The Third Avenue–149th Street station is a

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

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 The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive ...

of the

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system in New York City serving the New York City boroughs, boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. It is owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Tr ...

. It is located at Third Avenue and East 149th Street (the latter of which is also known as Eugenio Maria de Hostos Boulevard) in

the Hub The Hub may refer to: Places * The Hub, Bronx, an area of the South Bronx, New York, known for its convergence of subway and bus lines * The Hub (Edinburgh), former church in Edinburgh that is now home to the Edinburgh International Festival * T ...

in the

South Bronx The South Bronx is an area of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The area comprises neighborhoods in the southern part of the Bronx, such as Concourse, Bronx, Concourse, Mott Haven, Bronx, Mott Haven, Melrose, B ...

adjacent to

Mott Haven Mott Haven is a primarily residential neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of the Bronx. It is generally bounded by East 149th Street to the north, the Bruckner Expressway to the east and south, and the Harlem ...

and

Melrose Melrose may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Melrose, Scottish Borders, a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland ** Melrose Abbey, ruined monastery ** Melrose RFC, rugby club Australia * Melrose, Queensland, a locality in the South Burnett R ...

. The station is served by the 2 train at all times and the 5 train at all times except nights. The station is the second-busiest in the Bronx and 59th overall, with around 6.768 million passengers using the station as of 2019.

History

The station opened on July 10, 1905, along with the 149th Street–Grand Concourse station and the connection with 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 ...

in Manhattan. Free transfers were provided between the subway and the existing 149th Street elevated station of 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 rai ...

, which opened in 1887. The convergence of the two rapid transit lines, the surface trolley lines along Third Avenue and 149th Street, and the ensuing commercial development led to the coining of the name "the Hub" for the intersection in the early 20th century. The city government took over the IRT's operations on June 12, 1940. Following the closure of the Third Avenue elevated in 1973, free paper transfers were provided between the subway and the Bx55 limited-stop bus, which replaced the elevated. However, scalpers would often resell these transfers for 50 cents. Because of the unique transfer, the station was one of the first to test the

MetroCard metroCARD is a contactless smartcard ticketing system for public transport services in the city (and surrounding suburbs) of Adelaide, South Australia. The system is managed by Adelaide Metro and is usable on their bus, train and tram services ...

system in the early 1990s, and the paper transfers were finally scrapped in 1997 with the wider rollout of the MetroCard. In 1981, the MTA listed the station among the 69 most deteriorated stations in the subway system. In 1996, ceramic

mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...

s by Jose Ortega were installed at the station, as part of the MTA's

Arts for Transit MTA Arts & Design, formerly known as Metropolitan Transportation Authority Arts for Transit and Arts for Transit and Urban Design, is a commissioned art program directed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for the transportation systems ...

program.

Station layout

The station has two tracks and 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, with no crossovers or crossunders between the platforms. The station has been renovated, with

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, ...

elevators installed on both sides of the station. The station tiles have dark red and dark green/gray lower accents and dark red upper border. There are ceramic

s, installed in 1996 under the MTA's

program, entitled ''Una Raza, Un Mundo, Universo'' (''One Race, One World, One Universe''), by Jose Ortega. Four such mosaics are on each platform near the fare control. The token booths are built into the wall. Prior to the renovation, terra cotta "3" plaques were on the platform walls. One of these has been preserved at the

New York Transit Museum The New York Transit Museum (also called the NYC Transit Museum) is a museum that displays historical artifacts of the New York City Subway, MTA Regional Bus Operations, bus, and commuter rail systems in the greater New York City metropolitan ...

. Immediately east ( railroad north) of the station, past Bergen Avenue, the tracks ascend to become an elevated structure for the trip to East 180th Street. This is the longest section of elevated track built under

IRT IRT may refer to: Organisations * Indiana Repertory Theatre, an American company of actors * Institut für Rundfunktechnik, a German research institute for broadcasters * Interborough Rapid Transit Company, a defunct New York subway operator Sci ...

Contract I. At the El level, one can still see the shortened supports for former track connections with the

Third Avenue El 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 rai ...

. The express run to the next express station north, East 180th Street is long and bypasses seven stations, making it the second-longest express run in the system behind the express run between 125th Street and 59th Street–Columbus Circle on the

IND Eighth Avenue Line The IND Eighth Avenue Line is a rapid transit line in the B Division of the New York City Subway. Opened in 1932, it was the first line of the Independent Subway System (IND); as such, New Yorkers originally applied the ''Eighth Avenue Subwa ...

, which also bypasses seven stations.

Exits

The

fare control In rail transport, the paid area is a dedicated "inner" zone in a railway station or metro station, accessible via turnstiles or other barriers, to get into which, visitors or passengers require a valid ticket, checked smartcard or a pass. A s ...

is at platform level and there is a closed crossunder. Each fare control area has a bus transfer booth, which was used for the connection to the former Bx55 bus route that replaced the

in the Bronx. The extra booths and

turnstile A turnstile (also called a 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 traffic#One-way traffic of people, one-way ...

s, while still present, are no longer in use, having closed in July 1997 when system-wide free transfers were introduced with the

. For each platform, three staircases lead up from fare control to the street; the north side of 149th Street for the Manhattan-bound platform, and the south side for the Bronx-bound platform. The elevators are located on the west side of the intersection. The elevators were closed for replacement in the early 2020s and reopened in May 2025.

Points of interest

The station is located in

, the oldest major shopping locale in the Bronx. Community Board District 1
, The South Bronx. Accessed September 23, 2007. Nearby points of interest include: * Alfred E. Smith Career and Technical Education High School * Bronx Opera House *

College of New Rochelle The College of New Rochelle (CNR) was a private Catholic college with its main campus in New Rochelle, New York. It was founded as the College of St. Angela by Mother Irene Gill, OSU of the Ursuline Order as the first Catholic women's college in ...

, John Cardinal O'Connor Campus. * Patterson Houses *

South Bronx Educational Campus South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

, formerly South Bronx High School.

References

External links