CAN it really be almost nine years since I last explored the underground passageway beneath Rockefeller Center that rins beneath 6th Avenue from west 47th to 53rd Streets and then east to 5th Avenue at St. Patrick’s Cathedral between west 49th and 50th Streets? It can. For some time I’ve been thinking I should revisit itbecause there was a pizzeria down there that made the best pepperoni, the type in which the pepperonis are crisp and curl up at the edges. It’s probably been replaced by something else by now.
The 47th-50th Street IND station at the south end of the passage will be celebrating its 85th anniversary as it opened in December 1940. The 6th Avenue IND was the last major IND line to open and replaced the 6th Avenue El, which ran until 1938. I have begun to pay more attention to the minor IND directional signage, like the one shown up top. It was produced before the city changed 6th Avenue to Avenue of the Americas, an unwieldy name that really never caught on. 6th Avenue street signs were put back in in the mid-1980s.
Unless they’ve been changed out by now, the passageway’s signage are no-frills white on black or navy, with all caps in the Avant Garde font, recognizable by its distinctive cap Q. It’s not shown here but one of the signs still points the way ton a “token booth.” Token successors the MetroCards will be phased out completely by the OMNY tap system by 2026, as the fare rises to $3.00.
Check out the ForgottenBook, take a look at the gift shop. As always, “comment…as you see fit.” I earn a small payment when you click on any ad on the site.
11/20/25
7 comments
My subway stop for nearly a decade. Very convenient to walk underground when the weather was bad from my office building to the train or to shopping.
The 6th Avenue IND at 50th Street-Rockefeller Center and the two stations immediately south (42nd and 34th Streets respectively) are marvels of modern subway engineering. This fact has been lost to contemporary travelers, but when the line opened in 1940 its complicated construction was well publicized.
Just to the north of the 50th St.-Rockefeller Center station, there is a complicated three way junction at 53rd Street that allows trains to travel to/from Queens and Upper Manhattan/Bronx. On the downtown side, B and D trains from uptown stop on the local side of the platform, while F and M trains from Queens stop on the express side of the same platform. The two individual tracks then switch sides underground, so that the B and D are on the express side while the F and N are on the local side.
The 42nd Street-Bryant Park Station is squeezed below the 42nd Street Shuttle (part of the original IRT 1904 subway), and above the #7 line tunnel. At 34th Street, the 6th Ave. IND was threaded below the BMT Broadway line, around the PATH (former Hudson Tubes) Station at 33rd St., and above the LIRR-Amtrak tunnels below 33rd and 32nd Streets.
There is also a long-closed passageway between 42nd and 34th Street stations, right below street level and above the track level.
The next time you ride the 6th Ave. IND, pause for a minute and appreciate the job the original subway builders did.
I remember tat passageway. I used it often to avoid traffic between 34th and 42nd Streets. Back in the ’70, I would use 38th St. entrance whenever I would go to Gateway Hobbies just east of 6th Ave.. or walk all the way to Forty Doo Wop to go to Downstairs Records.
Andy is right. The 7th Avenue/53rd Street station is amazing. Trains enter from opposite ends of the station yet they are both going in the same direction.
47-50th was my stop from ’78-’88. The underground concourse would get me to 666 5th Avenue putting me 1 block from my Madison/53rd office, great in inclement weather. It was either that or the F to 5th Ave. I have a sign that hung in a stairwell right under Radio City. It appears in the movie Fatal Attraction for about 2 seconds as the couple descend the stairs from 6th Ave.
I read somewhere that 47-50 was at one time the longest station in the system, at 745 feet.
I thought the Subways/Busses were going to be free now with the new Mayor.