72nd Street station (Second Avenue Subway)

The 72nd Street station is a station on the first phase of the Second Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Second Avenue and 72nd Street, in the Lenox Hill section of the Upper East Side in Manhattan, it opened on January 1, 2017. The station is served by the Q train at all times, limited southbound rush hour N trains, and one northbound A.M. rush hour R train.

72nd Street has two tracks and one island platform; when planning for the line started in the early 2000s, the station was originally proposed with 3 tracks and 2 island platforms, but this was cut back due to the line's rising costs. This is the southernmost station on the first phase of the Second Avenue Line; south of this station, the BMT 63rd Street Line diverges to the west, towards the Lexington Avenue–63rd Street station, and bellmouths exist for a future extension to Second Avenue–Houston Street and Hanover Square.

The station was not originally proposed as part of the Program for Action in 1968, but a later revision to that plan entailed building a Second Avenue Subway with one of its stops located at 72nd Street. Construction on that project started in 1972, but stalled in 1975 due to lack of funding. In 2007, a separate measure authorized a first phase of the Second Avenue Line to be built between 65th and 105th Streets, with stations at 72nd, 86th, and 96th Streets. The station opened on January 1, 2017, with provisions to extend the line south to Houston Street in Phase 3. Since opening, the presence of the Second Avenue Subway's three Phase 1 stations has improved real estate prices along the corridor. The 72nd Street station was used by approximately 9.5 million passengers in 2019.

The station, along with the other Phase 1 stations along the Second Avenue Subway, contains features not found in most New York City Subway stations. It is fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, containing six elevators for disabled access. Additionally, the station contains air conditioning and is waterproofed, a feature only found in newer stations. The artwork at 72nd Street is Perfect Strangers, a set of portrait mosaics by artist and photographer Vik Muniz.