What’s up top
Reasons to get off
A stop isn’t just a stop. 125th Street is the Apollo. 34th Street is the Garden. 161st is the Stadium. Here’s what’s waiting at the top of the stairs at 50 of them.
Bronx
Yankee Stadium161 St-Yankee StadiumB D 427 World Series titles, more than any team in American sport. The current stadium opened in 2009 across the street from the 1923 original, the one they called the House That Ruth Built.Photo: LawrenceFung · CC BY 2.0
Fordham RoadFordham RdB DThe Bronx's great shopping street, and Fordham University's Rose Hill campus — founded 1841, and one of the oldest in the city.Photo: Doug Olson · CC BY-SA 3.0
Fordham RoadFordham Rd4The Grand Concourse was laid out in 1909 in imitation of the Champs-Élysées, and the Art Deco apartment blocks along it are among the finest in the country.Photo: Enki323 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Poe CottageKingsbridge RdB DEdgar Allan Poe spent his last years in the small white farmhouse at Kingsbridge Road and the Grand Concourse. He wrote Annabel Lee there. It is still standing, and you can go in.Photo: Dmadeo · CC BY-SA 3.0
Pelham Bay ParkPelham Bay Park6At 2,772 acres this is by far the largest park in New York City — more than three times the size of Central Park. Orchard Beach is inside it.Photo: Doc Searls from Santa Barbara, USA · CC BY 2.0
The Bronx ZooWest Farms Sq-E Tremont Av2 5265 acres, one of the largest zoos in the United States. The New York Botanical Garden is just north, with 50 acres of old-growth forest that has never been cut.Photo: Stavenn · CC BY-SA 3.0
Brooklyn
Barclays CenterAtlantic Av-Barclays CtrB D N Q R W 2 3 4 5Home of the Brooklyn Nets, and the busiest interchange in Brooklyn — eleven subway lines and the Long Island Rail Road meet under it.Photo: Thomson200 · CC0
WilliamsburgBedford AvLThe L runs under the East River here. Bedford Avenue is the main street, and the waterfront parks look straight back at midtown.Photo: Ellie Pritts elliepritts · CC0
Coney IslandConey Island-Stillwell AvD F N QThe Cyclone has been running since 1927 and is a protected landmark. The Wonder Wheel is older still, from 1920. Nathan's has sold hot dogs on Surf Avenue since 1916 and holds the eating contest every Fourth of July.Photo: Rhododendrites · CC BY-SA 4.0
The Brooklyn MuseumEastern Pkwy-Brooklyn Museum2 3 4The museum and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden share the corner. Eastern Parkway, the first parkway of its kind anywhere, carries the West Indian Day Parade every Labor Day.Photo: Jim.henderson · Public domain
Prospect ParkGrand Army Plaza2 3 4Olmsted and Vaux built Central Park first, then built this one — and thought it the better of the two. The arch at Grand Army Plaza is a memorial to the Union dead.Photo: Kidfly182 · CC BY-SA 4.0
The Brooklyn BridgeHigh StA CFinished in 1883 and, at the time, the longest suspension bridge in the world. The walk across from the Brooklyn side is the better direction — Manhattan comes up in front of you.Photo: Jet Lowe · Public domain
Downtown BrooklynJay St-MetroTechA C F N R WBorough Hall, the courts, and Junior's on Flatbush — making the cheesecake since 1950.Photo: Kim · CC BY-SA 2.0
Prospect ParkProspect ParkB Q S526 acres, with the last remaining forest in Brooklyn at its center. The Lefferts Historic House inside dates to the 1780s.Photo: jimbay · CC BY-SA 3.0
DUMBOYork StFDown Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass. Stand on Washington Street and the bridge frames the Empire State Building exactly.Photo: (User:Wgreaves) · CC BY-SA 4.0
Manhattan
Columbia University116 St-Columbia University1Morningside Heights. The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, four blocks south, has been under construction since 1892 and is still unfinished.Photo: Unknown · CC BY-SA 3.0
The Apollo125 StA C B D125th Street is Harlem's main street, and the Apollo Theater sits on it at 253 W 125th. It has been running Amateur Night since 1934 — the night that introduced Ella Fitzgerald, James Brown and Lauryn Hill to the world.Photo: Bohemian Baltimore · CC BY-SA 4.0
