Third Avenue–149th Street station

Not to be confused with 149th Street–Grand Concourse station, 149th Street station (IRT Third Avenue Line), or Third Avenue (disambiguation).
 3 Avenue–149 Street
 "2" train​"5" train
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
The pillar and wall with their own signs as seen from the doors of a train.
Station statistics
Address East 149th Street, Third, Willis & Melrose Avenues
Bronx, NY 10455
Borough The Bronx
Locale The Hub, Mott Haven, Melrose
Coordinates 40.816099°N 73.917676°W / 40.816099; -73.917676
Division A (IRT)
Line IRT White Plains Road Line
Services    2 all times (all times)
​    5 all times except late nights (all times except late nights)
Transit Bus transport NYCT Bus: Bx2, Bx4, Bx15, Bx19, Bx21, Bx41, Bx41 SBS, M125
Structure Underground
Platforms 2 side platforms
Tracks 2
Other information
Opened July 10, 1905
Accessible This station is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ADA-accessible
Opposite-
direction
transfer		 No
Traffic
2022 3,330,977 Increase 0.9%
Rank 79 out of 423
Services
Preceding station New York City Subway New York City Subway Following station
Jackson Avenue
2 all times ​5 all times except rush hours in the peak direction and late nights
via East 180th Street

Local 		149th Street–Grand Concourse
2 all times ​5 all times except late nights
toward Flatbush Avenue–Brooklyn College
East 180th Street
5 rush hours until 8:45 p.m., peak direction
express
Location
Third Avenue–149th Street station is located in New York City Subway
Third Avenue–149th Street station
Third Avenue–149th Street station is located in New York City
Third Avenue–149th Street station
Third Avenue–149th Street station is located in New York
Third Avenue–149th Street station
Track layout

to East 180th Street
to Jackson Avenue
to 149th Street–Grand Concourse
Street map

Station service legend
Symbol Description
Stops all times except late nights Stops all times except late nights
Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction
Stops all times Stops all times
Stops rush hours in the peak direction only Stops rush hours in the peak direction only

The Third Avenue–149th Street station is a station on the IRT White Plains Road Line of the New York City Subway. 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 in the South Bronx adjacent to Mott Haven and Melrose. 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

Street stair

The station opened on July 10, 1905, along with the 149th Street–Grand Concourse station and the connection with the IRT Lenox Avenue Line in Manhattan. Free transfers were provided between the subway and the existing 149th Street elevated station of the IRT Third Avenue Line, 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 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.

Station layout

G Street level Exit/entrance
Disabled access Uptown elevator at southwest corner of 149th Street and 3rd Avenue; downtown elevator at northwest corner
P
Platform level 		Side platform Disabled access
Northbound ← "2" train toward Wakefield–241st Street (Jackson Avenue)
← "5" train PM rush toward Eastchester–Dyre Avenue or Nereid Avenue (East 180th Street)
← "5" train AM rush toward Gun Hill Road or East 180th Street (select rush hour trips) (East 180th Street)
← "5" train other times toward Dyre Avenue (Jackson Avenue)
Southbound ← "2" train toward Flatbush Avenue–Brooklyn College via Seventh (149th Street–Grand Concourse) →
← "5" train toward Flatbush Avenue via Lexington weekdays and evenings, Bowling Green weekends (149th Street–Grand Concourse) →
Side platform Disabled access

The station has two tracks and two side platforms, with no crossovers between the platforms. The station has been renovated, with ADA-accessible 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 mosaics, installed in 1996 under the MTA's Arts for Transit 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.

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 Contract I. At the El level, one can still see the shortened supports for former track connections with the Third Avenue El. The express run to the next express station north, East 180th Street is 3.4 miles (5.5 km) long and bypasses seven stations, making it the second-longest express run in the system behind the 3.5-mile (5.6 km) express run between 125th Street and 59th Street–Columbus Circle on the IND Eighth Avenue Line, which also bypasses seven stations.

Exits

The fare control 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 IRT Third Avenue Line in the Bronx. The extra booths and turnstiles, while still present, are no longer in use, having closed in July 1997 when system-wide free transfers were introduced with the MetroCard.

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. As of December 2023, both elevators are closed for replacement and are scheduled to reopen in June 2024.

Points of interest

The station is located in the Hub, the oldest major shopping locale in the Bronx.

Nearby points of interest include:

See also