Fifth Avenue/53rd Street

Fifth Avenue/53rd Street is a station on the IND Queens Boulevard Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and 53rd Street in Manhattan, it is served by the E train at all times and the M train weekdays except late nights.Station layoutThis underground station, opened on August 19, 1933, has two levels with the upper level serving trains bound for Lower Manhattan and the lower level serving trains bound for Queens. Each level has one track and one side platform. The upper level, built in a tube design, is approximately 60 feet below street level while the lower level is 80 feet below. Staircases connect each level at either ends.There is a junction west of this station that is controlled by a tower on the south end of the upper level platform. E trains continue west along 53rd Street while M trains turn south and enter the IND Sixth Avenue Line.In 1981, the MTA listed the station among the 69 most deteriorated stations in the subway system.In 1996, Ralph Fasanella's 1950 painting "Subway Riders" was installed. It is one of the few oil paintings in the world permanently on view in a public transportation center. It is located outside fare control in the full-time mezzanine.