149 St-Grand Concourse
The Upper Level Jerome Avenue line platforms at 149 Street-Grand Concourse opened in 1917. The station is an express stop on the Jerome Avenue line with two island platforms for the three-track line. The middle track (with doors opening on the platform for the respective direction) is used by all peak-direction 4 trains that skip 138 Street-Grand Concourse. These Express Trains (indicated as diamond 4’s on the subway map until it became a normal 4 train around 2010) run to Manhattan during the morning rush hours (between about 7:00am and 9:00am), and from Manhattan during the PM rush hour (between about 4:30pm and 6:30pm). This is done to create fewer train delays from 5 trains switching from the Lexington Avenue line and down the connecting tracks south of the station (on the slow and curvy tracks) to the White Plains Road Line, 5 trains stop at the 2 train platforms at this station.
The platforms have two staircases up to the upper mezzanine and the station’s only exit in the middle of the platforms. A short ways north of here are two down staircases from each platform that lead to the lower mezzanine (see the 2/5 Station page). These two staircases (since the direct elevators closed in 1975) from each platform provide all access to the lower level, White Plains Road platforms used by 2 and 5 trains. In the area between the two platforms are extra extra-large LED countdown clocks (with four lines each) that show all 2, 4, and 5 train service with applicable arrows for the appropriate track (down for 2/5 trains).
The station’s upper mezzanine consists of two different fare control areas on each side of a narrow bridge-like mezzanine (with a few steps up and down to reach the connection point over the middle track). The full-time exit is at the eastern end, closest to the staircases down to the Uptown platform. In a narrow fare control area are the conventional turnstiles and the 24-hour token booth. Two Streetstairs lead up, one on each side of these turnstiles to SE corner of 149th Street and Grand Concourse. The second exit is via a wider mezzanine, where a closed passageway leads to the closed upper mezzanine landing of the station’s former elevators (these elevators had four landings, street level, upper mezzanine, lower mezzanine, Uptown 2/5 platform). Here a small fare control area with High Entrance/Exit turnstiles leads to two streetstairs very close two each other along the west side of the Grand Concourse, just south of the SW corner of 149 Street.
The two island platforms are relatively narrow, with lots of dark blue columns with just 149 written on them. The track walls have a dual-contracts era trimline with a simple mosaic pattern and 149 tiled at regular intervals. The upper mezzanine has a similar pattern and some nice original directional mosaics including one for Lex-4th Ave-Jerome Ave-Up and Downtown, towards to the narrow passageway to the platforms only entrances.
Photo 1: December 31, 2003; 2-4: March 24, 2007; 5: January 23, 2005; 6-16: January 3, 2011; 17: September 10, 2012; 18-23: October 12, 2012; 24-32: February 24, 2013; 33-35: March 21, 2013; 36-38: September 30, 2013;
