A fact from 14th StreetâUnion Square station appeared on Wikipedia's
Main Page in the Did you know column on 9 September 2023 (
check views). The text of the entry was as follows:
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Trains, an attempt to build a comprehensive and detailed guide to
rail transport on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, you can visit the
project page, where you can join the project and/or contribute to the
discussion. See also:
WikiProject Trains to do list and the
Trains Portal.TrainsWikipedia:WikiProject TrainsTemplate:WikiProject Trainsrail transport articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject New York City, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of
New York City-related articles on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join
the discussion and see a list of open tasks.New York CityWikipedia:WikiProject New York CityTemplate:WikiProject New York CityNew York City articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject National Register of Historic Places, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of U.S.
historic sites listed on the
National Register of Historic Places on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join
the discussion and see a list of open tasks.National Register of Historic PlacesWikipedia:WikiProject National Register of Historic PlacesTemplate:WikiProject National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic Places articles
@
Kew Gardens 613, thanks. I appreciate it. I was aware of the Union Square Partnership's proposal for Union Square but was not aware that the proposal also included improvements to the subway station. And I definitely didn't know about the study. These are great finds; I'll add these in now. â
Epicgenius (
talk)
14:16, 2 May 2023 (UTC)reply
It really has been impressive. Yeah-that was my all-time best FOIL request. Thanks-I will try to help more on subway articles when my semester is done, which is soon.
Kew Gardens 613 (
talk)
14:21, 2 May 2023 (UTC)reply
That is interesting. My take is that, if this problem persisted for a while, then it could be mentioned. If it was rectified shortly afterward, then it was probably a simple mistake that occurred during routine track repairs, so it would fall under
WP:NOTNEWS â
Epicgenius (
talk)
14:46, 2 May 2023 (UTC)reply
The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
I might consider editing the Lexington Avenue Line image infobox to remove that arm and straighten out.
Earwig shows some repeated common phrasings. Might suggest rewording the following to avoid close paraphrasing:
"called for the construction of a subway"
"chief engineer of the Rapid Transit Commission" -> maybe Rapid Transit Commission's chief engineer William Barclay Parsons?
I have rephrased "chief engineer of the Rapid Transit Commission"; however, it's a job title and proper name, and there are a limited number of ways to rephrase that. I've rephrased "called for the construction of a subway", which is entirely coincidental.
Epicgenius (
talk)
15:39, 10 August 2023 (UTC)reply
"Numerous elevators make most of the complex compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). The Lexington Avenue Line station, serving the 4, â5, â6, and <6> trains, is not ADA-accessible." -> "Most of the complex, with the exception of the Lexington Avenue Liens station, is accessible via numerous elevators under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA)."
"In 1918, the Lexington Avenue Line opened north of Grand Centralâ42nd Street, thereby dividing the original line into an "H"-shaped system." â I'm trying to understand what the H-shaped system mean.
Basically, there used to be a single subway line, which ran on the East Side of Manhattan south of
42nd Street, traveled west under 42nd Street, then ran on the West Side of Manhattan north of 42nd Street. The West Side Line (now
IRT BroadwayâSeventh Avenue Line) was extended south of 42nd Street, and the East Side Line (now Lexington Avenue Line) was extended north of 42nd Street. This created an "H"-shaped system, as can be seen in
this diagram. However, all of this is already explained in other articles, so I've briefly reworded this sentence.
Epicgenius (
talk)
15:39, 10 August 2023 (UTC)reply
"The section between 16th and 26th Streets was awarded to the E. E. Smith Construction Company in September 1913." â was it said how much the contract was awarded to?
"The city government took over the BMT's operations on June 1, 1940,[81][82] and the IRT's operations on June 12, 1940." â remove the year for the subsequent clause.
In this context, "service" is an uncountable noun. Technically, the New York City Club wanted to improve service (i.e. frequency and reliability) on each of the services (i.e. routes).
Epicgenius (
talk)
15:39, 10 August 2023 (UTC)reply
"The BOT studied the feasibility of building an underpass from the station to the eastern side of Union Square East at 15th Street in January 1949," â I guess nothing came out of these plans?
