To spot the Cathedral Parkway-110th Street station, look for the white-tiled subway entrance with “110” mosaics and classic green, gold, and salmon decoration along the platform walls, right along Broadway at 110th Street.
Welcome to the Cathedral Parkway-110th Street station! If walls could talk, these subway tiles would probably tell stories with a thick New York accent. Let’s take a moment to imagine ourselves in October 1904-horses clattering outside on Broadway, ladies in feathered hats, men peering at their pocket watches, and suddenly, the grand opening of one of New York’s first-ever subway stations! This place was the cutting edge of urban movement-people lined up, the crowd buzzing with excitement, as the brand-new IRT station doors swung open for the first time.
Back in the earliest days, this line was the dreamchild of engineers like William Barclay Parsons-he and his team had to push through decades of political squabbles and legal headaches before finally breaking ground here in 1900. This station nearly didn’t have three tracks; originally, they thought just two would do, but halfway through, they realized New York never does anything half-measure. They tore up what was built, added a new track, and voilà-the station you stand in, with its quirky unused center track, was born.
When it officially opened in 1904, 110th Street was instantly the pride of Morningside Heights and Harlem. Suddenly, a wave of real estate followed: grand rowhouses and stately apartments popped up between 105th and 109th Streets, all because the subway made living up here fashionable. The city was expanding, coming to life above and below ground. If you close your eyes for a moment, you can almost hear the rustling papers and shouted headlines-the world’s newest subway was now in motion!
But things didn’t stand still for long. Through the decades, the station changed to fit the city’s hustle. In 1948, platforms got a big stretch to fit ten-car trains-much like New Yorkers squeezing into a packed subway, the platforms just kept expanding. And, because New Yorkers never just settle, the city kept tweaking and updating the place: entrances added, old kiosks removed because, apparently, pedestrians and drivers like to see where they’re going.
That’s the thing-110th Street isn’t just a set of platforms. It’s a living record of city life. In the 1970s, it became a bona fide landmark, officially protected for its historic charm. Sure, you might miss the old wooden kiosks (imagine trying to navigate those with a modern smartphone in hand), but a glance around still reveals the station’s turn-of-the-century style. Look at the platform columns: those sturdy cast-iron Doric columns, decorated by Heins & LaFarge, the same architects who worked on breathtaking churches nearby. The color choices-a moody, Victorian palette-were actually inspired by the design of Columbia University’s Low Library, just a short walk away! Some subway stations have simple white walls, but here you’ll find buff-colored mosaics, green-and-blue faience plaques marked “110,” and intricate wreath motifs, all by master tile artisans.
And it just keeps getting better. Fast forward to the 2000s, and you’ll find another big round of changes, when the MTA gave this station a major facelift for its 100th birthday. But here’s a twist-the community fiercely protected its vintage charm, rejecting plans for new artwork to avoid damaging those historic tiles. Sometimes you have to choose between new and old, and here, history won out. Even Columbia University got in on the action, pushing to speed up renovations but agreeing not to mess with what makes 110th Street so iconic.
Today, the station continues to evolve. Soon, new elevators will rise as part of the next wave of improvements, finally making this landmark fully accessible to all. But even as things modernize, the bones of the original 1904 station will still peek through-for every person hurrying to catch the 1 train, there’s a century-old echo reminding us that the city’s story is always moving, much like the trains themselves.
So, next time the doors open with a whoosh and the platform hums with life, remember-you’re standing in the middle of New York history, where marble dreams and iron ambition shaped an entire neighborhood, one train at a time.
