The Simpson Street station is a local
station on the
IRT White Plains Road Line
The White Plains Road Line is a rapid transit line of the A Division of the New York City Subway serving the central Bronx. It is mostly elevated and served both subway and elevated trains until 1952. The original part of the line, the part o ...
of the
New York City Subway
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...
. Located at the intersection of Simpson Street and Westchester Avenue in the
Longwood neighborhood of
the Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
, it is served by the train at all times, and the train at all times except late nights and rush hours in the peak direction.
History
Early history
The initial segment of the IRT White Plains Road Line opened on November 26, 1904 between
180th Street–Bronx Park and
Jackson Avenue
Jackson may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name
Places
Australia
* Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region
* Jackson North, Qu ...
. Initially, trains on the line were served by elevated trains from the
IRT Second Avenue Line
The IRT Second Avenue Line, also known as the Second Avenue Elevated or Second Avenue El, was an elevated railway in Manhattan, New York City, United States, from 1878 to 1942. It was operated by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company until 194 ...
and the
IRT Third Avenue Line
The IRT Third Avenue Line, commonly known as the Third Avenue Elevated, Third Avenue El, or Bronx El, was an elevated railway in Manhattan and the Bronx, New York City. Originally operated by the New York Elevated Railway, an independent railwa ...
. Once the connection to the
IRT Lenox Avenue Line
The Lenox Avenue Line is a line of the New York City Subway, part of the A Division, mostly built as part of the first subway line. Located in Manhattan, New York City, it consists of six stations between and , all of which are situated with ...
opened on July 10, 1905, trains from the newly opened IRT subway ran via the line.
To address overcrowding, in 1909, the
New York Public Service Commission
The New York Public Service Commission is the public utilities commission of the New York state government that regulates and oversees the electric, gas, water, and telecommunication industries in New York as part of the Department of Public Ser ...
proposed lengthening platforms at stations along the original IRT subway.
As part of a modification to the IRT's construction contracts, made on January 18, 1910, the company was to lengthen station platforms to accommodate ten-car express and six-car local trains. In addition to $1.5 million (equivalent to $ million in ) spent on platform lengthening, $500,000 () was spent on building additional entrances and exits. It was anticipated that these improvements would increase capacity by 25 percent.
The northbound platform at the Simpson Street station was extended to the front and to the rear,
while the southbound platform was not lengthened.
On January 23, 1911, ten-car express trains began running on the White Plains Road Line.
Later years
The New York State Transit Commission announced plans to extend the southbound platforms at seven stations on the line from
Jackson Avenue
Jackson may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name
Places
Australia
* Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region
* Jackson North, Qu ...
to
177th Street, including Simpson Street to accommodate ten-car trains for $81,900 on August 8, 1934.
The city government took over the IRT's operations on June 12, 1940.
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.
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 to allow full ten-car express trains to open their doors. Previously the stations could only accommodate six-car local trains.
The station was renovated in the early 2000s. This station was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
on September 17, 2004, along with the Westchester-Simpson Street Substation, also known as IRT Substation #18.
Station layout
![Simpson Street](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Simpson_Street.jpg)
This station has two
side platform
A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platforms ...
s and three tracks. The center express track is used by the 5 train during rush hours in the peak direction. To the north, the line curves from Westchester Avenue to Southern Boulevard. The
IRT Pelham Line
The IRT Pelham Line is a rapid transit line on the New York City Subway, operated as part of the A Division and served by the 6 and <6> trains. It was built as part of the Dual Contracts expansion and opened between 1918 and 1920. It is ...
(), which curves above Westchester Avenue five blocks northeast of this station, is visible from the east end of the platforms.
As with other original IRT elevated viaducts, the elevated structure at Simpson Street is carried on two column bents, one on each side of the road, at places where the tracks are no more than above the ground level. There is zigzag lateral bracing at intervals of every four panels.
Both platforms have cream-colored windscreens and red canopies. Both platforms also have green outlines, frames, and support columns in their center and green waist-high, ornament-style steel fences at either ends with several lampposts. The station's signs are in the standard black name plates with white Helvetica lettering.
Exits
Due to the tracks' low height above ground, both station houses are at platform level and there are no crossovers or crossunders. Elevators from the street to each platform make this station
ADA-accessible
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA () is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, ...
. The station's elevators were installed in August 1989, making the station one of the earliest to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
The southbound platform (for trains headed to
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 ...
) has a station house that is staffed full-time and contains several sets of doors leading to the small waiting area from the platform, a
turnstile
A turnstile (also called a turnpike, gateline, baffle gate, automated gate, turn gate in some regions) is a form of gate which allows one person to pass at a time. A turnstile can be configured to enforce one-way human traffic. In addition, a t ...
bank, token booth, two staircases going down to either northern corners of Simpson Street and Westchester Avenue, and one elevator going down to the northeast corner. A
high exit-only turnstile on either side of the station house leads directly to one of the street stairs from the platform.
[*
* ]
The northbound platform's station house is unstaffed, containing several sets of doors leading to the small waiting area from the platform, a bank of three turnstiles, two staircases going down to either southern corners of Simpson Street and Westchester Avenue, and one elevator going down to the southwest corner. It had a customer assistance booth until April 2010. A high exit-only turnstile on either side of the station house leads directly to one of the street stairs from the platform.
[
]
Artwork
The 2006 artwork here is called ''What We Build is Not Permanent, We Are Not What We Build'' by Lisa Amowitz. It consists of stained glass panels on the platform windscreens and station houses with the theme with renewing or rebuilding what has died or fallen.
References
External links
{{National Register of Historic Places in New York
IRT White Plains Road Line stations
Railway and subway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in New York City
New York City Subway stations in the Bronx
New York City Subway stations located aboveground
Railway stations in the United States opened in 1904
1904 establishments in New York City
National Register of Historic Places in the Bronx
Longwood, Bronx