The Red Number Trains in Manhattan

Today’s posting is dedicated to the Red Number Lines in Manhattan, the 1, 2, and 3 trains. They traverse primarily on the West Side and Center of Manhattan in a zig zag manner varying their Avenue traveled upon in each section of the borough. They arguably the only lines that stretch the entire length of Manhattan going from South Ferry to Marble Hill. Overall, their ride uptown covers a more dependent area than that which is downtown due to their proximity to other trains in lower Manhattan. From Manhattan, they go into Brooklyn and Bronx much like their counterparts, the Green Number Lines which they ride alongside in the outer boroughs. Overall, the service from these trains takes a rider to a variety of areas and interest points in Manhattan and is frequent but less than fully reliably giving it a questionable grade amongst the Manhattan subway train families.

The 1 train begins at the Staten Island Ferry traveling on the West Side of the Wall Street financial district up Greenwich Street to West Broadway near the old World Trade Center site. The 2 and 3 trains enter from Brooklyn on the East Side of the Wall Street financial district. They travel along William Street turning west on Beekman Street up to West Broadway where they join the 1 train. Throughout Manhattan, the 1 acts as a local train while the 2 and 3 act as express trains while on route together at least. After traveling up West Broadway, the Red Letter Lines turn on Varick Street where they briefly enter Tribeca before going to West Village and Chelsea.  This area is comprised mostly of 3 to 6 story residential units with some commercial storefronts on the main streets. There are several bars, restaurants, and nightclubs in the area as it is known to attract a large partying crowd. Amongst residents, there is a large population of musicians, intellectuals, and other artistic sorts as this area of Manhattan is connected to NYU and Greenwich Village, both of which have historically attracted those types of people. The area is also home to a large Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered population as both neighborhoods are known for being important areas for the respective groups. As such, one can expect all these sorts to ride the Red Letter Lines in this area.

At Houston Street, the trains turn up 7^th Avenue and become known as the 7^th Avenue line up to Times Square. When traversing to Time Square, the trains approach Penn Station going through Midtown where the buildings gradually get taller. The area is largely commercial home to many businesses, restaurants, and other such venues. At 42^nd Street, the Red Number Lines turn up Broadway and head through Times Square to the Upper West Side. The Upper West Side is the entire area between Central Park, 59^th Street, the Hudson River, and Columbia University. It is a wealthy, trendy area known for its large secular Jewish community and left leaning political crowd. Unlike the Upper East Side, the Upper West Side attracts a younger crowd with more nightclubs, more shows, and Ivy League setting. The buildings are generally taller than those on the Upper East Side with most of them being over 8 stories tall. Attractions through Times Square and the Upper West Side include Columbus Circle, Lincoln Center, and Broadway itself, all of which are along the Red Number Lines. Up to 96^th Street, the trains remain together, after 96^th Street, the 1 train continues up Broadway while the 2 and 3 trains turn under Central Park.

The 1 train continues along Columbia University, the Morningside and Hamilton Heights area of West Harlem and into Washington Heights, Inwood, and Marble Hill, the Northernmost neighborhoods in Manhattan. The 1 train has the distinction of being the only train to go above ground in Manhattan, it does so first between 122^nd and 135^th Streets and later between 200^th Street and the Bronx border. The area traversed after the separation generally is on the downslope of an elevated section of Manhattan going to the bank of the Hudson River. The buildings are slightly taller at times up in this area of Manhattan many of which are residential units, some of which are wealthy, some of which are not so much. The 1 train also takes a passenger parallel to Riverside Drive which arguably has the view of the Hudson River and George Washington Bridge which approaches at 179^th Street. Above 155^th Street, the passengers enter into Washington Heights which is home to Fort Washington and Manhattan’s highest point of elevation, it is also the largest Dominican neighborhood in New York City. This was the home neighborhood of my roommate at Texas Tech University and is arguably the most known neighborhood to Americans of Dominican descent. Like Harlem below it Washington Heights has  a large share of urban problems unlike the rest of Manhattan. However, there is a charm to Washington Heights not found in the lower regions of the borough as Washington Heights represents the highest parts of the borough both from an elevation and geographically based perspective. The highest parts of Washington Heights are known as Inwood and Marble Hill, the later neighborhood appears to be across the Harlem River in Bronx. The 1 train runs along Broadway until crossing the A train at 168^th Street where it then follows St. Nicholas Avenue and 10^th Avenue into Bronx.

The 2 and 3 trains curve off of 96^th Street up to run along 104^th Street into Central Park before turning to run up Lenox Avenue across 110^th Street into Central or Black Harlem. This area is normally referred to as Harlem or Central Harlem but given that East part of Harlem is commonly called Spanish Harlem, I refer to this area as Black Harlem to differentiate between the African American and Puerto Rican sections of Harlem. I have also heard the Puerto Ricans refer to this section of Harlem as Black Harlem, so it is not a nickname I invented for the neighborhood. Black Harlem is New York City and quite possibly America’s most famous African American neighborhood with Lenox Avenue and 125^th Street being two of its most famous streets as pictured below. Over the years, it has often represented African American culture of the urban north in both its proudest and most problematic forms. It was once the most dangerous section of Manhattan and while it has significantly gentrified, it is still grittier than much of the rest of the borough. Much of Black Harlem is comprised of 4 to 8 story residential apartment buildings on the Avenues with Brownstones like that in Brooklyn on the numbered streets and Public Housing units located throughout the West Central, Southeastern, and far Northern reaches of the neighborhood. The 2 and 3 trains go up Lenox Avenue where the 3 turns off onto 148^th Street and terminates while the 2 crosses into the Bronx rejoining the 5 train as it does in Brooklyn.

In conclusion, the Red Number Lines provide necessary service on Manhattan’s west side in its topmost and bottommost regions, 7^th Avenue, Black Harlem and Broadway above Times Square. The trains touch a significant number of places that interest prospective visitors and are frequent but somehow feel at the same time lacking. The express service by the 2 and 3 trains doesn’t feel like express service on occasions as it has many local stops off of the shared service with the 1 train. The 1 train is Manhattan’s longest route in miles but is localized and thereby feels as if it takes forever. Whenever I have left Brooklyn to come into Manhattan on the 2 or 3, it seems they take longer than necessary to get to the shared line with the 1. Construction Service seems frequent and the late night service on these trains is inconsistent quite often. It services a large and diverse area of Manhattan but does so in a manner that is at times questionable. Its importance is too great for it to have the inconsistencies associated with it. For that reason, the Red Number Lines can be classified as one of Manhattan’s more slacking subways given that they service an attractive area but do so at far from an optimum performance.