103 Street  ​
Southbound platform
Station statistics
Address	East 103rd Street & Lexington Avenue New York, New York
Borough	Manhattan
Locale	East Harlem
Coordinates	40°47′25″N73°56′52″W / 40.79029°N 73.947687°W /40.79029; -73.947687
Division	A (IRT)[1]
Line	IRT Lexington Avenue Line
Services	4  (late nights) ​  6  (all times) <6>  (weekdays until 8:45 p.m., peak direction)
Transit	NYCT Bus:M101,M102,M103[2]
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2side platforms
Tracks	4
Other information
Opened	July 17, 1918 (107 years ago) (1918-07-17)[3]
Traffic
2024	2,475,803[4]  4.8%
Rank	138 out of 423[4]
Services Preceding station New York City Subway Following station 110th Street 4  ​6  <6> towardPelham Bay Park Local 96th Street 4  ​6  <6> towardBrooklyn Bridge–City Hall does not stop here
Location Show map of New York City Subway Show map of New York City Show map of New York
Track layout Legend to110th Street express tracks to86th Street to96th Street Upper level Lower level
Street map
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times Stops late nights only Stops rush hours in the peak direction only

The103rd Street station is a localstation on theIRT Lexington Avenue Line of theNew York City Subway. Located at the intersection ofLexington Avenue and 103rd Street inEast Harlem, it is served by the6 train at all times, the<6> train during weekdays in the peak direction, and the4 train during late nights.

This station was constructed as part of theDual Contracts by theInterborough Rapid Transit Company and opened in 1918. It was renovated in 1990 and in 2015–2016.

Following the completion of theoriginal subway, there were plans to construct a line along Manhattan's east side north of 42nd Street. The original plan for what became the extension north of 42nd Street was to continue it south throughIrving Place and into what is now theBMT Broadway Line atNinth Street andBroadway. In July 1911, the IRT had withdrawn from the talks, and theBrooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) was to operate on Lexington Avenue. The IRT submitted an offer for what became its portion of theDual Contracts on February 27, 1912.^[5][6]

In 1913, as part of theDual Contracts, which were signed on March 19, 1913,^[7] the Public Service Commission planned to split the originalInterborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) system from looking like a "Z" system (as seen on a map) to an H-shaped system. The original system would be split into three segments: two north–south lines, carrying through trains over the Lexington Avenue andBroadway–Seventh Avenue Lines, and a west–east shuttle under 42nd Street. This would form a roughly H-shaped system.^[8][9] It was predicted that the subway extension would lead to the growth of theUpper East Side andthe Bronx.^[10][11]

The 103rd Street station opened on July 17, 1918, with service initially running betweenGrand Central–42nd Street and167th Street via the line's local tracks.^[3][12] On August 1, the "H system" was put into place, with through service beginning on the new east and west side trunk lines, and the institution of the42nd Street Shuttle along the old connection between the sides.^[13][14] The cost of the extension from Grand Central was $58 million (equivalent to $1,212,482,301 in 2024).^[15]

The city government took over the IRT's operations on June 12, 1940.^[16][17]

In 1981, theMetropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) listed the 103rd Street station among the 69 most deteriorated stations in the subway system.^[18] A renovation of the 103rd Street station was funded as part of the MTA's 1980–1984 capital plan.^[19] The MTA received a $106 million (equivalent to $320,818,065 in 2024) grant from theUrban Mass Transit Administration in October 1983; most of the grant would fund the renovation of eleven stations,^[20][21] including 103rd Street.^[20] This station was renovated in 1990.

The Downtown platform was renovated in 2015, with the placement of new white wall tiles, new floor tiles and benches. From January 26, 2016, to May 23, 2016, the Uptown platform was closed for renovation and was done in the same style as the Downtown platform. This was completed about a month earlier than planned.^[22]

Ground	Street level	Entrances/exits
Mezzanine		Fare control, station agent,MetroCard machines
Platform level	Side platform
	Northbound local	← towardPelham Bay Park orParkchester(110th Street) ← towardWoodlawn late nights(110th Street)
	Northbound express	← do not stop here
	Southbound express	→ do not stop here →
	Southbound local	→ towardBrooklyn Bridge–City Hall(96th Street) → → towardNew Lots Avenue late nights(96th Street) →
	Side platform

This underground station has four tracks and twoside platforms. The two center express tracks are used by the 4 and5 trains during daytime hours.^[23] The 6 stops here at all times, and the 4 stops here during late nights.^[24][25] The station is between110th Street to the north and96th Street to the south.^[26]

All other stations betweenGrand Central–42nd Street and125th Street on the line, except110th Street, have the local tracks on an upper level and express ones on the lower level, with emergency exits provided at local stations for emergency egress.^[23]

Both platforms have their original trim line, which has "103" tablets on it at regular intervals, and name tablets, which read "103RD STREET" in the original mosaic. Prior to the 1990 station renovation, mosaic tiles were used so as to depict the 103rd Street mosaic as a sign hanging down from a horizontal support beam above. These "signholders" were covered over in 1990. An emergency phone is present immediately to the south of the southbound local platform.

The 1990 ceramic artwork here is calledNeo-Boriken byNitza Tufiño, based on the neighborhood's Caribbean and Latin American heritage. According to the accompanying plaque, P.R.O.M.I.S.E. (Puerto Rican Organization for Growth Research Education and Self Sufficiency) helped to fund the murals.^[27] This is one of two projects Tufiño made forMTA Arts & Design; the other,Westside Views – a community project for which she was the lead artist – can be found at86th Street.^[28]

The station's only entrance/exit is amezzanine above the platforms and tracks near the south end. It has two staircases from each platform, a waiting area that can be used as a crossover,turnstile bank, token booth, and two street stairs going up to the southeast and southwest corners of 103rd Street and Lexington Avenue.^[29] The mezzanine hasmosaics indicating uptown and downtown directions. The fences surrounding each exit stairway are unusual as each section of the fence is at a different elevation, as they are located onDuffy's Hill, a sharp incline, on Lexington Avenue between 102nd and 103rd Streets.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to103rd Street (IRT Lexington Avenue Line).

• nycsubway.org –IRT East Side Line: 103rd Street
• nycsubway.org —Neo-Boriken Artwork by Nitza Tufino (1990)
• Station Reporter —4 Train
• Station Reporter —6 Train
• MTA's Arts For Transit —103rd Street (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)
• 103rd Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Platforms from Google Maps Street View

• IRT Lexington Avenue Line stations
• New York City Subway stations in Manhattan
• Railway stations in the United States opened in 1918
• 1918 establishments in New York City
• East Harlem

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