Prospect Park station (BMT lines)

Prospect Park is an express station on the BMT Brighton Line of the New York City Subway. Located at Empire Boulevard and Flatbush Avenue in Flatbush, Brooklyn, near the border of Crown Heights, Prospect Heights, Park Slope, and Prospect Lefferts Gardens, it is served by the Q train and Franklin Avenue Shuttle at all times and by the B train on weekdays.

 Prospect Park
 
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Coney Island-bound platform
Station statistics
AddressEmpire Boulevard & Flatbush Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11238
BoroughBrooklyn
LocaleFlatbush, Prospect Lefferts Gardens
Coordinates40.661507°N 73.962461°W / 40.661507; -73.962461
DivisionB (BMT)
LineBMT Brighton Line
BMT Franklin Avenue Line
Services      B  (Weekday rush hours, middays and early evenings)
      Q  (all times)
      S  (all times)
Transit connections NYCT Bus: B16, B41, B43, B48
StructureOpen-cut
Platforms2 island platforms
cross-platform interchange
Tracks4 (3 in regular service)
Other information
OpenedJuly 2, 1878 (1878-07-02)
Rebuiltcurrent station: 1919 (1919)
Station code042[1]
Accessible ADA-accessible
Opposite-direction transfer availableYes
Traffic
Passengers (2019)3,323,334[2] 1%
Rank149 out of 424[2]
Station succession
Next northBotanic Garden (via Franklin): S 
Seventh Avenue (via Brighton): B  Q 
Next northAtlantic Avenue–Barclays Center (via Brighton): B  Q 
Park Place (via Franklin): S 
Next south(Terminal): S 
Parkside Avenue (local): Q 
Church Avenue (express): B 
Next southnone: S 
Avenue H (local): Q  (southbound only)
Kings Highway (express): B 

History

The Malbone Street Tunnel on the southbound local track.

This station opened on July 2, 1878 when the Brooklyn, Flatbush and Coney Island Railway established it as the Brighton Line's temporary northern terminus on what was then known as the Willink Entrance to Prospect Park. On August 18, 1878, the line was completed north to Bedford Terminal with a connection to the Long Island Rail Road.

In 1918, the station began a rebuilding in order to accommodate the new subway connection to the Manhattan Bridge and Montague Street Tunnel. This rebuilding contributed to the Malbone Street Wreck on November 1 of that year, when a train of elevated cars derailed on the then-new curve leading to what is now the unused southbound local track. At least 93 individuals died, making it one of the U.S.'s deadliest train crashes.[3][4][5]

The connection to the bridge and lines in Manhattan was completed on August 1, 1920, with four-track express service beginning south of this station.[5]

The Prospect Park station was the closest station to Ebbets Field, home of the Brooklyn Dodgers until the team moved to Los Angeles after the 1957 season. The stadium was located at Bedford Avenue and Sullivan Place three blocks to the east and one block to the north. That area is now occupied by the Ebbets Field Apartments.

This station was the site of an October 15, 2008 NYPD arrest in which it was alleged that the suspect had been sodomized, leading to both criminal action and a lawsuit against the NYPD. All of the officers involved were acquitted and the lawsuit thrown out.[6]

In November 2019, officials installed a bronze memorial plaque at the Prospect Park station's northern exit in commemoration of the Malbone Street Wreck.[7][8]

Station layout

G Street level Exit/entrance
M Mezzanine Fare control, station agent, waiting area
Entrance ramp on Lincoln Road between Flatbush Avenue and Ocean Avenue; elevators after fare control
P
Platform level
Northbound shuttle toward Franklin Avenue (Botanic Garden)
Separation at north end Island platform
Northbound express weekdays toward Bedford Park Boulevard or 145th Street (Seventh Avenue)
toward 96th Street (Seventh Avenue)
Southbound express weekdays toward Brighton Beach (Church Avenue)
toward Coney Island (Parkside Avenue)
Separation at north end Island platform
Southbound local No regular service
Track layout
to Botanic Garden
to 7th Av
to Parkside Av
to Church Av
Track not in revenue service
Track in revenue service

This open cut station has four tracks and two island platforms.[9] Both platforms have red canopies with green frames and support columns that run for the either length. Alternating columns have the standard black station name plate in white lettering.

