86th Street (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)

86 Street   ​ ​
New York City Subway rapid transit station
Local downtown platform
Station statistics
Address	East 86th Street & Lexington Avenue New York, NY 10028
Borough	Manhattan
Locale	Upper East Side
Coordinates	40°46′46″N 73°57′20″W / 40.779469°N 73.955626°W / 40.779469; -73.955626Coordinates: 40°46′46″N 73°57′20″W / 40.779469°N 73.955626°W / 40.779469; -73.955626
Division	A (IRT)
Line	IRT Lexington Avenue Line
Services	4  (all times) ​      5  (all times except late nights) ​      6  (all times) <6>  (weekdays until 8:45 p.m., peak direction)
Transit connections	NYCT Bus: M86 SBS, M98, M101, M102, M103 MTA Bus: BxM1
Structure	Underground
Levels	2
Platforms	4 side platforms (2 on each level)
Tracks	4 (2 on each level)
Other information
Opened	July 17, 1918 (1918-07-17)
Station code	397[1]
Accessible	not ADA-accessible; accessibility planned (Elevator under construction for uptown local platform only)
Wireless service	[2]
Traffic
Passengers (2017)	14,277,369[3]  29.8%
Rank	18 out of 425
Station succession
Next north	125th Street (express): 4  ​5  96th Street (local): 4  ​6  <6>
Next south	77th Street (local): 4  ​6  <6> 59th Street (express): 4  ​5
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 except late nights Stops all times Stops late nights only Stops rush hours in the peak direction only 86th Street Subway Station (Dual System IRT) U.S. National Register of Historic Places MPS New York City Subway System MPS NRHP reference # 05000236[4] Added to NRHP March 30, 2005

86th Street is an express station on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Lexington Avenue and 86th Street on the Upper East Side, it is served by the 4 and 6 trains at all times, the 5 train at all times except late nights, and the <6> during weekdays in peak direction.

History

86th Street opened on July 17, 1918 as part of an expansion of the IRT Lexington Avenue Line north of Grand Central–42nd Street.^[5]

This station underwent three renovations. The first took place with the opening of a Gimbels department store directly above in the early 1970s. The renovation took place mostly in the fare control areas. The second renovation was completed by 1986 as part of a move to prevent the existing New York City Subway stations from falling apart after years of deferred maintenance; this is evidenced by the addition of the then standard orange platform edge in addition to the yellow platform edge that was originally there, as well as painting the I Beams red instead of the original blue and fixing all the other parts of the station.^[6] The third renovation was completed by Fall 2004.^[7] It consisted of repainting the I beams from red to dark blue, as well as the removal of train arrival devices on the upper level that gave notices of approaching express trains on the lower level, among other things; the latter were replaced with countdown clocks, on both levels, which performed the same function.^[8][9]

Station layout

G	Street Level	Exit/Entrance
B1 Local platforms	East Mezzanine	Exits/Entrances to northbound platforms
	Side platform, doors will open on the right
	Northbound local	← toward Pelham Bay Park ( toward Parkchester PM rush hours) (96th Street) ← toward Woodlawn (late nights) (96th Street)
	Southbound local	→ toward Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall ( toward New Lots Avenue late nights) (77th Street) →
	Side platform, doors will open on the right
	West Mezzanine	Exits/Entrances to southbound platforms
B2 Express platforms	Side platform, doors will open on the right
	Northbound express	← toward Woodlawn (125th Street) ← toward Eastchester–Dyre Avenue except late nights or Nereid Avenue rush hours (125th Street)
	Southbound express	→ toward Crown Heights–Utica Avenue (59th Street) → → toward Flatbush Avenue–Brooklyn College weekdays, Bowling Green weekends (59th Street) →
	Side platform, doors will open on the right

Track layout
Upper level
to 96 St to 77 St
Lower level
to 125 St to 59 St

This underground station has two levels. Each level has two tracks and two side platforms. The upper level serves local trains while the lower level serves express trains. There is no express service during late nights and the lower level is closed during that period.^[10] Three staircases connect the levels on each side.

There are no crossovers or crossunders between the platforms, making this one of only three express stations in the system where free transfers between opposite directions are not possible (the others are Nostrand Avenue on the IND Fulton Street Line, and Bergen Street, whose lower level is closed, on the IND Culver Line). Each platform has its original Dual Contracts trim line consisting mostly of yellows and browns. Small "86" tablets in a circle run along this trim line.^[11] The name tablets have "86TH STREET" in white Times New Roman font on a reddish-brown background with a light-brown inner border and green outer border.^[12] Teal columns run along all four platforms at regular intervals.^[13]

Name tablet

Trim line tablet

Each upper level platform has one same-level fare control area in the center. The southbound side has a turnstile bank, token booth, two staircases going up to southwest corner of East 86th Street and Lexington Avenue, and two more that are built inside a Best Buy store on the northwest corner of the same intersection.^[14] The northbound fare control has an unstaffed turnstile bank and two staircases going up to the southeast corner of East 86th Street and Lexington Avenue. Two more staircases are built inside a shopping arcade that is in the basement of a former Petco store on the northeast corner of the same intersection. The building is currently occupied by other businesses.^[15]

In 2016, it was announced that an elevator and widened staircase for the uptown local platform will be installed on the northeast corner of Lexington Avenue and 86th Street, replacing two narrow staircases at that location. The elevator and staircase installations are part of the construction of a luxury residential tower at 147 East 86th Street.^[16][17]

The 2004 artwork here is called Happy City by Peter Sis. It consists of four different glass and etched stone mosaic murals in the shapes of huge eyes surrounded by various animals and objects. They are located at each top of the four staircases near the fare control areas that go down to the lower level express platforms.^[18]

This station was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 30, 2005.^[19]

Notable places nearby

• Church of St. Ignatius Loyola^[20]
• Cooper–Hewitt, National Design Museum^[20]
• Metropolitan Museum of Art^[20]
• National Academy of Design^[20]
• Neue Galerie New York^[20]
• Regis High School^[20]
• Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum^[20]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 86th Street (IRT Lexington Avenue Line).

• nycsubway.org – IRT East Side Line: 86th Street
• nycsubway.org — Happy City Artwork by Peter Sis (2004)
• MTA's Arts For Transit — 86th Street (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)
• 86th Street northbound entrance from Google Maps Street View
• 86th Street southbound entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Platforms from Google Maps Street View