Grand Street (IND Sixth Avenue Line)

Grand Street
New York City Subway rapid transit station
Station statistics
Address	Grand Street & Chrystie Street New York, NY 10002
Borough	Manhattan
Locale	Chinatown
Coordinates	40°43′05″N 73°59′38″W / 40.718119°N 73.993864°WCoordinates: 40°43′05″N 73°59′38″W / 40.718119°N 73.993864°W
Division	B (IND)
Line	IND Sixth Avenue Line
Services	B  (weekdays until 11:00 p.m.)       D  (all times)
Transit connections	NYCT Bus: M103
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Other information
Opened	November 26, 1967
Traffic
Passengers (2015)	8,010,864[1]  1.5%
Rank	48 out of 422
Station succession
Next north	Broadway – Lafayette Street: B  D
Next south	DeKalb Avenue (local): B  D  Atlantic Avenue – Barclays Center (express): D  Myrtle Avenue (closed): no regular service
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times except late nights Stops all times Stops late nights only Stops weekdays only
Location

Grand Street is a station in Chinatown, Manhattan, on the IND Sixth Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Opened on November 26, 1967, it was one of two stations added as part of the Chrystie Street Connection (the other being 57th Street – Sixth Avenue, in 1968). The station, located at the intersection of Grand Street and Chrystie Street, is served by the D at all times and the B on weekdays.

Station layout

G	Street Level	Exit/ Entrance
M	Mezzanine	Fare control, station agent
P Platforms	Side platform, doors will open on the right
	Northbound	← toward Bedford Park Boulevard rush hours, 145th Street other times (Broadway – Lafayette Street) ← toward Norwood – 205th Street (Broadway – Lafayette Street)
	Southbound	→ toward Brighton Beach (DeKalb Avenue) → → toward Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue (Atlantic Avenue – Barclays Center all except nights; DeKalb Avenue late nights) →
	Side platform, doors will open on the right

The station has two tracks and two narrow side platforms. They are column-less, except at staircases, and have a blue trim line with "GRAND ST" in white sans-serif font on it at regular intervals. The side walls were supposedly designed to be removed for a conversion into two island platforms with four tracks. This design was a provision for the Second Avenue Subway, which originally was to serve the outer tracks while the Sixth Avenue Line served the inner tracks, providing a cross-platform interchange between these two lines.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} There is a sole mezzanine at the center of the station which has two staircases to each platform, a turnstile bank, token booth, and access to the street exits.^[7]

On the Brooklyn-bound side, there is a small sign reading "Change Radio Channel to B1", indicating that train operators must change the channel on the route destination box from B2 (IND) to B1 (BMT) before crossing the Manhattan Bridge. Southbound trains leaving this station cross over the north side of the bridge and arrive at DeKalb Avenue or Atlantic Avenue – Barclays Center (via the DeKalb Avenue bypass tracks). As the tracks curve onto the bridge, trackways from Canal Street on the Manhattan Bridge branch of the BMT Broadway Line are visible. The north side of the bridge originally led to that station before the current alignment was completed in 1967.^[2]

When the north Manhattan Bridge tracks were closed for repairs from 1986 to 1988, in 1995, and from 2001 to 2004, this station was served by the Grand Street Shuttle to the Sixth Avenue Line and there was no subway service to Brooklyn. A shuttle bus replaced service to Brooklyn from 2001 to 2004.^[2][8][9]

Entrances and exits

NE corner entrance at Chrystie Street and Grand Street

There are three staircase exits: two going up to the northeastern corner of the intersection of Grand and Chrystie Streets, and one going up to the northwestern corner.^[7] The station originally only had the two street stairs to the northeastern corner of the intersection, and the third staircase was added in the 1999 to alleviate overcrowding in the station.^[10]

Artwork

A painted frieze called Trains of Thought by Andrea Gardner and Sally Heller was installed at the mezzanine and platforms in the late 1990s as the "Creative Stations" program sponsored by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. It features red clay models of R62s mounted on wood.

Second Avenue Subway plans

In addition to connecting the BMT Nassau Street and IND Sixth Avenue Lines, as well as the Sixth Avenue Line to the Manhattan Bridge, the Chrystie Street Connection is one of the few completed sections of the Second Avenue Subway (SAS). The Grand Street station was built to serve as a transfer point between the Sixth Avenue and Second Avenue lines.^[2] The connection was built this way because the original 1960s plans for the Second Avenue Subway had Second Avenue and Sixth Avenue Line trains sharing two island platforms in a four-track layout, with connections from the Second Avenue Line to the Sixth Avenue Line and the Manhattan Bridge.^[2] Because Second Avenue Subway construction was halted in 1975, this station has only served Sixth Avenue Line trains since its opening. As part of the contemporary Second Avenue Subway construction, a new station is planned for construction below the current station during the fourth and final phase of the project;^[11] Phase 1 of the project on the Upper East Side is scheduled to be opened in December 2016, with the other three phases still in planning and with no funding committed.^{[12][13][14][15]}

