycsubway.org –IND Second Avenue Line: 96th Street
• 94th Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• 96th Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Platform from Google Maps Street View
• Mezzanine from Google Maps Street View
• Second Avenue Subway 96th Street Construction Photos – MTA'sFlickr website

• Accessible New York City Subway stations
• IND Second Avenue Line stations
• New York City Subway stations in Manhattan
• New York City Subway terminals
• Yorkville, Manhattan
• Railway stations in the United States opened in 2017
• 2017 establishments in New York City
• 2010s in Manhattan
• Second Avenue (Manhattan)

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