149th Street–Grand Concourse station

First subway Planning for a subway line in New York City dates to 1864. The subway plans were drawn up by a team of engineers led by William Barclay Parsons, the Rapid Transit Commission's chief engineer. It called for a subway line from New York City Hall in lower Manhattan to the Upper West Side, where two branches would lead north into the Bronx. A plan was formally adopted in 1897, and legal challenges were resolved near the end of 1899. in which it would construct the subway and maintain a 50-year operating lease from the opening of the line. This connection was constructed in two phases: section 9A, west of Gerard Avenue in the Bronx, and section 9B, east of Gerard Avenue. McMullen and McBean were hired to build section 9A on September 10, 1901, while J. C. Rodgers & Son were hired to build section 9B on June 13, 1901. The connection between the IRT White Plains Road Line and the IRT Lenox Avenue Line, including the 149th Street station, opened on July 10, 1905. Trains from the newly opened IRT subway ran via the line. Initially, the station was served by East Side express trains, which had their southern terminus at South Ferry and had their northern terminus at 145th Street or West Farms (180th Street). In 1906, West Farms express trains began operating through to Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. To address overcrowding, in 1909, the New York Public Service Commission proposed lengthening the platforms at stations along the original IRT subway. 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 $ million in ) spent on platform lengthening, $500,000 (equivalent to $ million in ) was spent on building additional entrances and exits. It was anticipated that these improvements would increase capacity by 25 percent. Both platforms at the 149th Street station were extended to the east. Dual Contracts The Dual Contracts, which were signed on March 19, 1913, were contracts for the construction and/or rehabilitation and operation of rapid transit lines in the City of New York. The contracts were "dual" in that they were signed between the City and two separate private companies (the Interborough Rapid Transit Company and the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company), all working together to make the construction of the Dual Contracts possible. The Dual Contracts promised the construction of several lines in the Bronx. As part of Contract 3, the IRT agreed to build an elevated line along Jerome Avenue in the Bronx. The Jerome Avenue Line station opened as part of the initial section of the line to Kingsbridge Road on June 2, 1917. Service was initially operated as a shuttle between Kingsbridge Road and 149th Street. Through service to the IRT Lexington Avenue Line began on July 17, 1918. The line was completed with a final extension to Woodlawn on April 15, 1918. This section was initially served by shuttle service, with passengers transferring at 167th Street. On August 1, 1918, the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line opened south of Times Square–42nd Street, thereby dividing the original IRT line into an H-shaped system. Through service began on the new east and west side trunk lines. In 1920, a project to extend the Mott Avenue station platforms to the west to provide a connection with a proposed station on the New York Central Railroad was completed. Post-unification The Mott Avenue station became the Grand Concourse–149th Street station on March 13, 1934, after Mott Avenue was renamed the Grand Concourse. The IRT routes were given numbered designations with the introduction of "R-type" rolling stock. These fleet contained rollsigns with numbered designations for each service. The first such fleet, the R12, was put into service in 1948. The route from the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line to the White Plains Road Line became known as the 2. The route from the Lexington Avenue Line to the Jerome Avenue Line became the 4, while the route from the Lexington Avenue Line to the White Plains Road Line became the 5. The New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) announced plans in 1956 to add fluorescent lights above the edges of the Jerome Avenue Line station's platforms. The original elevators to the White Plains Road Line platforms, and the areas near the elevators, were closed in 1975 due to security reasons. The MTA initially stated in February 2014 that there were no plans to reopen the elevators, since the station "was not a main station". In 2013, several local institutions and groups of riders protested in support of restoring the elevators. As part of the MTA's 2015–2019 Capital Program, all platforms at the 149th Street–Grand Concourse station are planned to receive full ADA accessibility. In December 2015, the MTA initially agreed to repair both elevators in addition to installing another one across the street. It was estimated that $45 million would go towards this previous elevator installation and repair plan. It is estimated that "over $50 million" will go towards the current installation and repair plan. Construction on new elevators and the refurbishment of an existing elevator shaft started in August 2020 after a "preliminary design stage". Substantial completion was projected for July 2023, but has been repeatedly delayed. As of March 2024, completion of the elevators had been pushed back to December 2024. As of April 2025, the completion of the elevators has been pushed back to July 2025, two full years after the initial projected date. In July 2025, the anticipated completion date was once again pushed back to September 2025. As of now, the elevators will be expected to complete by May 2026. In 2022, the New York State Legislature passed a bill to rename the station as 149th Street–Hostos station. Governor Kathy Hochul signed the bill into law in June 2022. It is likely the station renaming will coincide with the elevators opening at this station. ==Station layout==

Exits There are two exit stairs each to the southwest and southeast corners of 149th Street and Grand Concourse. Hostos Community College is located outside both exits, and the Bronx General Post Office is across 149th Street from the southeast exit. Elevators When the station was first opened, the only way to exit the station was through two elevators. The elevators had four levels: one at the northbound lower level platform, one at the level of a pedestrian overpass connecting the two lower level platforms at their southern ends, one at the mezzanine of the upper level platforms, and one at a street-level headhouse. When the elevators were opened up for service, they were considered state-of-the-art at the time, holding up to 20 people. The elevators closed in 1975. Construction began in mid-2021. == IRT Jerome Avenue Line platforms ==

}} The 149th Street–Grand Concourse station is an express station on the IRT Jerome Avenue Line that has three tracks and two island platforms, with the center track used only in the peak direction during rush hours. The station is served by the at all times and is between 138th Street–Grand Concourse to the south and 161st Street–Yankee Stadium to the north. For southbound trains using the center track during the a.m. rush hour, the next stop is 125th Street. This station is on the upper level of the two-level station complex, with a free transfer to the IRT White Plains Road Line on the lower level. The station was opened on June 2, 1917, and was the southern terminus of the Jerome Avenue Line until it was extended through Mott Haven Avenue into the Upper East Side extension of the IRT Lexington Avenue Line. == IRT White Plains Road Line platforms ==

uvÜSTr uvÜSTl uSTRc2\udABZg3\udABZg2\uSTRc3 uSTR+1\uvSTR!~uSTRc14\uSTRl+4!~MFADEfq ~~ ~~ ~~ from uSTRl\uvKRZu\uSTRq!~MFADEfq ~~ ~~ ~~ to 138th Street–Grand Concourse }} }} The 149th Street–Grand Concourse station on the IRT White Plains Road Line has two tracks and two side platforms. The station is served by the at all times and by the except at night. The next stop to the west (railroad south) is 135th Street for 2 trains and 138th Street–Grand Concourse for 5 trains. The next stop to the east (railroad north) is Third Avenue–149th Street for all service. The station is built at a deep level and contains arched ceilings, similar in design to those of 168th Street and 181st Street stations on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line. As a result, it was initially only accessible by elevators. Unlike at other stations on the original IRT, there was an overpass connecting the two platforms. Originally opened as the Mott Avenue station on July 10, 1905, 149th Street–Grand Concourse was the first subway station to be opened in the Bronx. The original headhouse is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Connection to unbuilt New York Central Railroad station There are some remaining signs on the walls that point to a never-built station of the New York Central Railroad lines, now part of Metro-North Railroad. The station had been approved in 1908 and would have been located at 149th Street and Park Avenue, one block east. As part of the project, the eastern ends of the White Plains Line platforms were extended to the east, underpinning both the New York Central line and the IRT Third Avenue Line. The western ends of the platforms were truncated in 1918 to allow the construction of the track connection to the Jerome Avenue Line. == References ==