Fordham Road station (IND Concourse Line)

Fordham Road is an express station on the IND Concourse Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Fordham Road and Grand Concourse in one of the largest shopping districts in New York City, it is served by the D train at all times and the B train during rush hours only.

Fordham Road  ​
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Looking south down the center express track
Station statistics
Address	East Fordham Road & Grand Concourse Bronx, NY 10468
Borough	The Bronx
Locale	Fordham Heights
Coordinates	40.862414°N 73.897133°W
Division	B (IND)
Line	IND Concourse Line
Services	B  (rush hours until 7:00 p.m.) ​   D  (all times)
Transit	NYCT Bus: Bx1, Bx2, Bx12, Bx12 SBS, Bx22, Bx34 MTA Bus: BxM4 Bee-Line Bus: 62
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2 island platforms cross-platform interchange
Tracks	3
Other information
Opened	July 1, 1933
Station code	213[1]
Opposite- direction transfer	Yes
Traffic
2019	3,671,217[2]  2.1%
Rank	137 out of 424[2]
Station succession
Next north	Kingsbridge Road: B  ​D
Next south	182nd–183rd Streets (local): B  ​D  Tremont Avenue (express): D
Location
Track layout to Kingsbridge Rd to 182–183 Sts to Tremont Av
Street map
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction Stops all times Stops rush hours only

History

This station was built as part of the IND Concourse Line, which was one of the original lines of the city-owned Independent Subway System (IND).[3][4] The route of the Concourse Line was approved to Bedford Park Boulevard on June 12, 1925 by the New York City Board of Transportation.[4][5] Construction of the line began in July 1928.[6] The station opened on July 1, 1933, along with the rest of the Concourse subway.[7][8]

Station layout

G	Street level	Exit/entrance
M	Mezzanine	Fare control, station agent
P Platform level	Northbound local	← toward Bedford Park Boulevard rush hours (Kingsbridge Road) ← toward 205th Street (Kingsbridge Road)
	Island platform
	Peak direction express	← PM rush toward 205th Street (Kingsbridge Road) → AM rush toward Coney Island (Tremont Avenue) →
	Island platform
	Wall at north end
	Island platform
	Southbound local	→ toward Brighton Beach rush hours (182nd–183rd Streets) → → toward Coney Island (182nd–183rd Streets) →

A mosaic on the Manhattan-express portion of the southbound platform.

Fordham Road has more space than any other station on the Concourse Line, as it contains numerous closed stairs and passageways. The southbound island platform widens at the north end of the station to facilitate a wall that splits it half, creating two "side" platforms. The northbound island platform is like others found throughout the system. During construction of the station, the main road of Grand Concourse was diverted into an underpass below Fordham Road, while the subway tracks were placed underneath either service road; the space in between the split southbound platform is likely where the underpass dips below grade-level.[9] The split portion of the southbound platform once had a passageway from the northernmost staircase at the Fordham Road side from the middle track to the local one.[10] Due to security concerns, it was permanently cordoned off by a wall and employee-only door as early as April 1998.[11]

Between the north and south fare control areas is a small passageway on the eastern side of the station, half of which is outside the paid area and fenced off. The Fordham Road entrance is not accessible from the "local" side of the southbound platform; during off-peak hours, passengers must walk to the center of the platform for all downtown service. There is a Rapid Transit Operations Field Office at the south end of the full-time mezzanine, a result of the shortening of the mezzanine and elimination of two platform stairs for each side. Both platforms have six stairs to mezzanine level. The northbound one also has two closed stairs while the southbound has four, two on both the local and express sides.

The tile band is Concord Grape with Black Grape borders. On the walls of the southbound platform are mosaics reading "FORDHAM RD". The tablets show a different shade of purple in the center.[12] A closed tower sits on the south end at the southbound platform.

Exits

The southeastern street stair at Fordham Road, across from the former Alexander's store

The main fare control area, with the station's full-time token booth, is located at the middle of the station at East 188th Street. It has four street stairs, one for each corner of the intersection with Grand Concourse.[13][14] Unusually, the two western staircases go down several steps to a short landing area, before rising to street level.

The smaller fare control at Fordham Road has only HEET turnstiles, and Emergency Exit gates which have had their alarms deactivated due to frequent use by exiting passengers. It has two street stairs, both at the east side of Fordham and Concourse; a long ramping passageway leads to the northernmost of these two staircases.[13][14] This was formerly a part-time entrance.[14] The token booth at this location had been closed temporarily in the 1970s.[15] It was permanently closed in August 2003[16][17] and is no longer present.

