28th Street (H&M station)

33rd Street station

Company type	Rapid transit terminal station
Industry	Public transportation
Founded	November 10, 1910 (1910-11-10) (opened)
Headquarters	Manhattan, New York City , United States
Area served	Midtown Manhattan, New York City
Owner	Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

33rd Street Station

Situated at the intersection of 32nd Street and Sixth Avenue within Midtown Manhattan's Herald Square, the 33rd Street station functions as a terminal on the PATH network. It acts as the northern endpoint for the Hoboken–33rd Street and Journal Square–33rd Street routes during weekdays, and serves the Journal Square–33rd Street (via Hoboken) line throughout late nights, weekends, and holidays.

Inception

The 33rd Street station forms part of the Uptown Hudson Tubes, constructed by the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad (H&M), which preceded PATH. The initial segment commenced operations in February 1908. On November 10, 1910, the station opened as a northern extension of the line. Although initially intended to be located beneath the Gimbels department store (currently 100 West 33rd Street), it was ultimately built under Sixth Avenue to facilitate potential future northward expansion. The Gimbels store debuted in 1910, with the underlying land held by an H&M subsidiary until its 1919 sale to Gimbels.

In June 1909, a franchise was granted for a planned tunnel extension connecting to Grand Central Terminal and the Grand Central subway station. Despite this, construction never commenced due to repeated postponements. By 1920, H&M had submitted seventeen requests to delay the project, citing unsuitable conditions. The Rapid Transit Commissioners rejected the seventeenth appeal, effectively terminating H&M’s authorization to extend to Grand Central.

Station Relocation

In 1924, the city-operated Independent Subway System (IND) proposed constructing the Sixth Avenue Line, running parallel to the Uptown Hudson Tubes between Ninth and 33rd streets. Negotiations among the city, IND, and H&M persisted until 1929, resulting in a 1930 agreement. The plan involved building local tracks for the IND line around existing H&M tunnels, with express tracks to be added beneath at a later stage.

On December 26, 1937, the 33rd Street terminal was closed and service truncated to 28th Street to accommodate subway construction. A temporary entrance at 29th Street was established at the 28th Street station. The terminal was relocated southward to 32nd Street and reopened on September 24, 1939. The city invested $800,000 in constructing this new facility and compensated H&M with $300,000 for revenue losses. Simultaneously, the 28th Street station was shut down and demolished; as partial recompense, an entrance at 30th Street was introduced. The IND Sixth Avenue Line began operations in December 1940.

Later Developments

In 1962, management of H&M transferred to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which rebranded it as Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH). A "Gimbels passageway" once provided pedestrian access from under 33rd Street to Penn Station, but it was closed during the 1980s following concerns over safety and incidents of assault.

At track 1 within the 33rd Street terminal, an older train-car wash was replaced in September 1993 by a larger, computer-controlled facility located in Jersey City. This modernized wash featured improved water recycling capabilities and allowed detergents longer contact time with train surfaces. Consequently, PATH discontinued use of the original wash at 33rd Street, enhancing operational efficiency.

Starting in December 2023, PATH initiated trials of a new contactless payment technology named TAPP at both 33rd Street and stations. This system resembles the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s OMNY fare collection method.

Station layout

G	Street level	Entrance/exit, bus connections
B1	Upper mezzanine	Fare control area at south end
B2 Platform level	Side platform		Northern fare control, subway station
	Southbound	← Template:Rcb weekdays heading to () ← Template:Rcb weekends bound for ()
	Island platform
	Southbound	← Template:Rcb weekdays traveling toward (23rd Street) ← Template:Rcb Template:Rcb JSQ–33 (via HOB weekends) bound for ()
	Island platform
	Southbound	← Template:Rcb Template:Rcb JSQ–33 (via HOB weekends) heading to ()
	Side platform

The station presently consists of three tracks arranged in a Spanish solution configuration, incorporating two island platforms alongside two side platforms, positioned two levels below the surface. Above the platforms at the southern section of the station lies a mezzanine equipped with turnstiles. The tracks end at bumper blocks on the northern side, where ramps ascend to a northern fare control zone situated approximately one and a half stories underground.

Exits

Two stairways are located at the southern extremity of the 33rd Street station, positioned on both sides of Sixth Avenue between 30th and 31st Streets. At the northern end, exits are found at the northwest and northeast corners of Sixth Avenue and 32nd Street, along with an elevator on the west side of Sixth Avenue between 32nd and 33rd Streets. Passageways originating from this northern section provide access to the adjacent New York City Subway station and its respective exits.

Nearby points of interest

• Empire State Building
• Herald Square
• Koreatown
• Macy's
• Madison Square Garden
• Penn Station
• Manhattan Mall

External links

• PATH - 33rd Street Station (archived on October 19, 2019)
• Google Maps Street View: 32nd Street entrance
• Google Maps Street View: 30th Street entrance
• Google Maps Street View: Platform