Intervale Avenue station

Intervale Avenue
Intervale Avenue
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
	Northbound stair
Station statistics
Address	Intervale Avenue & Westchester Avenue; Bronx, New York
Borough	The Bronx
Locale	Longwood
Coordinates	40°49′19″N 73°53′49″W / 40.822°N 73.897°W
Division	A (IRT)
Line	IRT White Plains Road Line
Services	2 (all times); 5 (all times except rush hours in the peak direction and late nights)
Transit	NYCT Bus: Bx4, Bx6, Bx6 SBS
Structure	Elevated
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	3
Other information
Opened	April 30, 1910; 114 years ago
Rebuilt	April 21, 1992; 32 years ago (re-opened after 1989 fire)
Opposite-; direction; transfer	Yes
Former/other names	Intervale Avenue–163rd Street
Traffic
2023	580,512 1.8%
Rank	366 out of 423
Services
Services
Location
Track layout
	Legend
Street map
Station service legend
Symbol	Description
	Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction
	Stops all times

The Intervale Avenue station (formerly the Intervale Avenue–163rd Street station^[4]) is a local station on the IRT White Plains Road Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Intervale and Westchester Avenues in the Longwood neighborhood of the Bronx within Intervale Valley, it is served by the 2 train at all times, and the 5 train at all times except late nights and rush hours in the peak direction.

History

Early history

Platform with the former name from 1977.

The initial segment of the IRT White Plains Road Line opened on November 26, 1904 between 180th Street–Bronx Park and Jackson Avenue.^[5]^[6]^[7] The Intervale Avenue station opened on April 30, 1910 as an infill station on the White Plains Road Line, and was the first station in the Bronx with escalators. It was built at the cost of $100,000, which was paid with private capital.^[8]^[9] The station was originally served by trains from the IRT Second Avenue Line and the IRT Third Avenue Line, both now demolished. In addition, IRT Lenox Avenue Line trains also stopped at this station.^[10]^[6]^[11]

1930s and 1940s

The New York State Transit Commission announced plans to extend the southbound platforms at seven stations on the line from Jackson Avenue to 177th Street to accommodate ten-car trains for $81,900 on August 8, 1934. The platform at Intervale Avenue would be lengthened from 433 feet (132 m) to 481 feet (147 m).^[12]

The city government took over the IRT's operations on June 12, 1940.^[13]^[14] The Bergen Avenue cutoff, which allowed Third Avenue trains to access the White Plains Road Line, was abandoned on November 5, 1946, as part of the gradual curtailment of elevated service on the IRT Third Avenue Line.^[6] On June 13, 1949, the platform extensions at this station, as well as those on White Plains Road Line stations between Jackson Avenue and 177th Street, opened. The platforms were lengthened to 514 feet (157 m) to allow full ten-car express trains to open their doors. Previously the stations could only accommodate six-car local trains.^[15]

Station house arson

On March 15, 1989, three men set the wooden station house on fire after a failed attempt to rob the token booth. The clerk was not seriously injured, while the suspects fled and were never identified.^[4]^[16]

After the incident, New York City Transit considered closing this station indefinitely due to its close proximity to Prospect Avenue and Simpson Street. However, a community uproar led to the scrapping of the plans.^[4] The station was rebuilt with steel canopies and windscreens and a concrete station house with glass block windows and embossed leather-looking walls. Renovations took two and a half years.^[17] Artwork called El 2/El 5 by Michael Kelly Williams was installed in the mezzanine and features two mosaic murals depicting underground and elevated tracks. The renovated station reopened on April 21, 1992 after twenty months of work was completed.^[18]

Station layout

Platform level	Side platform
	Northbound local	← toward Wakefield–241st Street (Simpson Street) ← toward Eastchester–Dyre Avenue (Simpson Street)
	Peak-direction express	← PM rush does not stop here ← AM rush does not stop here →
	Southbound local	← toward Flatbush Avenue–Brooklyn College via Seventh (Prospect Avenue) → ← toward Flatbush Avenue–Brooklyn College via Lexington weekdays, Bowling Green evenings/weekends (Prospect Avenue) →
	Side platform
Mezzanine		Fare control, station agent, MetroCard machines
Ground	Street level	Exit/entrance

This elevated station has three tracks and two side platforms. The center express track is used by the 5 train during rush hours in the peak direction. Both platforms have beige windscreens that run along the entire length and brown canopies with green frames and support columns in the center.^{[citation needed]}

Exits

The station's only entrance is an elevated station house beneath the tracks. Inside fare control, it has two staircases to the center of each platform and a waiting area that allows a free transfer between directions. Outside fare control, there is a turnstile bank, token booth, one staircase going down to the southeast corner of Intervale and Westchester Avenues, and one staircase and one enclosed escalator (both perpendicular from each other) going down to the northeast corner.^[19]

References

^ "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.
^ "Bronx Bus Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. October 2018. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
^ ^a ^b "Annual Subway Ridership (2018–2023)". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c Blair, William G. (December 26, 1989). "Intervale Pleads for Reopening of El Station". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 23, 2020. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
^ "Discuss Subway Signs in 18th St. Station" (PDF). The New York Times. November 27, 1904. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 24, 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c Kahn, Alan Paul (January 1, 1973). Tracks of New York /. New York : Electric Railroaders' Association.
^ "Subway Trains Running From Bronx to Battery" (PDF). The New York Times. July 10, 1905. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 24, 2020. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
^ "New Escalator Subway Station Ready" (PDF). The New York Times. April 28, 1910. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 24, 2020. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
^ District, New York (State) Public Service Commission 1st (January 1, 1912). Report of the Public Service Commission for the First District of the State of New York. J.B. Lyon Company, printers. Archived from the original on August 2, 2022. Retrieved November 28, 2020.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^ "Discuss Subway Signs in 18th St. Station" (PDF). The New York Times. November 27, 1904. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 24, 2020.
^ "Subway Trains Running From Bronx to Battery" (PDF). The New York Times. July 10, 1905. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 24, 2020. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
^ "I.R.T. To Extend Stations. Platform Changes to Be Made on White Plains Line". The New York Times. August 9, 1934. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on January 8, 2021. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
^ "City Transit Unity Is Now a Reality; Title to I.R.T. Lines Passes to Municipality, Ending 19-Year Campaign". The New York Times. June 13, 1940. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on January 7, 2022. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
^ "Transit Unification Completed As City Takes Over I. R. T. Lines: Systems Come Under Single Control After Efforts Begun in 1921; Mayor Is Jubilant at City Hall Ceremony Recalling 1904 Celebration". New York Herald Tribune. June 13, 1940. p. 25. ProQuest 1248134780.
^ Report for the three and one-half years ending June 30, 1949. New York City Board of Transportation. 1949. hdl:2027/mdp.39015023094926.
^ "3 Men Burn Station In a Failed Robbery". The New York Times. March 16, 1989. Archived from the original on March 24, 2020. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
^ "IRT Station to Take 2 1/2 Years". The New York Times. March 17, 1990. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 25, 2015. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
^ New York City Transit's Facts & Figures Celebrating 90 Years of Subway Service 1904–1994. New York City Transit. 1994. p. 6.
^ "Intervale Avenue Neighborhood Map" (PDF). new.mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. April 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 3, 2018. Retrieved February 28, 2019.