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IND Station Tile Colors

An overview by Wayne Whitehorne
(contact)
(Revised 21 June 1998)

This list is grouped by "color family", i.e. the five primary colors used in the IND subway: red, yellow, green, blue and purple. Color names are taken from paint chips and Berol Prismacolor (tm) pencils.

Explanation of the Color Groupings

(Contributed by Bob Sklar) As you go away from downtown Manhattan, whether uptown or towards Brooklyn, the colors change each time an express station is reached. Thereafter, all the local stations have the same color (or color group) tiles as the preceding express station. This presumably was intended to serve as a means for helping passengers to remember where to change for the local on the way home from work.

Since the 'G' line skirts Manhattan, and could thus be said to point away from Manhattan in both directions, all stations from Court Square to Fulton Street have tiles with the same color group, namely green. Three different shades of green exist in this section.

Color Chart of Stations on Independent Lines. (New York Transit Museum)

Station	Band Color	Border Color	Tile Height	Notes
Red Family
169th Street	Carmine Red	Black	2
Parsons Boulevard	Scarlet Red	Black	3
23rd Street-Ely Avenue	Scarlet Lake	Dark Brown	2	Note 1
5th Ave-53rd Street	Carmine Red	Crimson	2	Note 2
47th-50th Street	Scarlet Red	Dark Brown	3
42nd Street-6th Ave	Scarlet Red	Dark Brown	3
34th Street-Penn Station	Burgundy	Black	2
168th Street	Burgundy	Black	2
207th Street	Claret Red	Pearl Grey	2	Note 21
Tremont Avenue	Claret Red	Black	3
182nd-183rd Street	Claret Red	Black	2
Utica Avenue	Tuscan Red	Maroon	3
Ralph Avenue	Tuscan Red	Maroon	2
Rockaway Avenue	Tuscan Red	Maroon	2
Church Avenue	Burgundy	Maroon	2
Fulton Street (Nassau)	Tuscan red	Maroon	2	Notes 15,19
Yellow Family
Sutphin Boulevard	Sunshine Yellow	Black	2
Briarwood-Van Wyck Blvd	Corn Yellow	Black	2
Union Turnpike	Jasmine	Black	3
14th Street-8th Avenue	Mustard Yellow	Terra Cotta Brown	2
145th Street	Deep Yellow	Black	2
34th Street-6th Avenue	Deep Yellow	Yellow Ochre	3	Note 18
155th Street-8th Avenue	Deep Yellow	Black	2
161st Street-River Avenue	Mustard Yellow	Black	2	Note 3
167th Street	Spanish Orange	Black	2
170th Street	Spanish Orange	Black	2
174th-175th Street	Deep Yellow	Black	2
7th Avenue-Park Slope	Orange Yellow	Brown	3	Note 12
15th Street-Prospect Park	Orange Yellow	Brown	3
Fort Hamilton Parkway	Orange Yellow	Brown	2
Nostrand Avenue	Maize	Saddle Brown	3
Kingston-Throop Avenue	Maize	Saddle Brown	2
Broad Street	Deep Yellow	Saddle Brown	3	Notes 15,19
Green Family
75th Avenue	Light Green	Black	2
71st Avenue	Nile Green	Black	3
23rd Street-6th Avenue	Medium Light Green	True Green	2
14th Street-6th Avenue	Medium Light Green	True Green	2
West 4th Street	Grass Green	Chrome Green	2
125th Street	Marine Green	Black	2
Bedford Park Boulevard	Grass Green	Chrome Green	3
205th Street	Medium Light Green	Campus Green	2
Court Square	Hunter Green	Black	2
21st St-Van Alst	Hunter Green	Black	2
Greenpoint Avenue	Hunter Green	Black	2
Nassau Avenue	Hunter Green	Black	2
Metropolitan Ave-Grand Street	Nile Green	Black	2
Broadway	Nile Green	Black	2
Flushing Avenue	Light Green	True Green	2
Myrtle-Willoughby	Light Green	True Green	2
Bedford-Nostrand	Light Green	True Green	2
Classon Avenue	Light Green	True Green	2
Clinton-Wash.(Lafayette)	Light Green	True Green	2
Fulton Street	Light Green	True Green	2
Hoyt-Schermerhorn	Light Green	True Green	2	Note 4
Lafayette Avenue	Light Green	True Green	2
Clinton-Wash (Fulton)	Light Green	True Green	2
Franklin Avenue	Light Green	True Green	2
Grant Avenue	Bottle Green	Ice Green		Note 5
Bergen Street	Bottle Green	Light Green	2	Note 6
Carroll Street	Lawn Green	Hunter Green	2
Blue Family
67th Avenue	Sky Blue	Black	2
63rd Drive	Sky Blue	Black	2
Woodhaven Boulevard	Cerulean Blue	Black	2
Grand Avenue	True Blue	Black	2
Elmhurst Avenue	True Blue	Black	2
Roosevelt Avenue	Violet Blue	Black	2
59th Street	Ultramarine Blue	Black	2
81st Street	Midnight Blue	Black	1	Notes 22, 23
Kingsbridge Road	Ultramarine Blue	Cobalt Blue	3
Spring Street	Ultramarine Blue	Cobalt Blue	2	Note 7
Canal Street	Royal Blue	Black	3	Note 8
Jay Street	Ultramarine Blue	Cobalt Blue	2
Broadway-Lafayette	Royal Blue	Black	3	Note 9
York Street	Cloud Blue	Periwinkle Blue	1	Note 10
Broadway-East New York	Blueberry	Delft Blue	3
Liberty Avenue	Cornflower Blue	Ultramarine Blue	2
Van Siclen Avenue	Cornflower Blue	Ultramarine Blue	2
Shepherd Avenue	Cornflower Blue	Ultramarine Blue	2
Court Street-Transit Museum	Aquamarine Blue	Royal Blue	2
8th Avenue-14th Street	Ultramarine Blue	Cobalt Blue	2	Note 15
Purple Family
179th Street	Violet	Black		Notes 5, 20
65th Street	Mauve	Black	2
Northern Boulevard	Mauve	Black	2
46th Street	Grape	Black	2
Steinway Street	Grape	Black	2
36th Street	Grape	Black	2
Queens Plaza	Black Grape	Black	3
7th Avenue-53rd Street	Royal Purple	Black		Notes 16, 17
42nd Street-8th Avenue	Orchid	Black	2	Note 11
Chambers Street-WTC	Blue Violet	Black		Note 13
Chambers Street-WTC (H&M)	Concord Grape	Black	3	Note 14
Broadway-Nassau	Violet	Grape	2
High Street	Violet	Grape	2
Euclid Avenue	Lilac	Medium Violet	3
2nd Avenue	Medium Violet	Violet	3
Delancey Street	Lavender Blue	Grape	2
East Broadway	Lavender Blue	Black	3
Fordham Road	Grape	Plum	3
No Color
175th Street
Lexington Ave.-53rd St.
Color on Station Sign Only (sign background color)
200th-Dyckman Street	Burgundy
190th-Overlook Terrace	Burgundy
181st Street	Burgundy
163rd Street-Amsterdam Ave	Orange Yellow
155th Street	Orange Yellow
135th Street	Marine Green
116th Street	Midnight Blue
110th Street	Midnight Blue
96th Street	Midnight Blue
86th Street	Midnight Blue
72nd Street	Midnight Blue
50th Street	Orchid
23rd Street	Deep Yellow