At the north end of the station, the two express tracks, used by B and Q trains, ramp down into a tunnel under Flatbush Avenue parallel to the IRT Eastern Parkway Line before merging with the BMT Fourth Avenue Line at DeKalb Avenue while the local tracks curve to the northeast and become an open cut after a short tunnel towards Franklin Avenue.[9] The platforms are split into two sections at this end separated by a beige concrete wall. The Franklin Avenue Shuttle terminates on the northbound local track while the southbound one is only used for train storage or construction reroutes.

South of the station, there are crossovers and switches as the Brighton Line becomes a four-track corridor to Ocean Parkway. B trains stay on the express track and run to Brighton Beach; Q trains switch to the local track and run to Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue.[9]

Artwork

The 1994 artwork here is called Brighton Clay Re-Leaf by Susan Tunick. It features ceramic tiles in both station entrances/exits that depict leaves to symbolize Prospect Park. This artwork is also at Parkside Avenue.[10]

Exits

Station entrance at Lincoln Road on the south end

The station has two entrances/exits. The full-time one is at the extreme south end. A single double-wide staircase and ADA-accessible elevators go up from each platform to a beige ground level station house that is on the north side of the Lincoln Road overpass above the platforms between Ocean and Flatbush Avenues. Each platform elevator is connected to the station house by a glass-enclosed passageway above their respective platforms.[11] There is a bank of turnstiles, a waiting area that allows a free transfer between directions and a token booth inside the station house.[12] Additionally, there is a private preschool immediately adjacent to the station house entrance.

The station's other entrance/exit at the north end is un-staffed. Two staircases from each platform at the tunnel portal go up to a waiting area, where a bank of turnstiles and one exit-only turnstile lead to a mezzanine that had its part-time token booth removed in 2010. Outside fare control, a single staircase goes up to a small plaza with an ornate fence between two buildings on the west side of Flatbush Avenue between Ocean and Lefferts Avenues.[12] An inscribed bronze plaque to the Malbone Street Wreck, installed in 2019,[7] is located on the wall outside the northern exit.[13][14]

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References

  1. "Station Developers' Information". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
  2. "Facts and Figures: Annual Subway Ridership 2014–2019". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  3. Cudahy, Brian (1999). The Malbone Street Wreck, New York: Fordham University Press. p. 81.
  4. Brooklyn Daily Eagle October 27, 1919 p10.
  5. Walsh, Kevin (October 4, 1998). "The lore of the Franklin Avenue Shuttle". forgotten-ny.com. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  6. "Michael Mineo sodomy trial verdict: Jury finds all cops not guilty on all counts". New York Daily News. New York. February 22, 2010. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  7. Rivoli, Dan (November 2, 2019). "Transit Officials Memorialize Worst Subway Crash in NY History". Spectrum News NY1. Retrieved November 3, 2019. Includes 2-minute news video with close-up of the memorial plaque.
  8. "Officials commemorate deadliest city subway crash with plaque". amNewYork. November 1, 2019. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
  9. Dougherty, Peter (2006) [2002]. Tracks of the New York City Subway 2006 (3rd ed.). Dougherty. OCLC 49777633 via Google Books.
  10. Artwork: Brighton Clay Re-Leaf (Susan Tunick)
  11. "MTA Guide to Accessible Transit". MTA.info. Retrieved June 1, 2011.
  12. "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Park Slope/Prospect Park" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2015. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
  13. "101 years later, deadliest subway crash in New York remembered". Brooklyn Eagle. November 1, 2019. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  14. Zagare, Liena (November 1, 2019). "Never Forget: 101 Years After The Worst Subway Crash in NYC History, Malbone Wreck Finally Gets Memorialized". BKLYNER. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
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