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Myrtle Avenue station (BMT Fourth Avenue Line)

Coordinates: 40°41′37″N 73°59′00″W / 40.6937°N 73.9833°W / 40.6937; -73.9833
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For other uses, see Myrtle Avenue (disambiguation).

 Myrtle Avenue
 
Former New York City Subway station
Notice of the closing of Myrtle Avenue
Station statistics
AddressFlatbush Avenue Extension & Myrtle Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
BoroughBrooklyn
Coordinates40°41′37″N 73°59′00″W / 40.6937°N 73.9833°W / 40.6937; -73.9833
DivisionB (BMT)[1]
LineBMT Fourth Avenue Line
ServicesNone (abandoned)
StructureUnderground
Platforms1 side platform (2 when station was open)
Tracks5 (4 when station was open)
Other information
OpenedJune 22, 1915; 109 years ago (1915-06-22)[2]
ClosedJuly 16, 1956; 68 years ago (1956-07-16)
Former/other namesGold Street
Traffic
2023[3]
Rank out of 423[3]
Station succession
Next northCanal Street (via Broadway Line)
Grand Street (via Sixth Avenue Line)
Next southDeKalb Avenue
Location
Myrtle Avenue station (BMT Fourth Avenue Line) is located in New York City Subway
Myrtle Avenue station (BMT Fourth Avenue Line)
Myrtle Avenue station (BMT Fourth Avenue Line) is located in New York City
Myrtle Avenue station (BMT Fourth Avenue Line)
Myrtle Avenue station (BMT Fourth Avenue Line) is located in New York
Myrtle Avenue station (BMT Fourth Avenue Line)
Track layout

Legend
to Canal Street
to Grand Street
ramps onto
Manhattan Bridge
Myrtle Avenue
to DeKalb Avenue
to Atlantic Avenue
Street map

Map

The Myrtle Avenue station was a local station on the Manhattan Bridge subway tracks (B, ​D​, N, and ​Q trains) in Brooklyn, New York City, at the southern end of the bridge.

History

[edit]

This station opened on June 22, 1915, along with the rest of the BMT Fourth Avenue Line.[2] The Myrtle Avenue station was sometimes called Gold Street in some early planning documents,[4] and in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle when the station opened.[2]

The city government took over the BMT's operations on June 1, 1940.[5][6] The station closed on July 16, 1956 for the reconstruction of the flying junction north of DeKalb Avenue to increase capacity for the entire BMT Division.[4] The Brooklyn-bound platform was removed completely, but the Manhattan-bound platform still exists.[7] This station was a casualty of the rebuild. A new track had to be added on the west side to allow for a grade-separated crossing. The original southbound "local" track at the platform had to be depressed to a lower grade to cross under, and the new track wiped out the southbound platform. The northbound platform was left in place but no longer operated for passenger service.

There was a plan to build a loop just north of this station to turn back Fourth Avenue local trains from 95th Street. The bellmouths for the un-built loop can be seen just north of this station where the bypass tracks join the bridge tracks that stop at DeKalb Avenue.

The entrance to the station was from the inside of a building, and after the station was closed up, the connection was blocked off with a cinderblock wall. In 2007, the City allowed a developer that purchased the block above the station to demolish the access point to the station. A thick concrete wall now exists at the entrance to the platform.[8][9]

Masstransiscope

[edit]
The Masstransiscope artwork

In 1980 the Masstransiscope zoetrope artwork by Bill Brand was installed in the station.[10] The artwork consists of 228 hand-painted panels that are behind a long slit light box. The artwork stretches for the full 300 feet of the platform.[11] On September 17, 1980, passengers could start seeing the completed work from trains.[12] This allows riders on the Manhattan-bound B and ​Q trains (and D trains during late nights when they stop at DeKalb Avenue) right before the bridge to look to their right and experience the illusion that the paintings are moving.[13] By the mid-1980s, despite Brand's efforts to maintain the artwork, it fell into a state of disrepair. It was briefly repaired in about 1990, but it was soon covered in graffiti.[14] After falling into a state of disrepair, graffiti was removed in 2008 and the artwork was restored.[15] Masstransiscope was again covered by graffiti during the complete subway shutdown during Hurricane Sandy[16] and again restored after that.[10]

Originally, Brand came up with a more ambitious plan using blown up photographs to create a virtual film strip–these would have been regularly swapped out.[14]

Station layout

[edit]
G Street Level -
P
Former platform level 		Side platform, not in service
Northbound local ← "B" train "Q" train ("D" train late nights) do not stop here
(No service: Grand Street (Sixth Avenue) or Canal Street (Broadway))
Northbound express ← "D" train "N" train do not stop here
Southbound express → "D" train does not stop here →
Southbound express → "N" train does not stop here →
Southbound local → "B" train "Q" train ("D" train late nights) do not stop here →
(No service: DeKalb Avenue)

When open, this underground station had four tracks and two side platforms. The southbound local side platform is demolished.

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 c "Through Tube to Coney, 48 Minutes: First Train on Fourth Avenue Route Beats West End Line Eleven Minutes". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. June 22, 1915. p. 2. Retrieved June 29, 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Annual Subway Ridership (2018–2023)". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
  4. ^ a b Joseph Brennan (2002). "Abandoned Stations : Myrtle Avenue". Retrieved September 9, 2010.
  5. ^ "B.M.T. Lines Pass to City Ownership; $175,000,000 Deal Completed at City Hall Ceremony-- Mayor 'Motorman No. 1'". The New York Times. June 2, 1940. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 19, 2021. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  6. ^ "City Takes Over B. M. T. System; Mayor Skippers Midnight Train". New York Herald Tribune. June 2, 1940. p. 1. ProQuest 1243059209.
  7. ^ "BMT Fourth Avenue Line - Myrtle Avenue". nycsubway.org. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
  8. ^ "Myrtle Ave Abandoned Station and Mezzanine". LTV Squad. September 3, 2005. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
  9. ^ "Myrtle Ave. station lost to time, development". Second Ave. Sagas. March 14, 2007. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
  10. ^ a b mtainfo (August 28, 2013), Reinstalling Masstransiscope, archived from the original on December 15, 2021, retrieved May 7, 2017
  11. ^ "MTA - Arts & Design | NYCT Permanent Art". web.mta.info. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
  12. ^ "Hollywood Under Myrtle Avenue". New York Daily News. September 23, 1980. Retrieved November 5, 2018.
  13. ^ "Jay St./DeKalb Av. track map". nycsubway.org. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
  14. ^ a b Kennedy, Randy (December 31, 2008). "Restored Brooklyn Subway Art Offers Trip to 1970s". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
  15. ^ Bill Brand. "Masstransiscope". Archived from the original on October 5, 2010. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
  16. ^ "The Newly Vandalized Masstransiscope". Archived from the original on October 10, 2016. Retrieved August 29, 2013.
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