"The MTA evicted 25 businesses, who occupied a combined 8,000 square feet (740 m2), from the station in 1981." â why? I guess to free up space? Also where were these business operating? Within the station or around?
"William Zeckendorf, developer of the adjacent Zeckendorf Towers, agreed in 1984" â I guess at this time the towers were being built over the station and not yet constructed?
"In the late 1980s, the 14th StreetâUnion Square station was partially renovated as part of the construction of Zeckendorf Towers."
Reword to "As part of the construction of Zeckendorf Towers in the late 1980s, the station was partially renovated." I felt moving the clause of the construction earlier would connect better to the preceding passage.
"He was running at 40 mph (64 km/h) in a 10 mph (16 km/h) zone and took the switch so fast that only the first car made it through the crossover, and the rest of the train was derailed."
Something about this sentence is a bit unencyclopedic in tone.
Maybe "He oversped in a 10 mph (16 km/h) zone at 40 mph (64 km/h), switching tracks at a fast speed which resulted in only the first car passing through the crossover; the rest of the train derailed". Or simplify the sentence overall.
"The derailment occurred at the entry to a former pocket track on the Lexington Avenue Line station, which was removed when the damage from the 1991 wreck was repaired."
I recommend shifting this sentence early on to be the second sentence of this paragraph.
Also reword "which was removed during repair works"
"As part of the contract, the consultant investigated whether it was feasible to reconfigure the IRT passageway, to reframe the exit structure on the Lexington Avenue platforms to accommodate the relocation and widening of stairs, the construction of a new fan room, the removal of stairs on the Broadway Line platforms, the reframing of the existing structure, and the construction of a new staircase between the intermediate and IRT mezzanines. These were all deemed feasible,"
I find it a bit repetitive on the word "feasible" and thought of rewording the information. "The proposed works for the renovation â which included [works] â were accessed to be feasible (by whom and when). In May 1994..."
"The area near the Zeckendorf Towers contains storefronts, as well as steel and glass enclosures." -> "Storefronts, alongside steel and glass enclosures, are located in the area near the Zeckendorf Towers"
"The corridor above the western side of the IRT station contains six wall segments, which were originally part of a double-height wall adjacent to the IRT station's southbound local platform.[132] The wall segments are part of a larger, station-wide art installation by Mary Miss, Framing Union Square, which was commissioned as part of the MTA Arts & Design program."
Reword: Framing Union Square by Mary Miss is a station-wide art installation commissioned as part of the MTA Arts & Design program. It features six wall segments placed above the western side of the IRT station, which were originally part of a double-height wall adjacent to the IRT station's southbound local platform.
" The artwork also contains bright red frames that surround objects such as mosaics, cables, and bolts." -> "Bright red frames of the artwork surround objects such as mosaics, cables, and bolts
"The station contains numerous entrances and exits." - The station is accessible via numerous entrances and exits
This can be confusing (as people think of wheelchair accessibility when "accessible" is used in NYC Subway-related contexts). I've rephrased this.
Epicgenius (
talk)
15:39, 10 August 2023 (UTC)reply
"Near the southeast end of the station, there is an entrance with one stair, escalator bank, and elevator in the Zeckendorf Towers at the northeast corner of 4th Avenue and 14th Street."
Reword to: "An entrance with a flight of stairs, escalator bank and elevator connects the Zeckendorf Towers at the northeast corner of 4th Avenue and 14th Street to the southeast end of the station"
"One block to the west, there are two staircases on the south side of 14th Street between Broadway and University Place, which lead to the western Canarsie Line mezzanine."
Reword to: One block to the west, two staircases on the south side of 14th Street between Broadway and University Place lead to the western Canarsie Line mezzanine
I personally felt there could be a better higher resolution and more recent shot for the infobox image (unfortunately found nothing in the Wikimedia commons category. I tilted and cropped the original image, but I think there can be a better shot.
What is the difference between an express and a local stop? Not something to clarify in the body, but I just want to know. I assume the 4 and 5 are the express service stopping here, but the 6 is local service of the line?
You're correct, the 6 is the local service. I also talked about this on Discord, but express stops serve both express and local trains, whereas local stops only serve local trains. Local services make all stops on the line (both local and express), but express services only serve the express stops and skip the local stops.
