116th Street station (IND Eighth Avenue Line)

For other uses, see 116th Street.

116 Street  ​
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Platform view
Station statistics
Address	West 116th Street & Frederick Douglass Boulevard New York, New York
Borough	Manhattan
Locale	Harlem
Coordinates	40.804389°N 73.955412°W / 40.804389; -73.955412
Division	B (IND)[1]
Line	IND Eighth Avenue Line
Services	A  (late nights) ​   B  (weekdays during the day) ​   C  (all except late nights)
Transit	NYCT Bus: M7, M10, M116
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	4
Other information
Opened	September 10, 1932 (92 years ago) (1932-09-10)[2]
Opposite- direction transfer	No
Traffic
2023	1,459,488[3]  7.4%
Rank	217 out of 423[3]
Services Preceding station New York City Subway Following station 125th Street A  ​B  ​C  via 145th Street Local Cathedral Parkway–110th Street A  ​B  ​C  via 59th Street–Columbus Circle 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 to 125th Street to Cathedral Pkwy–110th St
Street map
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times except late nights Stops late nights only Stops weekdays during the day

The 116th Street station is a local station on the IND Eighth Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of 116th Street and 8th Avenue in Harlem, Manhattan, it is served by the B train on weekdays, the C train at all times except nights, and the A train during late nights only.[4][5][6]

History

The station opened on September 10, 1932, as part of the city-operated Independent Subway System (IND)'s initial segment, the Eighth Avenue Line between Chambers Street and 207th Street.[2][7] Construction of the whole line cost $191.2 million (equivalent to $4,269.8 million in 2023. While the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line already provided parallel service, the new Eighth Avenue subway via Central Park West and Frederick Douglass Boulevard provided an alternative route.[8]

The station was planned to be rehabilitated as part of the 2015–2019 Metropolitan Transportation Authority Capital Program.[9]

Station layout

Ground	Street level	Exit/entrance
Platform level	Side platform
	Northbound local	← weekdays toward Bedford Park Boulevard or 145th Street (125th Street) ← toward 168th Street (125th Street) ← toward Inwood–207th Street late nights (125th Street)
	Northbound express	← do not stop here
	Southbound express	→ do not stop here →
	Southbound local	→ weekdays toward Brighton Beach (Cathedral Parkway–110th Street) → → toward Euclid Avenue (Cathedral Parkway–110th Street) → → toward Far Rockaway–Mott Avenue late nights (Cathedral Parkway–110th Street) →
	Side platform

Mosaic name tablet

Street stair to uptown platform

This underground station has four tracks and two side platforms.[10] The platforms have name tablets reading "116TH ST." in white sans-serif lettering on a midnight blue background and black border, but no trim line. Small direction and name signs reading "116" in white lettering on a black border run at regular intervals. There are blue I-beam columns that run along both platforms at regular intervals with every other one having the standard black station name plate in white lettering.

Each platform has one same-level fare control area at their extreme south ends. Each one has a turnstile bank and two staircases to the street. The southbound platform has a token booth while the northbound platform does not, having been closed in 2010 and removed several years later.

There are no crossovers or crossunders between the two platforms. As a result, this station and 135th Street are the only two stations on the Eighth Avenue Line north of 59th Street that do not permit free transfers between opposite directions.

Exits

The exits on the northbound platform go up to either eastern corners of 116th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard while the exits on the southbound platform go up to either western corners.[11]

Both platforms also had a part-time entrance/exit at the north end to both northern corners of 118th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard, with the northbound platform's entrance/exit leading to the northeastern corner and the southbound platform's entrance/exit leading to the northwestern corner.[9]

Nearby points of interest

• East Campus at Columbia University
• Morningside Park[11]

References

1. "Glossary". Second Avenue Subway Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) (PDF). Vol. 1. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. March 4, 2003. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 26, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
2. "List of the 28 Stations on the New 8th Av. Line". The New York Times. September 10, 1932. p. 6. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
3. "Annual Subway Ridership (2018–2023)". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
4. "A Subway Timetable, Effective December 17, 2023". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved December 16, 2024.
5. "B Subway Timetable, Effective June 30, 2024". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved December 16, 2024.
6. "C Subway Timetable, Effective December 15, 2024". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved December 16, 2024.
7. Crowell, Paul (September 10, 1932). "Gay Midnight Crowd Rides First Trains In The New Subway: Throngs at Station an Hour Before Time, Rush Turnstiles When Chains are Dropped" (PDF). The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
8. Duffus, R. l (September 9, 1932). "New Line First Unit In City-Wide System; 8th Av. Tube to Ease West Side Congestion at Once -- Branches to Link 4 Boroughs Later. Last Word In Subways Run From 207th to Chambers St. Cut to 33 Minutes -- 42d St. Has World's Largest Station. Cost Has Been $191,200,000 Years of Digging Up City Streets, Tunneling Rock and Building Road Finally Brought to Completion". The New York Times. p. 12. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
9. Review of the A and C Lines (PDF) (Report). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. December 11, 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 3, 2020. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
10. Dougherty, Peter (2006) [2002]. Tracks of the New York City Subway 2006 (3rd ed.). Dougherty. OCLC 49777633 – via Google Books.
11. "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Morningside Heights" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2018.

External links

• nycsubway.org – IND Eighth Avenue: 116th Street
• Station Reporter — B Train
• Station Reporter — C Train
• The Subway Nut — 116th Street Pictures Archived June 12, 2017, at the Wayback Machine
• 116th Street entrance at northwest from Google Maps Street View
• Platform from Google Maps Street View