Are, all around, people looking half-dead? Is walking on the sidewalk hotter than a match head? There’s certainly no doubt that as temperature in Manhattan pushes into the low 90s/30s, one of the biggest sweatboxes is the subway. But how sweaty are we talking? Science knows no limits, as New York public radio proved by braving the heat and rush hour last night in order to find the hottest and coolest stations in the city.
The WNYC reporters visited 103 stops – every subway station in Manhattan south of Central Park, plus a handful in Brooklyn and Queens. At each stop they took a temperature reading at the platform surface, a reasonable distance away from the air conditioning of the trains.
The hottest station? Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall on the 4, 5 and 6 lines, which reached a searing 106F (41C). World Trade Center on the E line was 101F (38C) and Fulton Street (4 and 5 lines) a close third at 99F (37C).
Two of the coolest stations, meanwhile, were Rector Street (R) and
23rd Street (R and N), both at 71F/22C, while 5th Avenue–59th Street (N, Q and R) was a positively frigid 68F/20C ... almost cool enough to make you think fondly of a hot sidewalk. Here’s an interactive map showing the results for all 103 stations.
