{"nrhp_refnum":"05000236","name":"86th Street Subway Station (Dual System IRT)","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"Under Lexington Ave., bet E. 85th and E. 87th Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Manhattan","state":"NY","lat":40.77957776400007,"lon":-73.95566627799997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2005-03-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Economics","Architecture","Art","Engineering","Community Planning and Development","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-level, four-track subway station beneath Lexington Avenue between East 85th and East 87th Streets on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Construction began in 1911 and the station opened in 1918 as part of the Dual System (Dual Contracts) Contract 3.","why_significant":"The station is significant under Criterion A for transportation, community planning and development, and social history, and under Criterion C for engineering, architecture and art. It is a well-preserved example of Dual Contracts station design with Arts and Crafts mosaic work by architect Squire J. Vickers. It is also the busiest station on the Upper East Side, with over 12 million annual fares.","narrative":"Beneath Lexington Avenue on Manhattan's Upper East Side, the 86th Street station is a two-level, four-track subway stop built between 1911 and 1918 as part of the Dual Contracts expansion of the city's subway system. Local trains use the upper level and express trains the lower, a arrangement chosen because Lexington Avenue is narrow. Its steel columns, concrete walls and brick-lined sides follow the typical construction of the period, and the platforms were lengthened from 480 to 525 feet in 1949. Architect Squire J. Vickers designed the colorful mosaic friezes, name tablets and directional signs in a simple Arts and Crafts style, and these remain the station's main architectural feature. Engineer Alfred Craven oversaw the wider expansion. The control areas and street entrances have been rebuilt, yet the station keeps a high degree of integrity. It encouraged apartment construction in Yorkville and now ranks as the most heavily used station on the Lexington Avenue Line after Grand Central Terminal.","period_of_significance":"1911-1918","architect_builder":"Vickers, Squire J. (architect); Craven, Alfred (engineer)","architectural_style":"Other/Arts and Crafts","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still in use as a subway station; platforms were extended in 1949, the control areas and street entrances have been altered, and the station appears substantially as built in 1918.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:52.841088-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/05000236.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05000236/3012337860-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05000236/3012337860-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Gryffindor","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NYC_subway_86th_Street_50.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Gryffindor</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NYC_subway_86th_Street_50.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75313893","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/86th_Street_station_(IRT_Lexington_Avenue_Line)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2612205"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/manhattan/86th-street-subway-station-dual-system-irt-05000236/"}