Epicgenius (
talk)
17:00, 12 August 2023 (UTC)reply
"The next station to the north" -> "The next station north". Similarly for the subsequent sentence. Or "The next station northbound"
Also, you can probably combine these two sentences.
""U"-shaped trough that contains utility pipes and wires." -> ""U"-shaped trough of utility pipes and wires."
The trough is made of something else (I think brick), which encases the utility pipes and wires. The pipes and wires are not themselves the material that was used to construct the trough.
Epicgenius (
talk)
17:00, 12 August 2023 (UTC)reply
The island platforms were originally 530 feet (160 m) long, but as a result of an extension in the early 1970s, became 615 feet (187 m) long.
Reword to: The island platforms were originally 530 feet (160 m) long but lengthened to 615 feet (187 m) after extension works in the early 1970s.
I changed this to "The island platforms were originally 530 feet (160Â m) long but were extended to 615 feet (187Â m) in the early 1970s", as I think "lengthened" and "extension works" might be redundant with each other.
Epicgenius (
talk)
17:00, 12 August 2023 (UTC)reply
File:Union Sq new escalator vc.jpg â Felt it could be shifted earlier elsewhere in the article (maybe the history section) instead of the picture being awkward in that gap
"There are also two stairs leading directly" â two stairs lead directly
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
Did you know nomination
The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as
this nomination's talk page,
the article's talk page or
Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.
... that the New York City Subway's 14th StreetâUnion Square station was once called "probably the world's greatest underground traffic point"? Source: "General News: Union Square's Underground Traffic". Women's Wear. Vol. 15, no. 144. December 21, 1917. p. 36.
@
Epicgenius,
Onegreatjoke, and
Bruxton: the hook is really hooky, but I am concerned about NPOV. The article says The MTA also canceled plans for a new subway entrance in Union Square Park because the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation refused to remove one tree to make way for the entrance, but the NYT source says that the architect said that the entrance was cancelled to save one tree, while the parks commissioner said the entrance was expensive and unsuitable and involved destroying three trees. I think that the article should give both sides and a different hook is needed.
TSventon (
talk)
17:04, 24 August 2023 (UTC)reply
A fact from 14th StreetâUnion Square station appeared on Wikipedia's
Main Page in the Did you know column on 9 September 2023 (
check views). The text of the entry was as follows:
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Trains, an attempt to build a comprehensive and detailed guide to
rail transport on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, you can visit the
project page, where you can join the project and/or contribute to the
discussion. See also:
WikiProject Trains to do list and the
Trains Portal.TrainsWikipedia:WikiProject TrainsTemplate:WikiProject Trainsrail transport articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject New York City, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of
New York City-related articles on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join
the discussion and see a list of open tasks.New York CityWikipedia:WikiProject New York CityTemplate:WikiProject New York CityNew York City articles
This article is within the scope of WikiProject National Register of Historic Places, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of U.S.
historic sites listed on the
National Register of Historic Places on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join
the discussion and see a list of open tasks.National Register of Historic PlacesWikipedia:WikiProject National Register of Historic PlacesTemplate:WikiProject National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic Places articles
@
Kew Gardens 613, thanks. I appreciate it. I was aware of the Union Square Partnership's proposal for Union Square but was not aware that the proposal also included improvements to the subway station. And I definitely didn't know about the study. These are great finds; I'll add these in now. â
Epicgenius (
talk)
14:16, 2 May 2023 (UTC)reply
It really has been impressive. Yeah-that was my all-time best FOIL request. Thanks-I will try to help more on subway articles when my semester is done, which is soon.
Kew Gardens 613 (
talk)
14:21, 2 May 2023 (UTC)reply
That is interesting. My take is that, if this problem persisted for a while, then it could be mentioned. If it was rectified shortly afterward, then it was probably a simple mistake that occurred during routine track repairs, so it would fall under
WP:NOTNEWS â
Epicgenius (
talk)
14:46, 2 May 2023 (UTC)reply
The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
I might consider editing the Lexington Avenue Line image infobox to remove that arm and straighten out.
Earwig shows some repeated common phrasings. Might suggest rewording the following to avoid close paraphrasing:
"called for the construction of a subway"
"chief engineer of the Rapid Transit Commission" -> maybe Rapid Transit Commission's chief engineer William Barclay Parsons?
