Rawson Street was the old name of today’s 33rd Street.
The present 33rd, 40th and 46th Streets were called Rawson, Lowery and Bliss Streets until the 1930s, when they were given numbers. In 1998 the MTA dropped the old names from signs and maps, as stations were not to be named after streets that no longer existed. Residents objected; in July 2003 the City Council gave the streets both names, and the old names returned to the stations.