This underground station looks like a typical express station, with four tracks and two island platforms.
To the east (railroad north) is a large storage and relay yard consisting of two levels with four relay tracks each, extending approximately .25 miles (0.40 km) to around 184th Place.
This total of eight storage tracks gives 179th Street the highest peak terminal capacity of any station in the New York City Subway: 63 trains per hour, or one train every 57 seconds, although the station currently operates at a far lower throughput (only 17–18 trains per hour during peak hours).
Terminating trains enter on one of the two northbound tracks, then relay to one of the two levels—the upper level if coming from the express track, or the lower level if coming from the local track.
They then return on the corresponding track on the southbound side.
Due to the switching configuration at the station, the few E trains that begin here always leave from the express track and run express along Hillside Avenue.
F trains may leave from either track, switching to the local track east of 169th Street if necessary.
Outside of relay operations, the yard provides storage for four trains.
It is estimated that the relay tracks east of the station can fit about 600 passenger automobiles.

The configuration of the relay tracks is evidence of the original plans to build an extension of the Queens Boulevard Line further east into Queens.
The line would have continued under Hillside Avenue to Springfield Boulevard and Braddock Avenue (both formerly Rocky Hill Road) in Queens Village, with later plans to extend the line to Little Neck Parkway in Bellerose near the Nassau County border.
The upper level was to be extended eastward while the lower level tracks were always intended to be relay tracks.
The tracks on the upper level are longer than the lower level tracks and the upper level tracks have a wooden partition at the bumper blocks.

The station has beige wall tiles with intertwining blue and orange stripes, representing the two colors of the New York City flag, and the colors of the IND Eighth Avenue and Sixth Avenue lines which serve the station.
There are two fare control areas.
The full-time area at the east end of the station, between 179th and 180th Streets, has a token booth and a bank of 12 turnstiles and two high-exit-only turnstiles.
The part-time exit at 178th Street contains a nine-turnstile bank, two high exit entrance turnstiles (HEETs), and two high exit turnstiles.
The two ends are connected by a full-length mezzanine, which features Our Spectrum of Support artwork by Reginald Polynice, a set of plywood cutout figures appearing to hold up the ceiling of the mezzanine.
The station also features a control tower.
The station is ADA-accessible via an elevator installed at 179th Place on the north side of Hillside Avenue.

The station lies about 3.25 miles (5.23 km) west of the city's border with Nassau County.
Until the IND Rockaway Line was opened in 1956, and until the 1958 opening of the line's Far Rockaway–Mott Avenue terminal (which is about 0.5 miles (0.80 km) from the city's border with Nassau County), 179th Street was the closest subway station to Nassau County.
New York Magazine described the station's location as being in "a neighborhood so outer-borough it might as well be in another state"—namely, one of "hip-hop’s fertile crescents" where rappers 50 Cent and Ja Rule grew up.
This underground station looks like a typical express station, with four tracks and two island platforms. To the east (railroad north) is a large storage and relay yard consisting of two levels with four relay tracks each, extending approximately .25 miles (0.40 km) to around 184th Place. This total of eight storage tracks gives 179th Street the highest peak terminal capacity of any station in the New York City Subway: 63 trains per hour, or one train every 57 seconds, although the station currently operates at a far lower throughput (only 17–18 trains per hour during peak hours). Terminating trains enter on one of the two northbound tracks, then relay to one of the two levels—the upper level if coming from the express track, or the lower level if coming from the local track. They then return on the corresponding track on the southbound side. Due to the switching configuration at the station, the few E trains that begin here always leave from the express track and run express along Hillside Avenue. F trains may leave from either track, switching to the local track east of 169th Street if necessary. Outside of relay operations, the yard provides storage for four trains. It is estimated that the relay tracks east of the station can fit about 600 passenger automobiles.
The configuration of the relay tracks is evidence of the original plans to build an extension of the Queens Boulevard Line further east into Queens. The line would have continued under Hillside Avenue to Springfield Boulevard and Braddock Avenue (both formerly Rocky Hill Road) in Queens Village, with later plans to extend the line to Little Neck Parkway in Bellerose near the Nassau County border. The upper level was to be extended eastward while the lower level tracks were always intended to be relay tracks. The tracks on the upper level are longer than the lower level tracks and the upper level tracks have a wooden partition at the bumper blocks.
The station has beige wall tiles with intertwining blue and orange stripes, representing the two colors of the New York City flag, and the colors of the IND Eighth Avenue and Sixth Avenue lines which serve the station. There are two fare control areas. The full-time area at the east end of the station, between 179th and 180th Streets, has a token booth and a bank of 12 turnstiles and two high-exit-only turnstiles. The part-time exit at 178th Street contains a nine-turnstile bank, two high exit entrance turnstiles (HEETs), and two high exit turnstiles. The two ends are connected by a full-length mezzanine, which features Our Spectrum of Support artwork by Reginald Polynice, a set of plywood cutout figures appearing to hold up the ceiling of the mezzanine. The station also features a control tower. The station is ADA-accessible via an elevator installed at 179th Place on the north side of Hillside Avenue.
The station lies about 3.25 miles (5.23 km) west of the city's border with Nassau County. Until the IND Rockaway Line was opened in 1956, and until the 1958 opening of the line's Far Rockaway–Mott Avenue terminal (which is about 0.5 miles (0.80 km) from the city's border with Nassau County), 179th Street was the closest subway station to Nassau County. New York Magazine described the station's location as being in "a neighborhood so outer-borough it might as well be in another state"—namely, one of "hip-hop’s fertile crescents" where rappers 50 Cent and Ja Rule grew up.
Jamaica–179th Street station