Hunts Point Av
Hunts Point Avenue is an express stop on the IRT Pelham Line with two island platforms for the three-track line. Trains on the middle track open their doors only in the direction the train is traveling in. The station is the location of switches between the local and express tracks, these switches are designed so trains switch from the express track to the local track before entering the station, meaning if a train is only running express from Hunts Point Avenue to 3 Avenue-138 Street, after running local from Parkchester trains will stop in the station on the local track.
This switch configuration is used in regular (non-GO, construction service) at the end of the AM rush hour. From 9:30am to 10:45am, an unusual service pattern is operated to allow trains to return to the Westchester Yard as quickly and efficiently as possible. All train service at Hunts Point stops on the local tracks for this hour:
Regular Manhattan-bound <6> service than resumes from about 11:00am to 12:30pm, with no unique service patterns during the PM peak direction from 1:02pm to 9:00pm
Hunts Point Avenue is an important multimodal connecting station with bus connections listed on station signage. Bus connections provide service into the Hunts Point industrial area south of the station in particular including to the Hunts Point Food Distribution Markets, which include the Hunts Point Produce Market, Meat Market, and the relocated and now indoors new Fulton Fish Market. Another interesting fact is the Simpson Street station on the 2/5 trains is located only a 7 minute walk from this station, as the two Bronx subway lines get quite close to each other before both curving apart.
The Hunts Point Station itself has received a series of unique renovations; it was first renovated in 1978 as part of an initiative after President Jimmy Carter visited the area to help revitalize the area during the “Bronx is Burning” phase of New York City’s fiscal crisis. It was made a wheelchair accessible station with elevators opening in 2014. The platforms are both narrow and contain a brown mosaic tiled trimline in an intricate pattern with interlocking H.P.s along the top of the platform walls. The relatively narrow island platforms themselves are lined with green columns.
At the northern end of the Uptown platform, and southern end of the Downtown platform are small areas where the platforms were extended in the 1960s. Along the track walls are grey tiles with a maroon trimline that says HP along it. These areas are at separate ends of the because for about half a train car length the Manhattan-bound track and Middle Express track (for trains running in both directions, it would otherwise be a safety hazard if trains needed to open their doors on both sides) are slightly offset stopping slightly farther north than Uptown local trains.
At the northern end of the station, there are some equipment rooms in the middle of the Downtown platform, along with an area along the Uptown local track where the Downtown platform area for the express track becomes narrow, these have a similar 1960s design except Hunts Point Ave is fully spelled out.
The area at the southern ends of the platform and where the back of Uptown local trains stop, is completely different. Here on the Manhattan-bound platform is uniquely brown tiling. The Downtown platform has a brown tiled wall closing off the express track where trains don’t stop with set of brown tiled columns, before leading to an exit only staircase at the very end of the platform. This exit only staircase is extremely unique. This staircase leads upstairs through a series of two intermediate landings where it curves slightly and up to street level into a small hexagon wall-shaped open air headhouse. This headhouse contains fencing for all of 6 of its walls. Green concrete columns holding up a lattice structure for a white roof that forms simple triangle, overhanging the hexagonal wall structure. Two older painted cast iron high exit turnstiles lead out from the upper landing to two different corners of the building. This headhouse is located in a small plaza at the southern corner of the unique 5-way intersection of Hunts Point Avenue (which ends at the intersection), East 163 Street and Southern Blvd.
The only station entrances are located across the street from this exit. They are all located inside Monsignor Raul Del Valle Square, which is a triangular concrete jungle plaza (with one, no longer open to the public parks department building in middle of it, probably closed restrooms) formed by Bruckner Blvd (with the Bruckner Expressway I-278 roaring on its elevated viaduct overhead), East 163 Street and Hunts Point Avenue.
Inside this plaza are two staircases into the station. These staircases both have unique brick walls surrounding them with etched in concrete sings that say “Hunts Point Av Station” By the corners of the entrances, just before the staircases are concrete pillars marking the entrances. There is also a street elevator with the newest completely frosted glass with a glass awning over the elevator door design.
These two staircases and the elevator lead down to a small mezzanine area just beneath the surface. The location of the mezzanine just beneath the surface means that Monsignor Raul Del Valle Square had to be closed during the construction of the two elevator shafts with the plaza relandscaped. The top of one of the elevators poking out into the street as a small 2-foot-high black box visible on the street that is now used by people as a place to sit in the plaza. The other platform elevator was able to be tucked under the three steps in the plaza that are at a slightly higher renovation.
The interior of the mezzanine contains one bank of turnstiles that leads to a very small, cramped mezzanine area with two staircases down to each platform along with an elevator down to each platform in the middle of the mezzanine. This mezzanine has a similar brown trimline to the rest of the station, including mosaic directional signage to Up Town and a larger mosaic for Down Town Trains (since there at one end of the mezzanine). I don’t know how much of this tiling survived the 2011 to 2014 construction process to make the station ADA accessible.
Photos 1-3: December 19, 2003; 4 & 5: October 5, 2005; 6-40: June 10, 2011; 41-50: September 10, 2012; 51-53: April 4, 2013; 54-58: September 10, 2013