I have rephrased "chief engineer of the Rapid Transit Commission"; however, it's a job title and proper name, and there are a limited number of ways to rephrase that. I've rephrased "called for the construction of a subway", which is entirely coincidental.
Epicgenius (
talk)
15:39, 10 August 2023 (UTC)reply
"Numerous elevators make most of the complex compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). The Lexington Avenue Line station, serving the 4, â5, â6, and <6> trains, is not ADA-accessible." -> "Most of the complex, with the exception of the Lexington Avenue Liens station, is accessible via numerous elevators under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA)."
"In 1918, the Lexington Avenue Line opened north of Grand Centralâ42nd Street, thereby dividing the original line into an "H"-shaped system." â I'm trying to understand what the H-shaped system mean.
Basically, there used to be a single subway line, which ran on the East Side of Manhattan south of
42nd Street, traveled west under 42nd Street, then ran on the West Side of Manhattan north of 42nd Street. The West Side Line (now
IRT BroadwayâSeventh Avenue Line) was extended south of 42nd Street, and the East Side Line (now Lexington Avenue Line) was extended north of 42nd Street. This created an "H"-shaped system, as can be seen in
this diagram. However, all of this is already explained in other articles, so I've briefly reworded this sentence.
Epicgenius (
talk)
15:39, 10 August 2023 (UTC)reply
"The section between 16th and 26th Streets was awarded to the E. E. Smith Construction Company in September 1913." â was it said how much the contract was awarded to?
"The city government took over the BMT's operations on June 1, 1940,[81][82] and the IRT's operations on June 12, 1940." â remove the year for the subsequent clause.
In this context, "service" is an uncountable noun. Technically, the New York City Club wanted to improve service (i.e. frequency and reliability) on each of the services (i.e. routes).
Epicgenius (
talk)
15:39, 10 August 2023 (UTC)reply
"The BOT studied the feasibility of building an underpass from the station to the eastern side of Union Square East at 15th Street in January 1949," â I guess nothing came out of these plans?
"The MTA evicted 25 businesses, who occupied a combined 8,000 square feet (740 m2), from the station in 1981." â why? I guess to free up space? Also where were these business operating? Within the station or around?
"William Zeckendorf, developer of the adjacent Zeckendorf Towers, agreed in 1984" â I guess at this time the towers were being built over the station and not yet constructed?
"In the late 1980s, the 14th StreetâUnion Square station was partially renovated as part of the construction of Zeckendorf Towers."
Reword to "As part of the construction of Zeckendorf Towers in the late 1980s, the station was partially renovated." I felt moving the clause of the construction earlier would connect better to the preceding passage.
"He was running at 40 mph (64 km/h) in a 10 mph (16 km/h) zone and took the switch so fast that only the first car made it through the crossover, and the rest of the train was derailed."
Something about this sentence is a bit unencyclopedic in tone.
Maybe "He oversped in a 10 mph (16 km/h) zone at 40 mph (64 km/h), switching tracks at a fast speed which resulted in only the first car passing through the crossover; the rest of the train derailed". Or simplify the sentence overall.
"The derailment occurred at the entry to a former pocket track on the Lexington Avenue Line station, which was removed when the damage from the 1991 wreck was repaired."
I recommend shifting this sentence early on to be the second sentence of this paragraph.
Also reword "which was removed during repair works"
"As part of the contract, the consultant investigated whether it was feasible to reconfigure the IRT passageway, to reframe the exit structure on the Lexington Avenue platforms to accommodate the relocation and widening of stairs, the construction of a new fan room, the removal of stairs on the Broadway Line platforms, the reframing of the existing structure, and the construction of a new staircase between the intermediate and IRT mezzanines. These were all deemed feasible,"
I find it a bit repetitive on the word "feasible" and thought of rewording the information. "The proposed works for the renovation â which included [works] â were accessed to be feasible (by whom and when). In May 1994..."
"The area near the Zeckendorf Towers contains storefronts, as well as steel and glass enclosures." -> "Storefronts, alongside steel and glass enclosures, are located in the area near the Zeckendorf Towers"
"The corridor above the western side of the IRT station contains six wall segments, which were originally part of a double-height wall adjacent to the IRT station's southbound local platform.[132] The wall segments are part of a larger, station-wide art installation by Mary Miss, Framing Union Square, which was commissioned as part of the MTA Arts & Design program."
