Next stop on the subway, I decided to deviate to 96th Street-Lexington Avenue. Now, some people will question my sanity and ask “why 96th?” to which I just simply say, “The Google Maps picture looked cool and I wanted to check it out.” I know, lame excuse. But, whatever. Without further ado, here’s 96th Street Station.
96th St. is your standard local station with two sides. In the case of the Lexington Ave. Line, the express tracks are underneath the local tracks, so you won’t really get any express action. The station’s largely standard. On the wall, there’s a mosaic that reads “96TH STREET”, presumably original to the station, and there’s stairs up to the mezzanine. In the mezzanine is an area dubbed “the balcony” where you can look down onto the tracks. Quite truthfully, it’s kinda cool and I’ve yet to find any other station like it. Going up into the mezzanine, you have benches, the windows looking down onto the tracks, the faregates, and MetroCard machines. There are no elevators, and the station isn’t accessible, sadly. For accessibility, one would have to utilize bus connections, namely the M101 or M102 from Harlem-125th.
The good: It serves the local neighborhood, and it has some standout qualities, namely the window overlooking the platform! It’s also served 24/7 (as is most of the subway network).
The bad: It’s not accessible, and one would have to change for a bus at Harlem-125th for accessibility…
Nearby points of interest: It’s on the edge of the Carnegie Hill neighborhood, and there’s an Islamic cultural center halfway between here and the Q route’s 96th St. station. And, for the railfans out there, Metro-North’s portal at 97th St. is nearby as well. Neat!
Transit connections:
Lexington Ave. (6)
MTA bus (M96, M101, M102, M103)
Overall, it’s a passable station. In the grand scheme of things, it’s about average with little special going for it. Sorry! But at least it’s not dogshit though!
Rating: 6.5/10
