The Harlemâ148th Street station (also signed as 148th StreetâLenox Terminal station[3]) is a
New York City Subway station on the
IRT Lenox Avenue Line in
Harlem,
Manhattan. It serves as the northern
terminal station of the
3 train at all times as well as the Northern terminal of the IRT Lenox Avenue line. The entrance to the station is located at the intersection of 149th Street and
Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard, which has historically been known as 7th Avenue.[4] The station contains a pair of tracks and an
island platform and is located at ground level (although at a lower elevation than the adjacent streets). A parking structure for the adjacent
Frederick Douglass Academy is located above the station, forming a roof above the platform and tracks.
Although the Lenox Avenue Line was constructed in 1904, the Harlemâ148th Street station was not part of the original line. The station was first proposed in 1940, and was opened in 1968 within the confines of the preexisting
Lenox Yard. The station was intended to replace
145th Street, the next stop south, as the northern terminal of the Lenox Avenue Line. However, the 145th Street station remained open as a result of community opposition.
History
3 train leaving the station
Background
The station's location and tracks were originally part of the
Lenox Avenue Yard opened in 1904, where
3 trains are currently stored.[5][6] An extension of the Lenox Avenue line to 149th or 150th Street had been proposed since the
Dual Contracts of the 1910s. In 1916, an extension to 149th Street was proposed as part of a connection between the Lenox Avenue Line and the
IRT Jerome Avenue Line in the Bronx (served by the 4 train).[7]
In 1940, the
New York City Board of Transportation proposed extending the IRT Lenox Avenue Line to the Bronx along the northern portion of the
IRT Ninth Avenue Line, in turn connecting to the Jerome Avenue Line at
167th Street.[8] However, the tunnel from
Sedgwick Avenue to
AndersonâJerome Avenues was built to elevated-railway standards, whose "open"
third rails, which did not have any protective covers on top, were shorter than the subway's "covered" third rails. Another issue was that the Ninth Avenue Line could not carry subway cars, as it was only strong enough to carry the lighter wooden elevated cars.[9] These incompatibilities prevented the connection from being built.[10]
Opening
In 1957, a station at 150th Street within the Lenox Yard was proposed to better serve the local area (including the nearby
Harlem River Houses).[11] The station, and the Bronx extension, had been requested by local citizens since the 1940s due to unreliable bus and
surface trolley service.[12] The station was later moved to 149th Street due to Lenox Yard's downsizing in the 1960s, with the land sold to the developers that would build the Frederick Douglass Academy and the Esplanade Gardens apartment complex above the yard and station.[13][14]
Station signage
The new terminal, upon completion, was intended to replace the former terminal at
145th Street station due to the proximity of switches that prevented that station's lengthening to accommodate ten-car trains.[15] However, plans to shut down 145th Street were cancelled due to protests from local residents.[16] Trains began operating without passengers to the 148th Street station on May 5, 1968,[17]: 11 and the station officially opened on May 13, 1968.[17]: 11 [18] The project was completed at a relatively low cost because the extension made use of two existing yard tracks.[11][18][19][a] The station cost $1.29 million, track improvements cost $3.178 million, and signaling cost $3.553 million.[21] The name of the station was originally planned to be 149th StreetâSeventh Avenue station, but because of possible confusion with
149th StreetâGrand Concourse, it was changed to 148th StreetâLenox Terminal.[13]
Later changes
The station sign was reversed as Lenox Terminalâ148th Street in the 1990s before reverting to its original name by 2003.[22] From August 5, 1990, to September 4, 1994, and from September 10, 1995, to July 27, 2008, this station lacked full-time service, as 3 trains did not operate during late nights. Full-time service was restored on July 27, 2008.[23]
A request for proposals was put out on May 18, 2023 for the contract for a project bundle to make 13 stations accessible, including Harlemâ148th Street.[25] The contract to add two elevators at the station was awarded in December 2023.[26] The MTA announced in April 2024 that it would make esthetic improvements to the station during mid-2024 as part of its Re-New-Vation program.[27]
toward New Lots Avenue (Times Squareâ42nd Street late nights) (145th Street) â
Maintenance tracks
No passenger service
The station is the northern terminus for the
3 train at all times;[28] the next stop to the south is
145th Street.[29] When this station opened, it supplanted
145th Street, the next stop south, as the northern
terminal of the IRT Lenox Avenue Line. The station has two tracks and one
island platform, and the tracks end at
bumper blocks at the west end of the platform. The station is adjacent to
Lenox Yard, which is used for train storage and has no maintenance facility.[19] Due to the high ceiling, platform service information signs are hung from heavy cables.[30]
While this station appears to be underground, it and the adjacent yard are actually at-grade. The Esplanade Gardens apartment complex is located between 147th and 149th streets while
Frederick Douglass Academy High School sits between 149th and 150th Streets;[31][32][4] both structures rest on
pilotis above the station and yard.[32][33][34][35] The Esplanade Gardens are also at the same level of the platforms. Unlike other at-grade stations, 148th Street is not ADA-accessible because there is a staircase down to platform level.[36] Plans to make the station ADA-accessible were included in the 2020-2024 MTA Capital Program.[24]
^As a comparison, a one stop extension of the
IND Sixth Avenue Line between 52nd and 58th Streets to a terminal at
57th Street, which was completed two months later, cost $13.2 million.[20]
^"Other IRT Notes". The New York Division Bulletin. 6 (5). Electric Railroaders' Association: 1. October 1963.
Archived from the original on November 7, 2020. Retrieved March 23, 2018 – via Issu.
^Weinberg, Brian (June 24, 2003).
"Station sign, by 2003". www.nycsubway.org.
Archived from the original on August 26, 2016. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
Note: Service variations, station closures, and reroutes are not reflected here. Stations with asterisks have no regular peak, reverse peak, or midday service on that route. See linked articles for more information.
Stations and line segments in italics are closed, demolished, or planned (temporary closures are marked with asterisks). Track connections to other lines' terminals are displayed in brackets. Struck through passenger track connections are closed or unused in regular service.