Notes

Some tiles at east end city bound platform are "Crimson Lake"
Replacement tiles. Original tiles were marine green upstairs, maroon downstairs
Replacement tiles. Original tiles were yellow-orange and black
Slight variant shades at east end platform wall
Rectangular tiles, new style circa 1950's
Replacement tiles. Original tiles were the same as those at Carroll Street, but 3 tiles high.
Replacement tiles at north end ultramarine blue, navy blue
Replacement tiles. Original tiles were ultramarine blue and cobalt blue
Replacement tiles. Original tiles were powder blue, true blue
Faded by time from shades of violet - see East Broadway, Delancey St.,2nd Avenue.
Replacement Tiles, original was orchid/black, have large white "42" superimposed on tile band
Top border only is full tile height
Replacement tiles. Original tiles were plum/prune
Replacement tile-prefab panels ("A" platform only)
Not really an IND station. Dual contract opened 1931, built in IND style.
Replacement tiles. Original tiles were dark violet and black
Replacement tiles do not use full 4 1/4" squares, use six smaller ones.
Replaced early 90s with non-traditional IND motif
Replaced 1995 with traditional BMT tiles
Replaced with blue and orange metal wall decoration
Replacement tile, 2-1/8" square. Original wall tile had no color band.
1" hairline border
Upper level tile band is wider than lower level. Upper level has 4 1/4" tiles; lower level has 2 1/8" tiles (exclusive of border).