The 20th Avenue station is a local station on the BMT West End Line of the New York City Subway, located at the intersection of 20th Avenue and 86th Street in

Bensonhurst, Brooklyn Bensonhurst is a residential neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bordered on the northwest by 14th Avenue, on the northeast by 60th Street, on the southeast by Avenue P and 22nd ...

. It is served by the D train at all times.

History

20th Avenue opened on July 29, 1916, as part of an extension of the BMT West End Line from 18th Avenue to 25th Avenue. The line was originally a surface excursion railway to Coney Island, called the

Brooklyn, Bath and Coney Island Railroad The West End Line or New Utrecht Avenue Line was a surface transit line in Brooklyn, New York City, United States, running along New Utrecht Avenue and other streets between Coney Island and Sunset Park. Built by the Brooklyn, Bath and Coney I ...

, which was established in 1862, but did not reach Coney Island until 1864. Under the

Dual Contracts The Dual Contracts, also known as the Dual Subway System, were contracts for the construction and/or rehabilitation and operation of rapid transit lines in the City of New York. The contracts were signed on March 19, 1913, by the Interborough Ra ...

of 1913, an elevated line was built over New Utrecht Avenue, 86th Street and

Stillwell Avenue Stillwell Avenue is a major two-way north/south thoroughfare in southern Brooklyn and the central section of Coney Island. It is long and begins at a dead end at Riegelmann Boardwalk on Coney Island. The road goes north, leaving Coney Island, ...

, replacing the surface railway. The platforms were extended in the 1950s to accommodate the current standard

B Division B Division, Division B, or variant may refer to: * ''B Division'' (New York City Subway) * ''B Division'' (Irish League), association football * ''Division B'' (Scottish Football League) * ''Divizia B'' (Romanian Football League) * Moldovan "B ...

train length of . In 2012, the station was rehabilitated with funding from the

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (), nicknamed the Recovery Act, was a stimulus package enacted by the 111th U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in February 2009. Developed in response to the Gr ...

Station layout

This elevated station has two

side platforms A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platforms ...

and three tracks. The center express track is not normally used. The Coney Island-bound platform is slightly to the south of the

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

-bound platform, which accounts for the locations where the platforms were extended. Both platforms have beige windscreens along their entire length and brown canopies with green frames and support columns in the center. The exposed section of the platforms have black, full-height lampposts at regular intervals. The station signs feature the standard black station name plate with white lettering. The 2012 artwork here is called ''Kaleidoscope'' by Odili Donald Odita. It features abstract laminated glass windows on the platform windscreens based on Odita's visual memories of the Bensonhurst neighborhood.

Exits

This station has one elevated station house beneath the center of the platforms and tracks. Two staircases from each platform go down to a waiting area/crossunder, where a

turnstile A turnstile (also called a turnpike, gateline, baffle gate, automated gate, turn gate in some regions) is a form of gate which allows one person to pass at a time. A turnstile can be configured to enforce one-way human traffic. In addition, a ...

bank provides access to and from the station. Outside

fare control In rail transport, the paid area is a dedicated "inner" zone in a railway station or metro station, accessible via turnstiles or other barriers, to get into which, visitors or passengers require a valid ticket, checked smartcard or a pass. A sys ...

, there is a token booth and four staircases going down to all corners of 20th Avenue and 86th Street.

References

External links

* * Station Reporter �
D Train

20th Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View

Platforms from Google Maps Street View

20th Avenue at TheSubwayNut
{{DEFAULTSORT:20th Avenue (Bmt West End Line) 1916 establishments in New York City Bensonhurst, Brooklyn BMT West End Line stations New York City Subway stations in Brooklyn Railway stations in the United States opened in 1916