Reword: Framing Union Square by Mary Miss is a station-wide art installation commissioned as part of the MTA Arts & Design program. It features six wall segments placed above the western side of the IRT station, which were originally part of a double-height wall adjacent to the IRT station's southbound local platform.
" The artwork also contains bright red frames that surround objects such as mosaics, cables, and bolts." -> "Bright red frames of the artwork surround objects such as mosaics, cables, and bolts
"The station contains numerous entrances and exits." - The station is accessible via numerous entrances and exits
This can be confusing (as people think of wheelchair accessibility when "accessible" is used in NYC Subway-related contexts). I've rephrased this.
Epicgenius (
talk)
15:39, 10 August 2023 (UTC)reply
"Near the southeast end of the station, there is an entrance with one stair, escalator bank, and elevator in the Zeckendorf Towers at the northeast corner of 4th Avenue and 14th Street."
Reword to: "An entrance with a flight of stairs, escalator bank and elevator connects the Zeckendorf Towers at the northeast corner of 4th Avenue and 14th Street to the southeast end of the station"
"One block to the west, there are two staircases on the south side of 14th Street between Broadway and University Place, which lead to the western Canarsie Line mezzanine."
Reword to: One block to the west, two staircases on the south side of 14th Street between Broadway and University Place lead to the western Canarsie Line mezzanine
I personally felt there could be a better higher resolution and more recent shot for the infobox image (unfortunately found nothing in the Wikimedia commons category. I tilted and cropped the original image, but I think there can be a better shot.
What is the difference between an express and a local stop? Not something to clarify in the body, but I just want to know. I assume the 4 and 5 are the express service stopping here, but the 6 is local service of the line?
You're correct, the 6 is the local service. I also talked about this on Discord, but express stops serve both express and local trains, whereas local stops only serve local trains. Local services make all stops on the line (both local and express), but express services only serve the express stops and skip the local stops.
Epicgenius (
talk)
17:00, 12 August 2023 (UTC)reply
"The next station to the north" -> "The next station north". Similarly for the subsequent sentence. Or "The next station northbound"
Also, you can probably combine these two sentences.
""U"-shaped trough that contains utility pipes and wires." -> ""U"-shaped trough of utility pipes and wires."
The trough is made of something else (I think brick), which encases the utility pipes and wires. The pipes and wires are not themselves the material that was used to construct the trough.
Epicgenius (
talk)
17:00, 12 August 2023 (UTC)reply
The island platforms were originally 530 feet (160 m) long, but as a result of an extension in the early 1970s, became 615 feet (187 m) long.
Reword to: The island platforms were originally 530 feet (160 m) long but lengthened to 615 feet (187 m) after extension works in the early 1970s.
I changed this to "The island platforms were originally 530 feet (160Â m) long but were extended to 615 feet (187Â m) in the early 1970s", as I think "lengthened" and "extension works" might be redundant with each other.
Epicgenius (
talk)
17:00, 12 August 2023 (UTC)reply
File:Union Sq new escalator vc.jpg â Felt it could be shifted earlier elsewhere in the article (maybe the history section) instead of the picture being awkward in that gap
"There are also two stairs leading directly" â two stairs lead directly
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
Did you know nomination
The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as
this nomination's talk page,
the article's talk page or
Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.
... that the New York City Subway's 14th StreetâUnion Square station was once called "probably the world's greatest underground traffic point"? Source: "General News: Union Square's Underground Traffic". Women's Wear. Vol. 15, no. 144. December 21, 1917. p. 36.
@
Epicgenius,
Onegreatjoke, and
Bruxton: the hook is really hooky, but I am concerned about NPOV. The article says The MTA also canceled plans for a new subway entrance in Union Square Park because the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation refused to remove one tree to make way for the entrance, but the NYT source says that the architect said that the entrance was cancelled to save one tree, while the parks commissioner said the entrance was expensive and unsuitable and involved destroying three trees. I think that the article should give both sides and a different hook is needed.
TSventon (
talk)
17:04, 24 August 2023 (UTC)reply