You’re looking for a wide underground station with dark green columns, a “Bedford Park Blvd” sign, and a platform lined with green tiles and trim; just follow the sounds of arriving trains and the glow of overhead lights to spot its entrance at the corner of Bedford Park Boulevard and the Grand Concourse.
Now, picture yourself back in the late 1920s, as a city worker in hard hats and dusty coveralls hunker down beneath Grand Concourse, where the future of the Bronx subway is literally being carved out. Those workers were digging the Bedford Park Boulevard station-a linchpin deep beneath the bustling streets above-after the Board of Transportation approved the Concourse Line up to this exact point in 1925. And let me tell you, there was more than a little drama beneath the concrete! The original plan called for trains to end just north of this spot, but, like a subway sandwich, someone always wants to add more layers. Competing proposals had the line veering this way and that-one wild idea even sent trains rolling onto Perry Avenue! By June 1929, they settled on the path we know today, and in 1933, with great fanfare, the doors slid open.
Imagine the first rush of passengers, staring up at the forest of green I-beam columns while trains slid in-one track for weekday express B trains, the D train rolling through all the time, and platforms with rows of crisp black “BEDFORD” signs beneath grassy-green trim. These walls saw flurries of excitement and plenty of puzzled commuters (myself included).
A quirky fact: While Norwood-205th Street is the end of the line today, it was never meant to be a grand finale, so all those subway crews actually switch shifts right here at Bedford Park Boulevard. No crew quarters at the next station-sounds like someone forgot to pack a staff room on the blueprints!
There’s some real mystery tucked away too: this station once had a full-length mezzanine stretching overhead, but now, most of it is a master control tower overseeing the entire Concourse Line. Old staircases lead nowhere, a shadow of what used to be a busier crosswalk above your head.
In recent years, even amidst a global pandemic, Bedford Park Boulevard got a lift-literally. New elevators, part of the city’s push to make stations more accessible, were finally completed in October 2020 (after a few “unexpected delays”-because what’s a Bronx story without those, hey?). So if you hear the whirring of elevators, you’re witnessing the station’s newest chapter.
If you listen and look around, you’ll spot the quirky short stretch of platform hiding in the north tunnel and the maze of entrances and exits bringing people up to Bedford Park Boulevard, Grand Concourse, and even a wide staircase leading beneath the overpass.
So whether you’re imagining the trembling jackhammers of 1928, the first day’s excitement in 1933, or the rush of modern upgrades, Bedford Park Boulevard remains a vital hub in the city’s swirling story-just mind the gap when the train doors open!
