Van Cortlandt Park–242nd Street station: Difference between revisions

| name = 242nd Street - Van Cortlandt Park Station (IRT)

udSTR!~dMFADEf\udSTR\udSTR!~dMFADEf ~~ ~~ ~~ to [[{{stl|NYCS|238th Street (IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line)|238 St]]}}

udSTR!~dMFADEf ~~ ~~ ~~ to [[{{stl|NYCS|Dyckman Street (IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line)|Dyckman St]]Broadway-Seventh}}

The '''Van Cortlandt Park–242nd Street station''' is the northern [[terminal station]] onof the [[IRTNew Broadway–SeventhYork AvenueCity LineSubway]] of the's [[NewIRT YorkBroadway–Seventh CityAvenue SubwayLine]]. Located at the intersection of 242nd Street and [[Broadway (Manhattan)|Broadway]] ([[U.S. Route 9 in New York|US Route 9]]) in the [[Riverdale, Bronx|Riverdale]] neighborhood of [[the Bronx]], it is served by the [[1 (New York City Subway service)|1]] train at all times. It is adjacent to [[Van Cortlandt Park]] to the east, [[Manhattan College]], and the [[240th Street Yard]] of the subway system, along with the affluent neighborhoods of [[Fieldston, Bronx|Fieldston]] and [[Riverdale, Bronx|Riverdale]] to the west.

Their use of the [[Victorian Gothic]] [[architectural style]] reflected its popularity at that time for train stations. The six elevated stations they built in that style on the Contract 1 are extensively decorated on their exterior surfaces, complementing the corresponding [[New York City Subway tiles|tilework]] and [[mosaic]]s in the underground stations. 242nd Street, which opened on August 1, 1908,<ref>{{cite news|title=Our First Subway Completed At Last: Opening of the Van Cortlandt Extension Finishes System Begun in 1900|url-access=subscription|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1908/08/02/106774632.pdf|access-date=August 16, 2015|work=New York Times|date=August 2, 1908}}</ref> is the only elevated terminal station left in that style from Contract 1.<ref name="NRHP nom" />

Within a few years of the station's opening, ridership on the line north of 157th Street increased sharply. In 1913, 3.1 million tickets were sold at the Van Cortlandt Park station. Undeveloped lots along Broadway to the city's northern limit were quickly bought by builders hoping to profit from the boom in luxury houses, which could reach the subway through [[streetcar]] lines as well. At that time, it was expected that the line would be extended to 262nd Street.<ref name="1912 NYT story">{{cite news|title=The Real Estate Field|url-access=subscription|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1912/11/13/100557486.pdf|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=November 13, 1912|access-date=December 16, 2010}}</ref> The [[Horace Mann School]] was built to serve this population.<ref name="1914 NYT story">{{cite news|title=The Northward March of the Population and the Trade Along Broadway to the City Line|url-access=subscription|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1914/06/21/100095667.pdf|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=June 21, 1914|access-date=December 16, 2010}}</ref>

To address overcrowding, in 1909, the [[New York Public Service Commission]] proposed lengthening the platforms at stations along the original IRT subway.<ref name="HAER Impact">{{cite web|last=Hood|first=Clifton|date=1978|title=The Impact of the IRT in New York City|url=https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/pnp/habshaer/ny/ny0300/ny0387/data/ny0387data.pdf|access-date=December 20, 2020|publisher=Historic American Engineering Record|pages=146–207 (PDF pp. 147–208)|postscript=.}} {{PD-notice}}}}</ref>{{Rp|168}} 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 ${{inflation|fmt=c|index=US|value=1.5|start_year=1910|r=1}} million in {{inflation/year|index=US}}) spent on platform lengthening, $500,000 (equivalent to ${{Inflationinflation|fmt=c|index=US|500000value=0.5|start_year=1910|fmtr=eq1}} million in {{inflation/year|index=US}}) was spent on building additional entrances and exits. It was anticipated that these improvements would increase capacity by 25 percent.<ref name="Report 1911">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0fBLAQAAMAAJ&q=+zoological+station&pg=PA596|title=Report of the Public Service Commission for the First District of the State of New York For The Year Ending December 31, 1910|date=1911|publisher=Public Service Commission|language=en}}</ref>{{Rp|15}} The side platforms at the 242nd Street station were extended {{convert|62|ft}} to the south.<ref name="Report 1911"/>{{rp|114}} OnSix-car Januarylocal 24,trains 1911began operating in October 1910,<ref name="HAER Impact" />{{Rp|168}} and ten-car express trains began running on the West Side Line on January 24, 1911.<ref name="HAER Impact" />{{Rp|168}}<ref>{{Cite news|url-access=limited|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1911/01/23/archives/tencar-trains-in-subway-today-new-service-begins-on-lenox-av-line.html|title=Ten-car Trains in Subway to-day; New Service Begins on Lenox Av. Line and Will Be Extended to Broadway To-morrow.|date=January 23, 1911|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 5, 2018|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

