The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system that serves four of the five boroughs of New York City in the U.S. state of New York: the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens. Its predecessors—the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT), the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT), and the Independent Subway System (IND)—were consolidated in 1940. Since then, many New York City Subway stations have been permanently closed, either entirely (9 of them) or in part (24 of them).
The largest number of closed New York City Subway stations consist of stations on abandoned and demolished elevated lines that were once operated by the IRT and the BMT, both of which were privately held companies. After their takeover by the City of New York (the IND was already owned and operated by New York City), the three former systems were no longer in competition with each other. Thus, elevated lines that duplicated underground lines were the first to close. Other elevated lines that did not create a redundancy in the system, such as the Bronx portion of the IRT Third Avenue Line and a major portion of the BMT Myrtle Avenue Line were later demolished. Two stations in which sections of track still operate have been demolished. The Dean Street station was demolished as part of the rebuilding of the BMT Franklin Avenue Line, and the Cortlandt Street station of the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line was demolished and subsequently rebuilt after it sustained heavy damage caused by the September 11 attacks. A number of stations were temporarily closed in Lower Manhattan in the aftermath of the attacks, see Closings and cancellations following the September 11 attacks.
The remaining closed stations and portions of stations are intact and are abandoned. The exception is the Court Street station: it is the site of the New York Transit Museum, a museum that documents the history of public transportation in New York City. The closed outer platforms of the Hoyt–Schermerhorn Streets station are occasionally used for filming purposes. The criterion for closing stations, as explained by NYC spokesman Charles Seaton, is not "because of low ridership. The only reason we have closed a station is because of its proximity to another station... The smaller stations are just as necessary as the larger ones."
Permanently closed but existing stations
These stations are still intact but are not currently served by passenger trains. This list does not include closed platforms on a different level of an open station.
StationDivisionLineBoroughOpenedClosedFormerservicesNotes18th StreetA (IRT)Lexington Avenue LineManhattanFischler, "The Subway," p. 239-240Between 23rd Street–Baruch College and 14th Street–Union Square. Closed after platform lengthening of both adjacent stations and the opening of new entrances at 22nd Street and 15th Street deemed the 18th Street station to be within proximity.91st StreetA (IRT)Broadway–Seventh Avenue LineManhattanBetween 96th Street and 86th Street. Closed after platform lengthening of the 96th Street platforms deemed the station to be within proximity.Anderson–Jerome AvenuesA (IRT)Ninth Avenue elevatedBronxNorth of the 155th Street station, the elevated line crossed the Harlem River and went into a tunnel, much like the 125th Street subway station comes out of the tunnel onto a high viaduct. This was done in both places to keep the grade of the tracks relatively level. Closed with the discontinuation of the Polo Grounds Shuttle.City HallA (IRT)Lexington Avenue LineManhattanSouth of Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall on a curved balloon loop. Closed due to low ridership, short platform length and the proximity of the busier Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall station. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places.Court StreetB (IND)Fulton Street LineBrooklynFischler, "The Subway," p. 243-244Fischler, "The Subway and the City," p. 503West of Hoyt–Schermerhorn Streets. Closed due to low ridership and proximity to other Downtown Brooklyn stations. Site now houses the New York Transit Museum.Fischler, "The Subway and the City," pp. 501–510Myrtle AvenueB (BMT)Fourth Avenue LineBrooklynFischler, "The Subway," p. 241-242July 1956Between the Manhattan Bridge and DeKalb Avenue. Closed due to proximity to DeKalb Avenue and construction of a flying junction to ease a choke point in the area. The southbound platform no longer exists; the northbound platform now houses the Masstransiscope zoetrope artwork by Bill Brand visible from Manhattan-bound trains coming from the local track at DeKalb Avenue.Sedgwick AvenueA (IRT)Ninth Avenue elevatedBronxNorth of the 155th Street station, the elevated line crossed the Harlem River and went into a tunnel similarly to how the 125th Street subway station comes out of the tunnel onto a high viaduct. This was done in both places to keep the grade of the tracks relatively level. Closed with the discontinuation of the Polo Grounds Shuttle.South FerryA (IRT)Lexington Avenue LineManhattan Inner platform of station; south of Bowling Green on a curved balloon loop. Closed due to low ridership, specialized rolling stock requirement and proximity to Bowling Green.Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line Outer platform of station; south of Rector Street on a curved balloon loop. Closed due to the opening of the new South Ferry–Whitehall Street station in 2009. Reopened in 2013 when the new station was damaged by Hurricane Sandy, then closed again after the new station was renovated.Worth StreetA (IRT)Lexington Avenue LineManhattanBetween Canal Street and Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall. Closed after platform lengthening of the Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall platforms deemed the station to be within proximity.
Open stations with closed platforms or entrances
Closed platforms These stations are currently in operation, but contain abandoned platforms either adjacent to or on another level from the open platforms. The entries under the "Line" column refer to the line in question, even if the line is defunct. The entries under the "Opened" and "Closed" columns refer to the platform in question.