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Myrtle Avenue station (BMT Jamaica Line)

Coordinates: 40°41′49″N 73°56′7″W / 40.69694°N 73.93528°W / 40.69694; -73.93528
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Myrtle Avenue (disambiguation).
 Myrtle Avenue
 "J" train"M" train"Z" train​
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Station platforms, facing west
Station statistics
AddressMyrtle Avenue & Broadway
Brooklyn, New York
BoroughBrooklyn
LocaleBushwick / Bedford–Stuyvesant
Coordinates40°41′49″N 73°56′7″W / 40.69694°N 73.93528°W / 40.69694; -73.93528
DivisionB (BMT)[1]
LineBMT Jamaica Line
BMT Myrtle Avenue Line (formerly)
Services   J all times (all times)
   M all times (all times)
   Z rush hours, peak direction (rush hours, peak direction)​
TransitBus transport NYCT Bus: B15, B46, B47, B54
StructureElevated
Levels2 (upper level abandoned)
Platforms3 island platforms (2 in service (lower level), 1 disused (upper level))
cross-platform interchange (lower level)
Tracks3 (lower level), 2 (upper level; removed)
Other information
OpenedJune 25, 1888; 136 years ago (1888-06-25) (lower level)[2]
April 27, 1889; 135 years ago (1889-04-27) (upper level)
ClosedOctober 4, 1969; 55 years ago (1969-10-04) (upper level)
Accessiblenot ADA-accessible; accessibility planned
AccessibilityCross-platform wheelchair transfer available
Opposite-
direction
transfer		Yes
Former/other namesMyrtle Avenue–Broadway
Traffic
20232,654,490[3] Increase 24.3%
Rank132 out of 423[3]
Services
Preceding station New York City Subway New York City Subway Following station
Marcy Avenue
J weekdays until 8:00 p.m., peak direction ​Z rush hours, peak direction
express track
toward Broad Street
 Gates Avenue
Z rush hours, peak direction
toward Jamaica Center–Parsons/Archer
Kosciuszko Street
J all times
skip-stop
Flushing Avenue
J all times except weekdays 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., peak direction ​M all times except late nights
via Essex Street
 Kosciuszko Street
J all times
toward Jamaica Center–Parsons/Archer

Local 		Central Avenue
M all times
toward Middle Village–Metropolitan Avenue
Location
Myrtle Avenue station (BMT Jamaica Line) is located in New York City Subway
Myrtle Avenue station (BMT Jamaica Line)
Myrtle Avenue station (BMT Jamaica Line) is located in New York City
Myrtle Avenue station (BMT Jamaica Line)
Myrtle Avenue station (BMT Jamaica Line) is located in New York
Myrtle Avenue station (BMT Jamaica Line)
Track layout

Legend
Lower level
to Broadway Junction
to Gates Avenue
or Kosciuszko Street
to Central Avenue
to Flushing Avenue
to Marcy Avenue
Upper level (abandoned)
to Central Avenue
Street map

Map

Station service legend
Symbol Description
Stops all times except late nights Stops all times except late nights
Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction
Stops late nights only Stops late nights only
Stops rush hours in the peak direction only Stops rush hours in the peak direction only

The Myrtle Avenue station (announced on New Technology Trains as the Myrtle Avenue–Broadway station) is a New York City Subway express station on the BMT Jamaica Line. Located at the intersection of Myrtle Avenue and Broadway at the border of Bedford-Stuyvesant and Bushwick, Brooklyn, it is served by the J and M trains at all times (the latter of which terminates here during late nights), and by the Z during rush hours in peak direction.

The station has two platform levels, but all regular passenger service is on the lower platform level of the station. The station has an abandoned upper platform level which previously served the BMT Myrtle Avenue Line to Downtown Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge. Just east of the station, the remaining section of the BMT Myrtle Avenue Line diverges from the BMT Jamaica Line via slip switches in an at-grade junction.