There were two additional exits and a passageway on the west side of Fordham Road and Grand Concourse.[18][19] They were nearest to the former location of Alexander's and Caldor. The northwestern exit led directly to the store. Today, the building houses a mix of smaller stores. In 1989, the MTA proposed closing off the free zone passageway on the west side and convert the northwestern and southwestern entrances to exit only; formerly, they were only open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. This was done for safety reasons because the corridor was considered a crime haven.[20][21] Despite the former proposal, the passageway remained open until April 1991, when the western areas were closed off to the public or operated reduced hours on an interim basis, and the stairs were also slabbed over on street level;[22] the free zone passageway on the east side was also gated off.[23] In 1993, riders wanted the western entrances reopened as they would have been safer and more convenient for shoppers going to the Fordham stores. The MTA did not reverse the decision because the western passageway was problematic before its closure and very few passengers used the exits.[24]

Location

The station lies within the Fordham Road Business Improvement District, the third largest shopping district in the city stretching from Third and Webster Avenues west to Jerome Avenue.[25][26][27][28][29] The northwest corner of Fordham Road and Grand Concourse was the location of a large Alexander's department store (2 Fordham Square) from 1933 to 1992, and is currently anchored by P. C. Richard & Son and Marshalls.[30][31] This is the closest station to Fordham Plaza (the eastern end of the shopping district), and the Rose Hill campus of Fordham University.[13]

References

1. "Station Developers' Information". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
2. "Facts and Figures: Annual Subway Ridership 2014–2019". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
3. Duffus, R.L. (September 22, 1929). "Our Great Subway Network Spreads Wider – New Plans of Board of Transportation Involve the Building of More Than One Hundred Miles of Additional Rapid Transit Routes for New York" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved August 19, 2015.
4. "New Subway Routes in Hylan Program to Cost $186,046,000" (PDF). The New York Times. March 21, 1925. p. 1.
5. "Board Speeds Subway on Grand Concourse – Bids on Last Section Expected Before New Year – Eastern Spur Contemplated" (PDF). The New York Times. September 2, 1928. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
6. Joseph B. Raskin (November 1, 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 August 12, 2015.
7. "New Bronx Subway Starts Operation". The New York Times. July 1, 1933. Retrieved February 13, 2010.
8. "Bronx-Concourse New Subway Link Opened at 12:57 A.M.: Adds 21 1/2 Miles to City's System−Connects With Manhattan Line at 145th". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. July 1, 1933. p. 20. Retrieved October 26, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Plans Are Changed For Queens Subway: Traffic Crossings at Nassau and Woodhaven Boulevards Altered to Avoid Congestion. Viaduct Project Dropped Main Driveway to Be Depressed, Side Routes to Be at Grade-- New Bids Due Soon. How Plans Were Changed. Elimination Plans Received". The New York Times. June 22, 1930. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
10. "Fordham Road Passageway; New york subway, Manhattan island, Urban landscape". Pinterest. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
11. "Showing Image 860". www.nycsubway.org. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
    "Showing Image 107535". www.nycsubway.org. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
    "Showing Image 107530". www.nycsubway.org. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
12. Dave Frattini (May 27, 2014). The Underground Guide to New York City Subways. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-1-4668-7249-3.
13. "Fordham Road Neighborhood Map" (PDF). new.mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. April 2018. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
14. "Subway-Sidewalk Interface Project Technical Memorandum IV Issues and Opportunities" (PDF). transalt.org. New York City Department of City Planning. November 2000. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
15. "The City: 15 Subway Booths Reopened by M.T.A." The New York Times. December 27, 1978. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
16. Donohue, Pete (January 14, 2003). "Token Booth Closing Time. Machines to replace the clerks at 177 sites". Daily News (New York). Retrieved December 6, 2015.
17. "Four BX subway token booths are now closed". News 12 Bronx. August 17, 2003. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
18. Street View of 1940s New York: Former southwest exit at Fordham Road and Grand Concourse
19. "Showing Image 107537". www.nycsubway.org. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
20. "Notice of Public Hearing (NYCTA)". New York Daily News. January 11, 1989. p. 23. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
21. Union Turnpike (July 8, 2019), IMG_3097, retrieved December 8, 2020
22. Google maps: southwestern corner at Fordham Road and Grand Concourse
    Google maps: northwestern corner at Fordham Road and Grand Concourse
23. Union Turnpike (August 5, 2019), IMG_0462, retrieved December 8, 2020
24. Margulis, Zachary (December 15, 1993). "Rail bigs here D-pressing tales. Subway line even makes boss wait". New York Daily News. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
25. Goodstein, Steven (February 9, 2014). "Fordham Sears to close". Bronx Times-Reporter. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
26. "Experience Fordham Road" (PDF). fordhamroadbid.org. Fordham Road Business Improvement District. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
27. Rocchio, Patrick (August 14, 2014). "The Fordham Road Business Improvement district will expand to include One Fordham Plaza". Bronx Times-Reporter. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
28. The RBA Group (June 30, 2008). "Fordham Road Streetscale Master Plan" (PDF). Bronx, New York: Fordham Road Business Improvement District. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
29. Asaba, Jeni (June 25, 2008). "Fordham Rd. BID to boost local Bronx image". Bronx Times-Reporter. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
30. McDowell, Edwin (July 31, 2002). "Regional Market: The Bronx; Fordham Revival Where Alexander's Once Ruled". The New York Times. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
31. Strom, Stephanie (May 16, 1992). "Alexander's Shuts All Its 11 Stores; Plans Liquidation". The New York Times. Retrieved December 6, 2015.

External links

• nycsubway.org – IND Concourse: Fordham Road
• Station Reporter — B Train
• Station Reporter — D Train
• The Subway Nut — Fordham Road Pictures
• Fordham Road entrance from Google Maps Street View
• 188th Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Platforms from Google Maps Street View