23rd Street (BMT Broadway Line)

23rd Street
New York City Subway rapid transit station
Uptown platform
Station statistics
Address	intersection of 23rd Street, Fifth Avenue & Broadway New York, NY 10010
Borough	Manhattan
Locale	Flatiron District, Madison Square
Coordinates	40°44′29″N 73°59′21″W / 40.741339°N 73.989272°WCoordinates: 40°44′29″N 73°59′21″W / 40.741339°N 73.989272°W
Division	B (BMT)
Line	BMT Broadway Line
Services	N  (all times)       Q  (late nights only)       R  (all except late nights)
Transit connections	New York City Bus: M2, M3, M5, M23, X27, X28 MTA Bus: BM1, BM2, BM3, BM4, BM5
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	4
Other information
Opened	January 5, 1918[1]
Wireless service	[2]
Traffic
Passengers (2015)	7,965,410[3]  8.4%
Rank	50 out of 422
Station succession
Next north	28th Street: N  Q  R
Next south	14th Street – Union Square: N  Q  R
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times except late nights Stops all times Stops late nights only
Location

23rd Street is a local station on the BMT Broadway Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of 23rd Street, Broadway, and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, it is served by the N train at all times, the R train at all times except late nights, and the Q train during late nights.

Station layout

G	Street Level	Exit / Entrance
P Platform level	Side platform, doors will open on the right
	Southbound local	← toward Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue via Sea Beach ( toward Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue via Brighton late nights) (14th Street – Union Square) ← toward Bay Ridge – 95th Street (14th Street – Union Square)
	Southbound express	← does not stop here (all except late nights)
	Northbound express	→ does not stop here (all except late nights) →
	Northbound local	→ toward Astoria – Ditmars Boulevard ( toward 57th Street – Seventh Avenue late nights) (28th Street) → → toward Forest Hills – 71st Avenue (28th Street) →
	Side platform, doors will open on the right

Station identification tablet

Detail of top border mosaic

This underground station, opened on January 5, 1918, has four tracks and two side platforms. The two center tracks are used by the Q express train during daytime hours. The platforms have their original trim line, which has "23" tablets on it at regular intervals and name tablets, which read "23RD STREET" in Times New Roman font.

Each platform has two same-level fare control areas. The primary ones are at the north end. The Queens-bound platform has a bank of regular and high exit-only turnstiles, the station's full-time token booth, and three street stairs. One goes up to the northeast corner Broadway and 23rd Street (outside Madison Square Park) and the other two to the southeast. The Brooklyn-bound platform has a bank of regular and high exit-only turnstile, a now defunct customer assistance booth, and two street stairs. One is connected to fare control via a passageway and goes up to the northeast corner of 23rd Street and Fifth Avenue outside the Flatiron Building while the other goes up to the southeast corner of Broadway and Fifth Avenue.

The station's other two fare control areas are at the south end of the station. The one on the Manhattan-bound platform is unstaffed, containing High Entry-Exit Turnstiles and one staircase going up to the northeast corner of 22nd Street and Broadway. The one on the Brooklyn-bound platform is exit-only and has one staircase to the northwest corner of 22nd Street and Broadway. There is a crossunder here that is only used for emergencies and station facilities.

This station's 1970s overhaul included fixing its structure and the overall appearance by replacing the original wall tiles, old signs, and incandescent lighting to the 70's modern look wall tile band and tablet mosaics, signs and fluorescent lights. It also included fixing staircases and platform edges. In 2001, the station received a major state of repairs, including upgrading for ADA compliance, restoring the original late 1910s tiling, repairing the staircases, re-tiling for the walls, new tiling on the floors, upgrading the station's lights and the public address system, installing ADA yellow safety threads along the platform edge, new signs, and new trackbeds in both directions.

The 2002 artwork here is called Memories of Twenty-Third Street by Keith Godard. It consists of mosaics on the platform walls containing hats that famous people of the Flatiron District wore, including Oscar Wilde, Sarah Bernhardt, and W. E. B. Du Bois.

Subway pushing

On January 3, 1999, a schizophrenic man, Andrew Goldstein, pushed 32-year-old journalist and photographer Kendra Webdale onto the tracks from the Brooklyn-bound platform of this station. Webdale was then struck and killed by an oncoming N train. After two mistrials due to his mental incapacity, Goldstein pleaded guilty of manslaughter in October 2006 and sentenced to 23 years in prison. The incident led to the passing of Kendra's Law, which allows judges to order people suffering from certain psychological disorders to undergo regular treatment.^[4]

References

1. New York Times, Open New Subway to Times Square, January 6, 1918
2. NYC Subway Wireless
3. "Facts and Figures: Annual Subway Ridership". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
4. Schapiro, Rich (2012-12-05). "Horrifying subway homicide causes parents to relive daughter's death". NY Daily News. Retrieved 2015-10-27.

External links

• nycsubway.org—BMT Broadway Subway: 23rd Street
• Station Reporter — N Train
• Station Reporter — R Train
• MTA's Arts For Transit — 23rd Street (BMT Broadway Line)
• Fifth Avenue and 23rd Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Broadway and 23rd Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Broadway and 22nd Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Platforms from Google Maps Street View