North refers to trains to 207^th Street and South refers to trains to Lefferts.

For photos please see www nycsubway.org 

207 Street/Inwood (On Broadway between 207^th and 211^th Streets/Isham Ave) Opened 9/10/1932:  This is where the Independent Subway system, aka the IND, was born and is the 3^rd such system in NYC before the 1940 unification of the 3 rail operating companies .  The original A line ran express from 207^th Street to Chambers Street (the AA provided the local service from 168^th Street to Hudson Terminal, today’s World Trade Center station.) until further expansion of the IND system took place in the early and mid-1930’s.  The current layout of this station has 2 separate mezzanines; it used to have a full length passageway, now the current space is used for NYCT employees only.  2 stairs from platform to mezzanine level, located in between current mezzanines, which were removed some time ago, also suggests further evidence of this full length mezzanine.  Full time side at 207^th Street has 3 street stairs, 1 ADA elevator (the station is fully ADA accessible) at Northwest corner of 207^th street and Broadway, and 1 large double-width stairs to single island platform, typical of most end terminal stations.  The Part time side at 211^th street/ Isham Pl has ghost booth (victim of the 2003 booth closings), 24/7 HEET access, 2 street stairs and 2 stairs to platform level.  Artwork “At the Start…At Long Last…”  (1999) by Sheila Levrant de Bretteville, contains wall and floor tiles all over both mezzanines that chronicle the historical origins of Inwood, the neighborhood that this and other adjoining stations serve, and how it took shape in modern NYC history.  One tile has an excerpt from the NY Times on the IND’s opening day (printed on 9/11/1932).  There is silver glitter dotting the title of the artwork.  Downstairs on the platform walls, the replica of the IND style tile band is silver on the top and bottom of the purple tile band, a departure from the customarily black borders.  The tile band was formed by using prearranged “blocks” of full length wall partitions and attaching them to the existing wall, thus assembling them together.   7^th Ave/53^rd street, Broadway-Lafayette IND, and Atlantic Ave/Brighton BMT stations also have this look.  A closer examination of both renovated walls reveals that you can see the “breaks” in the walls at about every 10 feet in width.  Prior to the 1999 renovation, the station walls had no tile band, only “207” was visible. According to the MTA web site "...Mirror mosaic text, silkscreened tiles, etched railings, and terrazzo pavers on the mezzanine. Sheila Levrant de Bretteville focuses on the origins and history of the multinational community in and around Inwood. Within the station, a terrazzo paver marks the spot of the northern-most point of the A line, and metallic silver Murano mosaics compose the large letters that signal you are at a place of arrival and departure. White-glazed ceramic tiles comment on the experience of recent immigrants to New York and on the elevator wall are figures from various present-day Latino civilizations. Finally, there is a motif of flute-playing figures in terrazzo pavers on the mezzanine that comment on the role of music in the community. "Musical history resonates here," she says, "it is the soul of this community." She highlights this by etching lyrics from "Take the A Train" on the stainless steel railing of the mezzanine stairwell.

Dyckman St/200^th Street (Broadway and Dyckman Street/Riverside Drive) (Opened 9/10/1932):.This station has 2 side platforms and 4 tracks, giving the initial impression that it is a local stop.  The 2 “express” tracks actually are yard leads to the sprawling 207^th St yard and maintenance shop.  The Fulltime side is on the Downtown side and has 3 street stairs to fare control at platform level.  The northern 2 street stairs have a passageway of which some businesses stores were located here as a subway arcade at one time, they are all closed and boarded up.  There is an underpass to the 207^th St-bound side and exit only with 3 street stairs from the platform.  One of the stairs to the underpass from the Southbound side is gated closed, the other is open.  Station tablet is purple. 