Manhattanville125 St1The 1 runs outdoors here on the 125th Street viaduct, one of the few places in Manhattan where the subway climbs into daylight.Photo: Jim.henderson · Public domain
East Harlem125 St4 5 6El Barrio, home to New York's oldest Puerto Rican community. La Marqueta has run under the Metro-North viaduct on Park Avenue since 1936.Photo: Eden, Janine and Jim from New York City · CC BY 2.0
Harlem, on Lenox125 St2 3Lenox Avenue — Malcolm X Boulevard — was the spine of the Harlem Renaissance. Sylvia's has been serving on it since 1962, and Marcus Garvey Park is a few blocks north.Photo: Berenice Abbott · Public domain
The Flatiron Building23 StN Q R WFinished in 1902 on the wedge where Broadway crosses Fifth. Madison Square Park is across the street, and the original Shake Shack is in it.Photo: Hayden Schiff · CC BY 4.0
Chelsea23 St1 2The High Line runs above the streets to the west — a freight railway turned park, kept where it was rather than pulled down.Photo: King of Hearts · CC BY-SA 4.0
Herald Square34 St-Herald SqB D F M N Q R WMacy's flagship store has stood on Herald Square since 1902 and still ends the Thanksgiving Day Parade. The Empire State Building is two blocks east on 34th.Photo: Mike Strand · CC BY 3.0
Madison Square Garden34 St-Penn StationA C EThe Garden sits directly on top of Penn Station — you come up the stairs into it. Home of the Knicks, who won the 2026 NBA Finals 4–1 over the Spurs for their third championship and their first since 1973, and of the Rangers, who last lifted the Stanley Cup in 1994.Photo: Rich Mitchell from New York, NY · CC BY 2.0- Madison Square Garden34 St-Penn Station1 2 3Penn Station is the busiest transit hub in the Western Hemisphere, and Madison Square Garden is built straight on top of it. The Knicks won it all here in 2026 — their first title since 1973.Photo: Rich Mitchell from New York, NY · CC BY 2.0
Columbus Circle59 St-Columbus CircleA C B D 1 2The southwest corner of Central Park, and the point every distance from New York City is officially measured from.Photo: Jorge Royan · CC BY-SA 3.0
Lincoln Center66 St-Lincoln Center1 2The Metropolitan Opera, the New York Philharmonic, New York City Ballet and the Juilliard School, all on one plaza.Photo: MBisanz talk · CC BY-SA 3.0
American Museum of Natural History81 St-Museum of Natural HistoryA C BThe blue whale, the dinosaur halls, and the Rose Center for Earth and Space. The station itself is tiled with animals.Photo: Saptarshi Pal · CC BY-SA 4.0
Museum Mile86 St4 5 6Fifth Avenue along Central Park: the Metropolitan Museum of Art at 82nd, the Guggenheim in Frank Lloyd Wright's spiral at 89th, the Cooper Hewitt at 91st.Photo: Arad · CC BY-SA 3.0
The East VillageAstor Pl4 6Cooper Union is on the square — Abraham Lincoln gave the speech here in 1860 that helped make him president. The black cube in the middle of the street spins if you push it.Photo: Beyond My Ken · CC BY-SA 4.0
The Financial DistrictBroad StJ ZBroad Street runs down to Fraunces Tavern, where Washington said goodbye to his officers in 1783.Photo: Epicgenius · CC BY-SA 4.0
Chinatown and Little ItalyCanal StJ Z N Q R W 4 6Canal Street is the seam between them, and one of the great street markets of the city.Photo: Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0
The Lower East SideDelancey St-Essex StF M J ZThe Tenement Museum on Orchard Street preserves the apartments of the families who actually lived in them. Essex Market has been trading since 1940.Photo: Jim.henderson · CC BY 3.0
Grand Central TerminalGrand Central-42 StS 4 5 6 7Opened in 1913. The green ceiling in the main concourse is a map of the winter night sky — painted backwards, which nobody has ever fixed. Find the Whispering Gallery outside the Oyster Bar: speak into a corner and someone across the arch hears you.Photo: Arnoldius · Public domain
