Franklin Street station (IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line)

Franklin Street
Franklin Street
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
	Northbound platform
Station statistics
Address	Franklin Street & Varick Street; New York, NY 10013
Borough	Manhattan
Locale	Tribeca
Coordinates	40°43′08″N 74°00′25″W / 40.719°N 74.007°WCoordinates: 40°43′08″N 74°00′25″W / 40.719°N 74.007°W
Division	A (IRT)
Line	IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line
Services	1 (all times); 2 (late nights)
Transit	NYCT Bus: M20; NJT Bus: 120
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	4
Other information
Opened	July 1, 1918; 104 years ago
Opposite-; direction; transfer	No
Traffic
2019	1,567,005 10.8%
Rank	285 out of 424
Location
Track layout
	Legend
Street map
Station service legend
Symbol	Description
	Stops all times
	Stops late nights only
	Stops late nights and weekends

From Wikipedia, in a visual modern way

The Franklin Street station is a local station on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line of the New York City Subway, located at the intersection of Franklin Street, Varick Street, and West Broadway.^[4] It is served by the 1 train at all times and by the 2 train during late nights.

The station was built by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) as part of the Dual Contracts with New York City, and opened on July 1, 1918. The station had its platforms extended in the 1960s, and was renovated in the early 1990s.

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History

Construction and opening

Mosaic name tablet

Mosaic directional tablet to North Moore Street

Mosaic directional tablet to Franklin Street

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 Brooklyn. As part of Contract 4, the IRT agreed to build a branch of the original subway line south down Seventh Avenue, Varick Street, and West Broadway to serve the West Side of Manhattan.^[5]^[6]^[7]

The construction of this line, in conjunction with the construction of the Lexington Avenue Line, would change the operations of the IRT system. Instead of having trains go via Broadway, turning onto 42nd Street, before finally turning onto Park Avenue, there would be two trunk lines connected by the 42nd Street Shuttle. The system would be changed from looking like a "Z" system on a map to an "H" system. One trunk would run via the new Lexington Avenue Line down Park Avenue, and the other trunk would run via the new Seventh Avenue Line up Broadway. In order for the line to continue down Varick Street and West Broadway, these streets needed to be widened, and two new streets were built, the Seventh Avenue Extension and the Varick Street Extension.^[8] It was predicted that the subway extension would lead to the growth of the Lower West Side, and to neighborhoods such as Chelsea and Greenwich Village.^[9]^[10]

Franklin Street opened as part of an extension of the line from 34th Street–Penn Station to South Ferry on July 1, 1918.^[11]^[12] Initially, the station was served by a shuttle running from Times Square to South Ferry.^[13]^[14] The new "H" system was implemented on August 1, 1918, joining the two halves of the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line and sending all West Side trains south from Times Square.^[15] An immediate result of the switch was the need to transfer using the 42nd Street Shuttle in order to retrace the original layout. The completion of the "H" system doubled the capacity of the IRT system.^[9]

Later years

The city government took over the IRT's operations on June 12, 1940.^[16]^[17] On August 9, 1964, the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) announced the letting of a $7.6 million contract to lengthen platforms at stations on the Broadway—Seventh Avenue Line from Rector Street to 34th Street–Penn Station, including Franklin Street, and stations from Central Park North–110th Street to 145th Street on the Lenox Avenue Line to allow express trains to be lengthened from nine-car trains to ten-car trains, and to lengthen locals from eight-car trains to ten-car trains. With the completion of this project, the NYCTA project to lengthen IRT stations to accommodate ten-car trains would be complete.^[18]

The station was renovated in the early 1990s.

When Aretha Franklin died on August 16, 2018, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority pasted sticker signs with the word "Respect" on the walls of the Franklin Street station, as well as the Franklin Avenue station in Brooklyn.^[19]^[20] A Brooklyn resident had suggested adding the signs after impromptu tributes to Franklin had arisen at these two stations.^[20] The signs were supposed to be temporary,^[21] but, as of March 2023, they are still on the walls.

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Station layout

Uptown station entrance kiosk

Staircase to the street

G	Street level	Exit/entrance
P Platform level	Side platform
	Northbound local	← toward Van Cortlandt Park–242nd Street (Canal Street) ← toward Wakefield–241st Street late nights (Canal Street)
	Northbound express	← do not stop here
	Southbound express	→ do not stop here →
	Southbound local	→ toward South Ferry (Chambers Street) → → toward Flatbush Avenue–Brooklyn College late nights (Chambers Street) →
	Side platform

The station has two side platforms and four tracks with no crossover or crossunder. The center tracks are used by the 2 and 3 express trains during daytime hours.^[22]

There are "store window"-style art displays on the southbound platform and a faux-newsstand on the northbound side.^[22] Although the station's original wall tiling was replaced during renovations, its mosaic bands were kept; there are "Franklin Street" large mosaics, small "F" mosaics and directional mosaics "To Franklin St." and "To North Moore St."^[22] The floor tiles are rose and tan colored with light and dark splotches.^[22]

Exits

The full-time entrance is on the uptown side, on a traffic island where Varick Street and West Broadway meet.^[23] There is a kiosk reminiscent of the original IRT kiosks at 72nd Street and Bowling Green, but it was added during the station's renovation during the mid-1990s.^[22] There are two downtown street stair entrances on either western corner of Varick and Franklin Streets, but the booth is not staffed at all times. There are part-time high-exit turnstiles one block north, at both northern corners of Varick and North Moore Streets, on both the uptown and downtown sides.^[23]