New York subway stations and what each one is known for

New York names its stations after streets, and the streets lead to some of the best-known places in the United States. This is a short guide to the stations visitors ask about most, with one picture and a few lines each. Four of them already have their own exit guides, linked below.

Times Square-42 St

The crossroads of the world, famous for its LED billboards and the Broadway theatre district, with over 50 million visitors a year. The New Amsterdam Theatre on 42nd Street opened in 1903 as one of Broadway's earliest Art Nouveau playhouses and was restored by Disney in the 1990s. See the exit guide.

Grand Central-42 St

The station sits directly beneath the Main Concourse of Grand Central Terminal, a Beaux-Arts landmark completed in 1913 whose vaulted ceiling is painted with the constellations. The Chrysler Building, 1,046 feet tall and completed in 1930, briefly held the title of tallest building in the world. Read the exit guide.

5 Av

The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, the flagship of the New York Public Library, is a Beaux-Arts landmark completed in 1911 at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street. Its two marble lions are nicknamed Patience and Fortitude.

Rockefeller Center

A group of Art Deco buildings between 48th and 51st Streets, built through the 1930s around a sunken plaza famous for its ice rink and Christmas tree. Paul Manship's gilded bronze Prometheus, cast in 1934, presides over the plaza.

34 St-Penn Station

Penn Station is the stop for Madison Square Garden, which sits on top of it, and for the Empire State Building, a 102-storey Art Deco tower completed in 1931 and built in just over a year during the Depression.

34 St-Hudson Yards

The end of the 7 train. Thomas Heatherwick's Vessel, a honeycomb of 154 flights of stairs and 2,500 steps, and the Edge observation deck, a triangular outdoor deck cantilevered 1,100 feet above the street, stand within a short walk.

23 St

The Flatiron Building, completed in 1902, was one of the tallest buildings in the world when it opened. It fills a triangular wedge where Broadway and Fifth Avenue cross at 23rd Street.

Union Sq-14 St

A landmark public square with a famous Greenmarket and a long history of rallies and demonstrations. The Strand, two blocks away, opened in 1927 and advertises 18 miles of books.

Christopher St-Sheridan Sq

The Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street was the scene of a police raid in 1969 that set off days of protests, and the site is now a National Monument, the first in the United States dedicated to LGBTQ+ history.

Fulton St and WTC Cortlandt

Fulton Center and the Oculus are two of the most photographed station interiors in Lower Manhattan. Both are described in our New York subway tips.

Wall St

The Charging Bull was installed outside the New York Stock Exchange overnight in 1989 by the sculptor Arturo Di Modica as an unsanctioned piece of guerrilla art, and the city later gave it a permanent home nearby on Broadway.

Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall

New York City Hall has been the seat of the city government since 1812, making it the oldest city hall in the United States still used for its original purpose. The exit guide covers the walk onto the bridge.

South Ferry

The Staten Island Ferry's Whitehall Terminal stands beside the station. The ferry has carried passengers across New York Harbor since 1817 and has been free since 1997, and the half-hour crossing passes the Statue of Liberty. See the exit guide.

72 St

The Dakota, a Gothic-Renaissance apartment building completed in 1884, stands on Central Park West at 72nd Street. Across the street is Strawberry Fields, a 2.5-acre section of Central Park dedicated as a memorial to John Lennon.

Atlantic Av-Barclays Ctr

Barclays Center, which opened in 2012, sits directly above the station and is home to the Brooklyn Nets and the New York Liberty. Its weathered-steel oculus-shaped facade is a landmark of Downtown Brooklyn.

Bedford Av

The first stop on the L train in Brooklyn is Williamsburg. Brooklyn Brewery was founded in 1988 by Steve Hindy and Tom Potter and moved into a converted matzo factory on North 11th Street in 1996, and it now welcomes visitors for tours and tastings. Our L train photo ride follows the whole line.

Mets-Willets Point

The 7 train's stop for Citi Field, the Mets' ballpark since 2009, and for the Unisphere, a 12-storey stainless-steel globe built for the 1964-65 World's Fair.

Coney Island-Stillwell Av

The southern end of four lines, with a Ferris wheel, a roller coaster and a hot dog stand within a few blocks. The full story is in Coney Island, the last stop.

That is nineteen stops out of hundreds. The rest of the city is on the lines page, and each station is one you can type in the game.