Times SquareTimes Sq-42 StA C E N Q R W S 1 2 3 7The Theater District, and the busiest station in the system by a distance. The ball has dropped here on New Year's Eve since 1907.Photo: Boris Dzhingarov · CC BY 2.0
Wall StreetWall St4 5The New York Stock Exchange is on Broad Street. Federal Hall, across from it, is where George Washington was sworn in as the first president in 1789.Photo: Dietmar Rabich · CC BY-SA 4.0
Queens
AstoriaAstoria-Ditmars BlvdN WLong the center of Greek New York. Astoria Park sits under the Hell Gate Bridge, whose arch was the model for the Sydney Harbour Bridge.Photo: Berenice Abbott · Public domain
Long Island CityCourt SqE F G 7MoMA PS1, a public school turned contemporary art museum, and Gantry Plaza State Park on the water with the Pepsi-Cola sign.Photo: MusikAnimal · CC BY-SA 4.0
Far RockawayFar Rockaway-Mott AvAThe far end of the A — the longest subway ride in the system, more than 31 miles from the top of Manhattan.Photo: Tdorante10 · CC BY-SA 4.0
FlushingFlushing-Main St7One of the largest Chinatowns anywhere outside Asia, and one of the best places to eat in New York. The Flushing Remonstrance, an early American argument for religious freedom, was written here in 1657.Photo: Tdorante10 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Jackson HeightsJackson Hts-Roosevelt AvE F M R 7Among the most linguistically diverse neighborhoods on earth — more than 160 languages are spoken in this part of Queens. Little India runs along 74th Street.Photo: Clark Gregor from St. Louis Park, MN, United States · CC BY 2.0
Downtown JamaicaJamaica Center-Parsons/ArcherE J ZThe commercial heart of southeast Queens. King Manor, the home of Rufus King — a signer of the Constitution and an early opponent of slavery — is a museum in the park.Photo: CaptJayRuffins · CC BY-SA 4.0
Citi Field and the US OpenMets-Willets Point7The Mets play at Citi Field and the US Open is played next door at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Both sit in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, which held the World's Fair twice — 1939 and 1964. The Unisphere is left over from the second one.Photo: Eden, Janine and Jim · CC BY 2.0
Rockaway BeachRockaway Park-Beach 116 StA SNew York City has a surf beach, and this is it. The A train and the shuttle are the only trains in the system that cross open water to get somewhere.Photo: Urielevy · CC BY-SA 4.0
Museum of the Moving ImageSteinway StE F M RAttached to Kaufman Astoria Studios, where films have been made since 1920 and Sesame Street is still shot. Steinway Street north of here is the heart of Little Egypt.Photo: MrShah2012 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Staten Island
Park HillCliftonSIRThe other Staten Island neighborhood written into Wu-Tang's records, a short way up from the Railway.Photo: Harry An · CC BY 3.0
Great Kills ParkGreat KillsSIRPart of Gateway National Recreation Area — a national park inside the city, with a harbor and a beach on the Lower Bay.Photo: Jim.henderson · Public domain
The Staten Island FerrySt GeorgeSIRFree, twenty-five minutes, and it passes the Statue of Liberty both ways — the best view in New York that costs nothing. The St. George Theatre and Snug Harbor are both a short way from the terminal.Photo: Beyond My Ken · CC BY-SA 4.0
StapletonStapletonSIROne of the oldest settlements on the island, built around Tappen Park. The Stapleton Houses are part of the story of the Wu-Tang Clan, who came out of Staten Island and called it Shaolin.Photo: Mikeaigotti89 · CC BY 3.0
TottenvilleTottenvilleSIRThe southernmost point of New York State. The Conference House at the end of the island is where Benjamin Franklin and John Adams met Lord Howe on 11 September 1776, in the only peace conference of the Revolutionary War. It failed, and the war ran another seven years.Photo: Scan by NYPL · Public domain
More stops get added as they’re written. If you know something about a stop that belongs here, it takes one line to add it.