History

[edit]

The lower level of the station opened on June 25, 1888, when the Union Elevated Railroad (leased to the Brooklyn Elevated Railroad) extended its elevated line above Broadway from Gates Avenue northwest to Driggs Avenue in Williamsburg.[2] The Broadway Elevated was extended to Broadway Ferry on July 14, 1888.[4] Upon the opening of the Williamsburg Bridge tracks in 1908, trains were rerouted across the bridge west of Marcy Avenue.[5]

The upper level station, which was marked on signs as Broadway, opened on April 27, 1889, when the Myrtle Avenue Line was extended east along Myrtle Avenue to Broadway. This extension created a transfer opportunity for the BMT Jamaica Line station.[6][7][8] The previous station located nearby at Broadway and Stuyvesant Avenue was then closed.[9] The Myrtle Avenue Line was extended from this station to Wyckoff Avenue on July 21, 1889.[10]

The BMT Myrtle Avenue Line from Broadway to Bridge–Jay Streets closed on October 4, 1969, and was replaced via transfer to the B54 bus toward Jay Street.[11]

In 2019, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced that this station would become ADA-accessible as part of the agency's 2020–2024 Capital Program.[12] The MTA received $254 million from the Federal Transit Administration in 2023 for accessibility upgrades to four subway stations, including the Myrtle Avenue station.[13] Work on new elevators began in December 2024.[14]

Station layout

[edit]
Fourth floor
Myrtle Avenue platform 		Former southbound No track or roadbed
Island platform, disused
Former northbound No track or roadbed
Third floor
Jamaica platforms 		Westbound local[note 1] ← "J" train toward Broad Street (Flushing Avenue)
← "M" train toward Forest Hills–71st Avenue weekdays, Essex Street weekends (Flushing Avenue)
Island platform
Center track ← "J" train"Z" train weekday mornings toward Broad Street (Marcy Avenue)
← "J" train weekday afternoons toward Jamaica Center–Parsons/Archer (Kosciuszko Street) →
← "z" train PM rush toward Jamaica Center–Parsons/Archer (Gates Avenue) →
← "M" train late night termination track
→ "M" train late nights toward Middle Village–Metropolitan Avenue (Central Avenue) →
← (No express service: Broadway Junction) →
Island platform
Eastbound local[note 1] → "J" train toward Jamaica Center–Parsons/Archer (Kosciuszko Street) →
→ "M" train toward Middle Village–Metropolitan Avenue (Central Avenue) →
Second floor Mezzanine Fare control, station agent, MetroCard machines
Ground Street level Entrances/exits

Lower level

[edit]
A weekend R160A M shuttle train on the center track prior to the extension of weekend M service from Myrtle Avenue to Essex Street

This elevated station on the lower level, has three tracks and two island platforms.[15] The center track is used by J and Z trains when they run express between this station and Marcy Avenue in the peak direction on weekdays during rush hours and middays, as well as by late night M shuttle trains from Metropolitan Avenue. East of this station, J and Z trains continue along Broadway, while M trains branch off through an S curve towards the BMT Myrtle Avenue Line. The connection to the Myrtle Avenue Line is one of the few remaining level junctions in the subway as well as one of the few places on revenue tracks with slip switches.[15] From June 2017 until April 2018, this connection was closed due to long-term construction on the Myrtle Avenue Line.[16][17][18]

This station is announced as Myrtle Avenue–Broadway station on New Technology Train cars to distinguish it from the nearby Myrtle–Wyckoff Avenues station.[19]

Both platforms have brown canopies with green support columns and frames for their entire length except for a small section at either end.[20] The station signs are in the standard black plates in white lettering.[21]

The 1999 artwork here is called Jammin' Under the El by Verna Hart. It consists of stained glass windows on the platforms' sign structures as well as the station house depicting various scenes related to music.[22]

As part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's 2015–2019 Capital Program, a station entrance will be rebuilt at the northwestern corner of Jefferson Street and Broadway, and a second mezzanine will be reopened.[23][24] In 2019, the MTA announced that this station would become ADA-accessible as part of the agency's 2020–2024 Capital Program.[25]

Upper level

[edit]
The abandoned upper level

The upper level station (which was marked on signs as Broadway) opened on April 27, 1889, and created a transfer opportunity to the BMT Jamaica Line. The upper level station contained two tracks and an island platform, with stairs to both of the existing platforms on the lower level. The Myrtle Avenue upper level was extended to Wyckoff Avenue on July 21, 1889.[10] The BMT Myrtle Avenue Line from Broadway to Bridge–Jay Streets closed on October 4, 1969, and was replaced via transfer to the B54 bus toward Jay Street.[11]