In 1947, [[Jack Kerouac]] passed through the station, then a busy trolley hub, at the end of the first leg of his escape from the city in what became ''[[On the Road]]''. His goal was to reach [[U.S. Route 6 in New York|U.S. Route 6]] at the [[Bear Mountain Bridge]] and use it as a route along which to go [[Western United States|West]] to [[Denver]]. The attempt failed when he found very little traffic on Route 6 to [[hitchhiking|hitch]] rides from, and he returned to the city to take a bus instead.<ref name="NYT On the Road story">{{cite news|last=Keller|first=Mitch|title=City Lore: When On the Road was On the Subway|url-access=limited|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/15/nyregion/thecity/15kero.html|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=July 15, 2007|access-date=December 16, 2010}}</ref>

The city government took over the IRT's operations on June 12, 1940.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1940-06-13 |title=City Transit Unity Is Now a Reality; Title to I.R.T. Lines Passes to Municipality, Ending 19-Year Campaign |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url-access=subscription|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1940/06/13/archives/city-transit-unity-is-now-a-reality-title-to-irt-lines-passes-to.html |access-date=2022-05-14 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=January 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220107193115/https://www.nytimes.com/1940/06/13/archives/city-transit-unity-is-now-a-reality-title-to-irt-lines-passes-to.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="p1248134780">{{cite news |date=June 13, 1940 |title=Transit Unification Completed As City Takes Over I. R. T. Lines: Systems Come Under Single Control After Efforts Begun in 1921; Mayor Is Jubilant at City Hall Ceremony Recalling 1904 Celebration |page=25 |work=New York Herald Tribune |id={{ProQuest|1248134780}}}}</ref> The IRT routes were given numbered designations in 1948 with the introduction of [[List of New York City Subway R-type contracts|"R-type" rolling stock]], which contained [[rollsign]]s with numbered designations for each service. The first such fleet, the [[R12 (New York City Subway car)|R12]], was put into service in 1948.<ref>{{cite web | last=Brown | first=Nicole | title=How did the MTA subway lines get their letter or number? NYCurious | website=amNewYork | date=May 17, 2019 | url=https://www.amny.com/transit/nyc-subway-name-1-31116195/ | access-date=January 27, 2021}}</ref> The route to 242nd Street became known as the [[1 (New York City Subway service)|1]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Friedlander|first=Alex|last2=Lonto|first2=Arthur|last3=Raudenbush|first3=Henry|date=April 1960|title=A Summary of Services on the IRT Division, NYCTA|url=https://erausa.org/pdf/bulletin/1960/1960-01-bulletin.pdf|journal=New York Division Bulletin|publisher=Electric Railroaders' Association|volume=3|issue=1|page=2|access-date=January 27, 2021|archive-date=September 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200914232631/https://erausa.org/pdf/bulletin/1960/1960-01-bulletin.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1959, all 1 trains became local.<ref>{{cite news|date=February 7, 1959|title=Wagner Praises Modernized IRT — Mayor and Transit Authority Are Hailed as West Side Changes Take Effect|page=21|work=The New York Times|url-access=subscription|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1959/02/07/archives/wagner-praises-modernized-irt-mayor-and-transit-authority-are.html?_r=0|access-date=November 6, 2016|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

In 2019, the [[Metropolitan Transportation Authority]] announced that this station would become [[ADA-accessible]] as part of the agency's 2020–2024 Capital Program.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mta.info/press-release/mta-headquarters/mta-announces-20-additional-subway-stations-receive-accessibility|title=Press Release - MTA Headquarters - MTA Announces 20 Additional Subway Stations to Receive Accessibility Improvements Under Proposed 2020-2024 Capital Plan|date=December 19, 2019|website=MTA|access-date=December 25, 2019|archive-date=March 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322233116/http://www.mta.info/press-release/mta-headquarters/mta-announces-20-additional-subway-stations-receive-accessibility|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The station is served by the [[1 (New York City Subway service)|1]] at all times.<ref>{{NYCS const|timetable|1}}</ref> It is the northern terminus of the 1 train; the next stop to the south is [[238th Street (IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line)|238th Street]].<ref name="submap">{{NYCS const|map}}</ref> There are three components to the station: the [[railway platform|platform]]s, a control house perpendicular to the tracks at the north end, and a crew quarters building spanning the platform at the south end. From the northeast corner an [[overpass]] crosses the through-traffic lanes of Broadway. Two stairs descend in either direction from its end, matching the two stairs that descend to the sidewalk from the west of the control house.<ref name="NRHP nom">{{cite web|last=Howe|first=Kathleen|title=National Register of Historic Places nomination, 242nd Street–Van Cortlandt Park Station|url=http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=101408|publisher=[[New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation]]|date=July 6, 2004|access-date=December 14, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017230813/http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=101408|archive-date=October 17, 2012}}</ref>

* The Subway Nut — [http://www.subwaynut.com/irt/242n1/index.html 242nd Street–Van Cortlandt Park Pictures] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200706134659/http://www.subwaynut.com/irt/242n1/index.html |date=July 6, 2020 }}