68th Street–Hunter College (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)

68 Street–Hunter College   ​
New York City Subway rapid transit station
Uptown 6 train arriving
Station statistics
Address	East 68th Street & Lexington Avenue New York, NY 10021
Borough	Manhattan
Locale	Upper East Side
Coordinates	40°46′04″N 73°57′51″W / 40.767834°N 73.964124°W / 40.767834; -73.964124Coordinates: 40°46′04″N 73°57′51″W / 40.767834°N 73.964124°W / 40.767834; -73.964124
Division	A (IRT)
Line	IRT Lexington Avenue Line
Services	4  (late nights) ​      6  (all times) <6>  (weekdays until 8:45 p.m., peak direction)
Transit connections	NYCT Bus: M66, M98, M101, M102, M103
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Other information
Opened	July 17, 1918 (July 17, 1918)
Station code	399[1]
Accessible	not ADA-accessible; accessibility planned
Wireless service	[2]
Traffic
Passengers (2017)	6,998,999[3]  30.9%
Rank	61 out of 425
Station succession
Next north	77th Street: 4  ​6  <6>
Next south	59th Street: 4  ​6  <6>
Location Show map of New York City Subway Show map of New York City Show map of New York Show map of the US
Street map
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times Stops late nights only Stops rush hours in the peak direction only

68th Street–Hunter College is a local station on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line of the New York City Subway, located at the intersection of Lexington Avenue and 68th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. It is served by the 6 train at all times, the <6> during weekdays in peak direction, and the 4 during late night hours.

History

On February 15, 1917, the Public Service Commission agreed to change the name of the under-construction station from 68th Street to 68th Street–Hunter College at the request of officials of Hunter College.^[4]

On July 17, 1918, the IRT Lexington Avenue Line opened north to 125th Street, along with the 68th Street station. Service was originally provided by a shuttle on the line's local tracks. Through service along the Park Avenue section of the Original Subway was provided on August 1, 1918.^[5][6]

In 1981, the MTA listed the station among the 69 most deteriorated stations in the subway system.^[7]

Station layout

Track layout
to 77 St to 59 St

Name mosaic

G	Street level	Exit/entrance
M	Mezzanine	Fare control, station agent, MetroCard machines
P Platform level	Side platform, doors will open on the right
	Northbound local	← ( PM rush) toward Pelham Bay Park, (rush hours and middays) toward Parkchester (77th Street) ← toward Woodlawn (nights) (77th Street)
	Southbound local	→ ( AM rush) toward Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall (59th Street) → → toward New Lots Avenue (nights) (59th Street) →
	Side platform, doors will open on the right
Express tracks[8]	Northbound express	← do not stop here (except nights)
	Southbound express	→ do not stop here (except nights) →

Mezzanine

This underground station opened on July 17, 1918, has two local tracks and two side platforms. The express tracks of the Lexington Avenue Line, used by the 4 and 5 trains during daytime hours, pass beneath the station and are not visible from the platforms.

Both platforms have their original mosaic trim line with "68" tablets on it at regular intervals and name tablets reading "68th STREET-HUNTER COLLEGE" in two lines. On small sections of the platforms on either ends, where they were extended in the 1950s, there are blue trim lines with "68TH ST" written on it in white lettering. Blue columns run along both platforms at regular intervals with alternating ones having the standard black station name plate in white lettering. Both platforms have emergency exits from the lower level express tracks.

Toward the south end of the platforms are two stairs leading to the only mezzanine in the station. It has been renovated with stainless steel fare control rails and features red accent stripes in the IND style. Old wall lights exist but are not functional. The waiting area inside fare control has windows that allow a full view of the platforms and tracks. The northern half of the station without the mezzanine has very high ceilings.

Exits

Exterior stair, SW corner of 68th Street and Lexington Avenue

Outside of the large turnstile bank that provides access to and from the station, there is a token booth and a passageway on each side separated from the waiting area by a steel fence. Each passageway leads to a small staircase going up to either northern corner of 68th Street and Lexington Avenue. On the east side of the mezzanine is a short staircase going up to a landing, where a larger staircase goes up to the southeast corner of 68th Street and Lexington Avenue underneath Hunter College's East Building. The west side of the mezzanine has a direct entrance to the West Building of Hunter College and a double-wide marble staircase going up to the plaza on the southwest corner of 68th Street and Lexington Avenue.^[9] The entrance at the southeast corner contains a sign with the word "Subway" in a unique typeface seen only on the Hunter campus. This sign, and other signs around the college campus that are set in the same typeface, was created by Barbara Stauffacher Solomon as part of Ulrich Franzen's 1984 expansion of the campus.^[10]

The MTA proposes to build elevators here under the 2010–2014 MTA Capital Program, as part of the MTA's 100 Key ADA-accessible stations program.^[11][12] The project would include building elevators at 68th Street and new staircase entrances at 69th Street and Lexington Avenue. In late 2011 and early 2012, the project faced local opposition; opponents claimed the new staircases would ruin the character of 69th Street.^[13][14][15] The MTA insisted the new entrances were necessary to reduce congestion at the station's current entrances. The 69th Street Tenants Corporation suggested building new entrances at 67th Street or 70th Street instead,^{[16]:15-4 (PDF p. 212)} although the station does not reach under either of those streets.^{[16]:S-6 to S-8 (PDF pp. 20–22)} The proposal would have required construction of new passageways connecting the platforms to 67th Street to 70th Street, which would be more expensive and take longer to construct.^{[16]:Figures 2-4 and 2-5 (PDF pp. 74–75)}

The MTA originally hoped to award a construction contract by November 2013, but the project stalled for several years. In 2016, the MTA released an environmental assessment for the project, proposing to build a new southbound-only entrance at the southwest corner of 69th Street and Lexington Avenue, and a new northbound-only entrance on the east side of Lexington Avenue midblock between 68th and 69th Streets, at the suggestion of the 69th Street Tenants Corporation.^[16] As of July 2017, project design was still delayed, due to unresolved conflicts regarding real estate and infrastructure relocation work.^[17] The MTA hopes to award a contract by August 2018,^[18] with construction starting in December 2018, and completed in April 2021.^[19] The project will include a new northbound entrance and mezzanine in a Lexington Avenue storefront between 68th and 69th Streets, as well as a new southbound entrance at Lexington Avenue and 69th Street.^{[16]:Figure 2–10 (PDF p. 83)}

References

External links

• Media related to 68th Street – Hunter College (IRT Lexington Avenue Line) at Wikimedia Commons
• nycsubway.org – IRT East Side Line: 68th Street
• Station Reporter – 4 Train
• Station Reporter – 6 Train
• 68th Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Platforms from Google Maps Street View
• Lobby from Google Maps Street View