Exits

[edit]
Station entrance

The lower level station has an elevated station house to the west underneath the skeletal remains of the BMT Myrtle Avenue Line. Two staircases from each platform go down to an elevated cross-under, where a shorter staircase on the Queens-bound side leads to the station house's waiting area. Outside the turnstile bank, there is a token booth and two staircases going down to either of the western corners at Myrtle Avenue and Broadway.[26]

[edit]

In the 1990 drama Ghost, Patrick Swayze follows his killer, Rick Aviles, leaving the J train onto the station's platform and entrance.[27] In 1994, it was shown in the music video for Here Comes the Hotstepper by Jamaican dancehall artist Ini Kamoze.

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ a b This is a wrong-way concurrency in railroad direction.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Glossary". Second Avenue Subway Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) (PDF). Vol. 1. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. March 4, 2003. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 26, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  2. ^ a b "The Broadway Line Opened". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. June 25, 1888. p. 6. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Annual Subway Ridership (2018–2023)". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
  4. ^ "When the Union Road will be Finished". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. July 13, 1888. p. 1. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
  5. ^ "Mayor Runs a Train Over New Bridge". The New York Times. September 17, 1908. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
  6. ^ Report. January 1, 1890.
  7. ^ Roess, Roger P.; Sansone, Gene (August 23, 2012). The Wheels That Drove New York: A History of the New York City Transit System. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 9783642304842.
  8. ^ "Will Open on Saturday". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, New York. April 25, 1889. p. 1. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
  9. ^ "Brooklyn Daily Eagle: It Reaches Broadway (April 5, 1889)". bklyn.newspapers.com.
  10. ^ a b "Lost the Second Game". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, New York. July 21, 1889. p. 2.
  11. ^ a b "Service Changes For Myrtle Avenue "El" Riders". www.thejoekorner.com. New York City Transit Authority. October 1969. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
  12. ^ "Press Release - MTA Headquarters - MTA Announces 20 Additional Subway Stations to Receive Accessibility Improvements Under Proposed 2020-2024 Capital Plan". MTA. December 19, 2019. Archived from the original on April 21, 2020. Retrieved December 25, 2019.
  13. ^ "MTA receiving $254 million to improve accessibility at Brooklyn, Bronx subway stations". CBS New York. January 4, 2023. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  14. ^ Russo-Lennon, Barbara (December 12, 2024). "Queensboro Plaza subway station becomes fully accessible, marking major milestone for MTA – QNS". QNS. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  15. ^ a b Dougherty, Peter (2006) [2002]. Tracks of the New York City Subway 2006 (3rd ed.). Dougherty. OCLC 49777633 – via Google Books.
  16. ^ Rivoli, Dan (March 17, 2016). "M line to be shut down next year for repairs". New York Daily News. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
  17. ^ Brown, Nicole (March 18, 2016). "MTA: M line will shut down for part of next year". am New York. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
  18. ^ "Myrtle Avenue Line Infrastructure Projects". mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
  19. ^ NovaBus5189 (November 12, 2016), On Board R160 (M) Train From Middle Village Metropolitan Avenue to Myrtle Avenue-Broadway, archived from the original on December 21, 2021, retrieved February 18, 2018{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  20. ^ Cox, Jeremiah (July 26, 2013). "The doors close on a R42 J train that will have to leave first because the R160 M train must crossover the other three tracks". subwaynut.com. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
  21. ^ Cox, Jeremiah (June 25, 2008). "A close-up of a Myrtle Avenue column sign". subwaynut.com. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
  22. ^ "Myrtle Avenue Verna Hart Jammin' Under the EL, 1999". web.mta.info. MTA Arts & Design. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
  23. ^ "Station Capacity Enhancements at Myrtle Avenue on the Jamaica Line". web.mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. December 31, 2017. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
  24. ^ https://www.nycsubway.org/wiki/BMT_Nassau_Street [dead link‍]
  25. ^ "Press Release - MTA Headquarters - MTA Announces 20 Additional Subway Stations to Receive Accessibility Improvements Under Proposed 2020-2024 Capital Plan". MTA. December 19, 2019. Archived from the original on March 22, 2020. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
  26. ^ "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Bushwick" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2015. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  27. ^ "Ghost Film Locations - On the set of New York". onthesetofnewyork.com. On The Set of New York. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
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