190^th Street-Overlook Terrace: (East of Fort Washington Ave and North of 190^th street) opened 9/10/1932. Among the most intriguing of all NYC subway and elevated stations, 190^th street its beneath bedrock at about 150 feet below street level on one side, but is actually above street level when exiting to the east side at Bennett Ave.  This is due to the varied topology of the area which is very hilly; the IRT engineers had a similar problem with excavating tunnels when building nearby 191^st Street station. The station can be accessed by using 2 different entrances, both of which lead to the only mezzanine.  The first and more common entrance to use is descending a set of stairs facing the east side of Fort Tryon Park, at Fort Washington Ave, to a stationhouse that has 3 elevators.  At least one of these elevators is manned by a NYCT employee, all others are self-service.  The elevator will take you 120 feet down to the mezzanine level.  Also at the stationhouse inside, an boarded up old-style change booth is visible and is facing the elevators (tokens were sold at this location), along with a possible 2^nd closed entrance opposite the current entrance to the house.  The stationhouse has an 19^th century feel to it as you look at the arched entrance.  The second way to access this station is to use the long green walled passageway about 300 feet east to Bennett Ave and the far eastern end of Fort Tryon Park (there is no access to the park from this entrance).  This is a downhill incline and I give the impression that because of the hill, the street entrance at Bennett Ave is lower than the station platforms inside.  There is an HXT high wheel that allows customers to exit there without walking upstairs to the mezzanine first.  A covered “Uptown” sign at the top of the exit-only ramp suggests that when the IND first opened, one could’ve descended down the ramp and use the old Iron Maiden high wheel turnstile there.  The mezzanine affords a nice view of the tracks and trains below.  Station is 2 tracks, 2 side platforms, 2 stairs to each platform from mezzanine and the ramp discussed previously, the arched tunneled like ceiling on the platform level, shows the tunnel was used the boring method, instead of “cut and cover”.  Station name tablet near staircases reads “190^th ST.-OVERLOOK TERR.”.  This station is well protected from many possible man-made and nature threats at the surface; it was the site for numerous atomic and scientific experiments carried out by researchers.     

181^ST Street (Fort Washington Ave, between 181^st and 184^th Streets) opened 9/10/1932:  Not as deep as 190^th Street but still a very deep station, nevertheless.  Station is 2 tracks and 2 side platforms with full length mezzanine and Fulltime booths on both ends.  The mezzanine affords a clear and unobstructed view of both platforms but not the tracks and trains themselves. The north end has 2 exits, one a passageway to West 184^th street and Overlook Terrace, the 2^nd way to exit it via one of three elevators to West 184^th street and Fort Washington Ave.  The cathedral-like entrance is similar to design to the elevator entrance at 190^th Street station.  The south end has 3 escalators to fare control level, then exit can be made by any one of the 4 street stairs. There is a sign to Yeshiva University. 

175^th Street/G W Bridge Bus Terminal (Originally 175^th Street) Opened 9/10/1932:  This is one of the few stations that has no tile band on either platform wall.  The station first opened as 175^th street because the GW Bridge bus terminal was not constructed until 1963.  Fulltime is at 177^th Street with 3 street stairs and block long passageway to GWB Bus terminal, 2 tracks on island platform and 6 stairs from full-length mezzanine to platform.  The northernmost stair is exit only; all others are full entry or exit from either fare control.   The Part time side at 175^th street has ghost booth (closed in 2003), 24/7 HEET access and 2 street stairs.  The station is fully ADA accessible, except for the passageway to the bus station which contains steps.  (The bus terminal is neither ADA, nor wheelchair accessible to begin with).  At the time the station (and the rest of the line) opened, the nearby George Washington Bridge was not even a year old; it opened on 10/25/1931.  The combined work of 2 agencies (Port Authority for the GWB, IND for the subway), show how the Washington Heights and Inwood neighborhoods exploded in population, even with the adversary of the 1929 Great Depression. 

168^th Street (Originally 168^th Street-Washington Heights) Opened 9/10/1932:  Is discussed on the complexes page