The 86th Street station is an abandoned station located in the Park Avenue Tunnel used by

Metro-North Railroad Metro-North Railroad , trading as MTA Metro-North Railroad, is a suburban commuter rail service run by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), a New York State public benefit corporations, public authority of the U.S. state of New Yor ...

for all of its trains. The station was built by the

New York Central & Hudson River Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mid ...

as part of an agreement with

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The station was built during the late 19th century. It was located at

Park Avenue Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenu ...

and 86th Street on the

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the wes ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

History

Construction

The

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passed legislation in 1872, requiring that of

New York and Harlem Railroad The New York and Harlem Railroad (now the Metro-North Railroad's Harlem Line) was one of the first railroads in the United States, and was the world's first street railway. Designed by John Stephenson, it was opened in stages between 1832 and ...

tracks between Grand Central and the Harlem River be placed underground. The confluence of tracks to the north of Grand Central was considered to be the city's "most fearful death-trap" by ''

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'' in 1872, and large meetings were held to protest the deaths caused by collisions between trains and pedestrians. The law set up a Board of Engineers to manage the project, which was known as the Fourth Avenue Improvement. The law stated that the authorization for two additional tracks was given "for the purpose of facilitating rapid transit and accommodating local traffic": these tracks were built on the same level, and as part of the project, four local stations were built. The project's cost was split between the New York Central, run by

Commodore Vanderbilt Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), nicknamed "the Commodore", was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. After working with his father's business, Vanderbilt worked his way into lead ...

, and New York City, whose payment of $3.2 million was to be made up from increased taxes from future development. The line was sunk into a tunnel between 59th Street and 96th Street through Mount Pleasant, known as the Yorkville Tunnel. The preexisting track level in this section was maintained as the streets crossed over the line via iron bridges. The contract for the section between 79th Street and the Harlem River was awarded to them on November 11. Work on the project began in fall 1872. In December 1872, shafts were sunk at 91st and 93rd Streets and two tunnels were being built alongside the old tunnel. The tunnels were to be completed in September 1873. On May 3, 1875, the first section of the improvement between 56th Street and 94th Street was placed in full revenue service, running through the cut south of the Yorkville Tunnel. On June 20, the entire improvement opened, and the first trains from Grand Central to the Harlem River were witnessed by large crowds of spectators. That morning, new rails and ties were installed between 96th Street and 33rd Streets, and the old track and trestle were demolished. The first train, the St. Louis Express, due at 12:30 p.m., arrived late at 1:50 p.m. due to the work. Masonry work continued to be done to lengthen the tunnel at Yorkville down to 80th Street, arching over the tracks. The tracks were not yet ballasted, forcing trains to run slowly. The side tracks to be used for local rapid transit trains were not yet laid, and the passenger stations at 59th Street, 72nd Street, 86th Street,

110th Street 110th Street is a street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is commonly known as the boundary between Harlem and Central Park, along which it is known as Central Park North. In the west, between Central Park West/Frederick Dougl ...

and 125th Street were not yet built. At this time, local rapid transit trains were expected to begin operation by September 1875 and were to serve stations yet under construction. The rolling stock for the local trains were to be much lighter than those used on the through trains.

Opening

This station opened on May 15, 1876 with the introduction of partial rapid transit on the

Harlem Line The Metro-North Railroad Harlem Line, originally chartered as the New York and Harlem Railroad, is an commuter rail line running north from New York City to Wassaic, in eastern Dutchess County. The lower from Grand Central Terminal to Southea ...

, with sixteen trains a day running between Grand Central Depot and William's Bridge. On the same date, the

station opened, and both were primarily served by the rapid transit service. While the 110th Street station also was served by trains to Golden's Bridge, 86th Street was exclusively used by Tuckahoe and White Plains locals. On April 29, 1901, the New York Central was granted permission to abandon this station and the 72nd Street station by the New York State Railroad Commissioners. While the station recorded 13,355 passengers in 1879, it only recorded 3,371 in 1900, even though the station was served by twelve daily trains. The Central had applied for permission to discontinue the two stations as they were operated at a loss, and as it was purported that having trains stop in the tunnel was a threat to public safety. The station was last listed on the May 20, 1901 timetable and was left off the June 23, 1901 timetable. However, an article from 1906 detailing the closure of the 110th Street station noted that many locals stopped at 86th Street.

Station layout

Currently, the station is used as an emergency exit for

in the Park Avenue Tunnel. The staircases are intact and can be accessed from the center median of Park Avenue. The station house used to be located in this median, which used to be wider. The layout of this station is different from 59th Street and 72nd Street; the platforms are on the insides of the outer tunnels, between the inner tunnels. The station platforms were long, and wide. A waiting room was located at the north end of each platform. At the south ends of the platforms staircases led to a mezzanine level where the ticket office was located.

References

{{Park Avenue Former railway stations in New York (state) Former New York Central Railroad stations Railway stations in Manhattan Park Avenue Upper East Side