Times Square-42nd Street station exits: Broadway, the Theater District and a fake subway for Spider-Man

Times Square-42nd Street is served by the 1, 2, 3, 7, N, Q, R and W trains in the game, and by the S shuttle to Grand Central. In 2024 it carried 61.2 million passengers and ranked first of the 423 stations in the New York subway. It is really a complex of platforms, and a free transfer leads a block west to the 42nd Street-Port Authority Bus Terminal station on the Eighth Avenue Line, where the A, C and E stop.

Which exit

The complex has entrances at the corners of Seventh Avenue and 42nd Street and of Broadway and 42nd Street. A large entrance opened in July 1997 on the south side of 42nd Street between Seventh Avenue and Broadway, with a flashing neon and coloured-glass sign showing the train symbols and the word Subway, plus an elevator and escalators.

The articles do not name one exit for Times Square. The square is the crossing of Broadway and Seventh Avenue just north of 42nd Street, so the entrances at Broadway and 42nd Street and at Seventh Avenue and 42nd Street are the natural way up. For the buses, the 42nd Street-Port Authority Bus Terminal station on the Eighth Avenue side is the one named for the terminal.

Broadway's theatres

Broadway means 41 professional theatres of 500 or more seats, mostly in the Theater District around Times Square. Only three of them stand on Broadway itself, the Broadway Theatre, the Palace Theatre and the Winter Garden Theatre. The others are on the numbered cross streets, from the Nederlander Theatre one block south of Times Square on West 41st Street up to 53rd Street. So the station is a good place to start almost any theatre walk, and the name on your ticket is the street to look for.

Where to eat

Sardi's is at 234 West 44th Street, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue, and opened at that address on 5 March 1927. It became known as a pre- and post-theatre hangout and a place for opening-night parties, and it is known for the more than a thousand caricatures of Broadway celebrities on its walls. It is an institution of Broadway theatre, so it makes a good first stop if you have a show to catch. Check opening hours before you go.

Spider-Man, Times Square and a subway that was built for a film

Times Square is a favourite Spider-Man setting, and much of what you see on screen was built. For The Amazing Spider-Man 2, the production shot for one day in the real Times Square and spent 50 to 65 days on Long Island, with 16 cranes carrying lights and green screens to copy the flashing signs. The crew also built a subway station in about six weeks. Its skylights and Art Deco columns most closely resembled a station under City Hall that closed in 1945. You can still read about that closed loop in the closed platforms between the stations you type.

Typing it

In the game the station is Times Square-42nd Street, with a hyphen and no spaces around it. The Eighth Avenue station is typed 42nd Street-Port Authority Bus Terminal. Numbers such as 42nd have to be typed as written.

Checked against the English Wikipedia articles for the station and the sights on 7 October 2026. The film details come from a production report on The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Stations are rebuilt and exits close for works, so follow the signs in the station as well.