Harlem’s 121-year-old 125th Street 2/3 station has received a top-to-bottom refresh, giving Central Harlem riders a brighter and less battered place to catch the train. The makeover reaches from the station entrance and mezzanine to the platforms, track area and behind-the-scenes facilities.
As reported by amNewYork, the MTA repaired platform edges, improved wooden benches, repainted token booths and doors, added 25 LED lights and replaced or refreshed worn finishes throughout the station. The stop sits near the Apollo Theater and Marcus Garvey Park and is a key transit point for riders traveling through Central Harlem.
The MTA’s 55-Hour Weekend Station Strategy
The work was completed through Station REVIVE, an MTA program that uses already scheduled 55-hour weekend service suspensions to tackle station repairs and cleaning, according to the agency’s REVIVE program overview. That approach lets crews scrape, repaint, retile, brighten and repair stations in concentrated bursts instead of leaving riders with months-long construction zones.
The broader program has now reached more than 180 stations, according to an MTA release. Agencywide work has included tens of thousands of square feet of new floor tiles, more than 100,000 square feet of replaced wall tiles and extensive platform-edge inspections and material swaps.
Local Councilmember Yusef Salaam said the 125th Street station repairs were “sorely needed,” with the work representing an investment in the dignity and safety of the tens of thousands of Harlem residents who rely on the 2 and 3 trains, amNewYork reported. The station first opened in 1904 under the Interborough Rapid Transit Company, making the new paint and lighting a fairly modern chapter in a very old subway story.
Separate From The Planned Q Train Expansion
The refurbishment is separate from the planned Second Avenue Subway extension into East Harlem, which would bring the Q train to a new 125th Street and Lexington Avenue station. The MTA’s capital program documents describe three planned stations at 106th, 116th and 125th streets, meaning the 125th Street corridor is in line for even more transit construction as the agency works on both immediate repairs and long-term expansion.
