3 Avenue–149 Street  ​
Station statistics
Address	East 149th Street, Third, Willis & Melrose Avenues Bronx, New York
Borough	The Bronx
Locale	The Hub,Mott Haven,Melrose
Coordinates	40°48′58″N73°55′04″W / 40.816099°N 73.917676°W /40.816099; -73.917676
Division	A (IRT)[1]
Line	IRT White Plains Road Line
Services	2  (all times) ​  5  (all times except late nights)
Transit	NYCT Bus:Bx2,Bx4,Bx15,Bx19,Bx21,Bx41,Bx41 SBS,M125
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2side platforms
Tracks	2
Other information
Opened	July 10, 1905; 120 years ago (1905-07-10)
Accessible	ADA-accessible
Traffic
2024	3,698,741[2]  11%
Rank	87 out of 423[2]
Services Preceding station New York City Subway Following station Jackson Avenue 2  ​5  viaEast 180th Street Local 149th Street–Grand Concourse 2  ​5  towardFlatbush Avenue–Brooklyn College East 180th Street 5  express
Location Show map of New York City Subway Show map of New York City Show map of New York
Track layout Legend toEast 180th Street toJackson Avenue to149th Street–Grand Concourse
Street map
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times except late nights Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction Stops all times Stops rush hours in the peak direction only

TheThird Avenue–149th Street station is astation on theIRT White Plains Road Line of theNew York City Subway. It is located at Third Avenue and East 149th Street (the latter of which is also known as Eugenio Maria de Hostos Boulevard) inthe Hub in theSouth Bronx adjacent toMott Haven andMelrose. The station is served by the2 train at all times and the5 train at all times except nights. The station is the second-busiest in the Bronx and 59th overall, with around 6.768 million passengers using the station as of 2019.^[3]

The station opened on July 10, 1905, along with the149th Street–Grand Concourse station and the connection with theIRT Lenox Avenue Line in Manhattan. Free transfers were provided between the subway and the existing149th Street elevated station of theIRT Third Avenue Line, which opened in 1887.^[4][5] The convergence of the two rapid transit lines, the surface trolley lines along Third Avenue and 149th Street, and the ensuing commercial development led to the coining of the name "the Hub" for the intersection in the early 20th century.^[5][6]

The city government took over the IRT's operations on June 12, 1940.^[7][8] Following the closure of the Third Avenue elevated in 1973,^[9][10] free paper transfers were provided between the subway and theBx55 limited-stop bus, which replaced the elevated.^{[11][12][13][14]} However,scalpers would often resell these transfers for 50 cents.^[15] Because of the unique transfer, the station was one of the first to test theMetroCard system in the early 1990s,^[13] and the paper transfers were finally scrapped in 1997 with the wider rollout of the MetroCard.^[16]

In 1981, theMTA listed the station among the 69 most deteriorated stations in the subway system.^[17]

In 1996, ceramicmosaics by Jose Ortega were installed at the station, as part of the MTA'sArts for Transit program.^[18] The MTA announced in 2025 that a customer service center would open at the station.^[19]

The station has two tracks and twoside platforms, with no crossovers or crossunders between the platforms. The station has been renovated, withADA-accessible elevators installed on both sides of the station.

G	Street level	Exit/entrance Uptown elevator at southwest corner of 149th Street and 3rd Avenue; downtown elevator at northwest corner
P Platform level	Side platform
	Northbound	← towardWakefield–241st Street(Jackson Avenue) ← PM rush towardEastchester–Dyre Avenue orNereid Avenue(East 180th Street) ← AM rush towardGun Hill Road or East 180th Street (select rush hour trips)(East 180th Street) ← other times toward Dyre Avenue(Jackson Avenue)
	Southbound	← towardFlatbush Avenue–Brooklyn College viaSeventh(149th Street–Grand Concourse) → ← toward Flatbush Avenue viaLexington weekdays and evenings,Bowling Green weekends(149th Street–Grand Concourse) →
	Side platform

The station tiles have dark red and dark green/gray lower accents and dark red upper border. There are ceramicmosaics, installed in 1996 under the MTA'sArts for Transit program, entitledUna Raza, Un Mundo, Universo (One Race, One World, One Universe), by Jose Ortega. Four such mosaics are on each platform near the fare control.^[18] The token booths are built into the wall. Prior to the renovation, terra cotta "3" plaques were on the platform walls. One of these has been preserved at theNew York Transit Museum.

Immediately east (railroad north) of the station, past Bergen Avenue, the tracks ascend to become an elevated structure for the trip toEast 180th Street. This is the longest section of elevated track built underIRT Contract I. At the El level, one can still see the shortened supports for former track connections with theThird Avenue El.^[20] The express run to the next express station north,East 180th Street is 3.4 miles (5.5 km) long and bypasses seven stations, making it the second-longest express run in the system behind the 3.5-mile (5.6 km) express run between125th Street and59th Street–Columbus Circle on theIND Eighth Avenue Line, which also bypasses seven stations.

Thefare control is at platform level and there is a closed crossunder. Each fare control area has a bus transfer booth, which was used for the connection to the former Bx55 bus route that replaced theIRT Third Avenue Line in the Bronx. The extra booths andturnstiles, while still present, are no longer in use, having closed in July 1997 when system-wide free transfers were introduced with theMetroCard.^[21]

For each platform, three staircases lead up from fare control to the street; the north side of 149th Street for the Manhattan-bound platform, and the south side for the Bronx-bound platform. The elevators are located on the west side of the intersection.^[22][23] The elevators were closed for replacement in the early 2020s and reopened in May 2025.^[24]

The station is located inthe Hub, the oldest major shopping locale in the Bronx.^[25]

Nearby points of interest include:

• Alfred E. Smith Career and Technical Education High School^[22]
• Bronx Opera House^[22]
• College of New Rochelle, John Cardinal O'Connor Campus.^[22]
• Patterson Houses^[22]
• South Bronx Educational Campus, formerly South Bronx High School.^[22]

• 149th Street station (IRT Third Avenue Line)

Wikimedia Commons has media related toThird Avenue – 149th Street (IRT White Plains Road Line).

• nycsubway.org –IRT White Plains Road Line: 3rd Avenue/149th Street

• Accessible New York City Subway stations
• IRT White Plains Road Line stations
• New York City Subway stations in the Bronx
• Railway stations in the United States opened in 1905
• Mott Haven, Bronx
• Melrose, Bronx
• Third Avenue

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