East 143 St-St Mary's St
Is this station named East 143 Street or East 143 Street-St. Mary’s Street? This is a question because all station signs just say East 143 Street, St. Mary’s Street is announced on board trains automated announcements (when R142A’s were still the primary trains running on the 6) and on subway maps, and all publicity for the station that is outside the station.
Publicity for this station is sorely needed. The stop as of 2019 is The Least Used Station® on the subway system in a variety of ways. It is the least used stop outside of the Rockaways, and its titles can include least used station on the IRT, on the 6 train, in the Bronx, and least used underground subway station! The reason for this is because the station doesn’t really serve very much. Directly outside the station is a self-storage facility (not a frequent destination for subway riders), and a number of other light industrial uses some of which look abandoned. The station’s walkshed in the south and east is cut by the Bruckner Expressways just a block from the station. There are no connecting bus routes. Almost no residential areas are closer to this station compared to other nearby subway stations even though the stop is in a very high poverty area that generally creates demand for transit ridership.
The station itself is has two side platforms for the 3-track line receives service more service in the reverse-peak direction (when all trains run local) during rush hours and middays, compared to the peak-direction when all trains from Pelham Bay Park in the morning and all trains to Pelham Bay Park in the afternoon skip the station. During peak-direction rush hours and middays only local 6 trains to or from Parkchester stop at the station, with a transfer required to reach Pelham Bay Park.
Each platform has a single exit at the extreme southern end of the platform. Turnstiles are directly along each platform with no cross-over or cross-under meaning there is no change of directional transfer. The uptown platform has regular turnstiles that have been unstaffed since the token booth was removed in 2010 to 2011. The Downtown platform still contains a token booth. From the Downtown platform a staircase leads up to the NW and the SW corner of Southern Blvd of St. Mary’s Street (formerly known as East 143 Street). The uptown platform contains two staircases to the opposite side of Southern Blvd opposite this T-intersection where St. Mary’s Street ends.
The northern two-thirds of each platform have blue columns before the platforms become narrower. The platform walls have a square design of a maroon trim line, with a yellow inner border, a middle border that looks to be inconsistently blue or gray and a blue outer border. und middle-border, followed by a solid green line outer border. These are interrupted by a three-step pattern of 143 mosaic letters on a blue background, followed by two smaller blue tiles with a red diamonds in yellow border on the top and bottom.
There are name tablets at regular intervals with white lettering saying E. 143 Street on a blue background with an inner red and then yellow border followed by a larger blue outer border. The extreme northern ends of each platform, where they were extended in the early 1960s., have a small section of 1960s tiling with tall light grey rectangular blocks and blue trimline with E 143rd St written on it in white.
Photos 1: December 19, 2003; 2-7: December 28, 2006; 8-26: June 10, 2011;