During modern planning, it was considered to utilize the cross-platform provision, known as the "Shallow Chrystie Option", or to place the tracks under Forsyth Street one block east (the Forsyth Option); both of which could tie into an existing tunnel near the Chatham Square station site south of Canal Street. This tunnel, known as the Confucius Plaza Tunnel, was built in the 1970s along with several sections in Upper Manhattan used for Phases 1 and 2 of the SAS.^{[2][16][17][18][19]} Both these options would require extensive usage of cut-and-cover construction methods, creating large amounts of disturbances to the local community, environmental issues, and possibly requiring the demolition of existing structures.^[16][20]

Current plans, however, have the Second Avenue platform to be built below the current one, though a free transfer will still be provided.^[2][21][17] The "Deep Chrystie Option", as the selected proposal is called, would instead place the Second Avenue Subway platform below the Sixth Avenue Line tracks, to create the least amount of community disturbance by utilizing tunnel boring machines. Cut-and-cover methods would be utilized only at the station site.^[16][22][2] The current platforms would be widened to create space for staircases to a new intermediate mezzanine between the two levels. This new mezzanine level will also include a new fare control area with staircases, escalators and elevators leading to two new station entrances/exits, with one on either side of Grand Street between Chrystie and Forsyth Streets.^[22][23][16] Although the Second Avenue Subway platform and the new entrances/exits would be ADA accessible,^[23] it is currently unknown if the Sixth Avenue Line platforms will also become ADA accessible.

References

1. "Facts and Figures: Annual Subway Ridership". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
2. "Second Avenue Subway Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS): Appendix B: Development of Alternatives" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York). Retrieved 5 August 2015.
3. "The Subway Compromise". The New York Times. July 28, 1969. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
4. 2nd Avenue Subway – Tentative track plan, Manhattan portion, nycsubway.org
5. Joseph B. Raskin (1 November 2013). The Routes Not Taken: A Trip Through New York City's Unbuilt Subway System. Fordham University Press. ISBN 978-0-8232-5369-2. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
6. "Full text of "Metropolitan transportation, a program for action. Report to Nelson A. Rockefeller, Governor of New York."". Internet Archive. November 7, 1967. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
7. "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Lower East Side" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transit Authority (New York). 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
8. Dewan, Shaila K. (July 23, 2001). "For Riders, Many Riddles, Written in Q's, D's and W's". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
9. Jacobs, Andrew (January 28, 1996). "NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: CHINATOWN/DOWNTOWN;Experiment Fails As Peddlers Vote With Their Feet". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
10. Lee, Denny (February 18, 2001). "NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: CHINATOWN; Will a Shuttered Subway Lead to Shuttered Stops?". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
11. "Second Avenue Subway Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS): Proposed Phase 4" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York). Retrieved 5 August 2015.
12. Donohue, Pete (January 20, 2013). "Second Ave. subway on track to open in 2016: MTA". Daily News (New York). Retrieved March 25, 2013.
13. MTA.info—Second Avenue Subway Quarterly Report Q4 2013
14. "mta.info – Capital Programs Second Avenue Subway". mta.info.
15. The Launch Box—Fewer Than 1,000 Days to Go!
16. "Second Avenue Subway Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS): Chapter 2: Project Alternatives" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York). Retrieved 5 August 2015.
17. "Second Avenue Subway Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS): Deep Chrystie Option" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York). Retrieved 9 July 2015.
18. Donohue, Pete (June 24, 2013). "Underground subway party could put organizers in hot water: MTA: Gothamist website printed pictures of the bash. MTA says it'll turn over case to NYPD.". nydailynews.com. Daily News (New York). Retrieved 5 August 2015.
19. Kabak, Benjamin (June 25, 2015). "Abandoned SAS segment party prompts NYPD inquiry". secondavenuesagas.com. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
20. "Second Avenue Subway Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS): Chapter 3: Description of Construction Methods and Activities" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York). Retrieved 5 August 2015.
21. "Second Avenue Subway Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS): Track Diagram, South of 57th Street" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York). Retrieved 9 July 2015.
22. "Second Avenue Subway: Tunnel Construction Techniques" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York). August 2002. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
23. "Second Avenue Subway Station Entrances: Community Board 3" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transit Authority (New York), DMJM HARRIS, ARUP. May 20, 2003. Retrieved 5 August 2015.

External links

• nycsubway.org—IND 6th Avenue: Grand Street
• nycsubway.org—Artwork: Trains of Thought (Andrea Gardner and Sally Heller) (unknown date)
• Station Reporter—B Train
• Station Reporter—D Train
• Grand Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• View from uptown platform from Google Maps Street View