The Avenue U station is a local

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

on the

BMT Brighton Line The BMT Brighton Line, also known as the Brighton Beach Line, is a rapid transit line in the B Division of the New York City Subway in Brooklyn, New York. Local service is provided at all times by the Q train, but is joined by the B express ...

of the

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system in New York City serving the New York City boroughs, boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. It is owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Tr ...

, located at Avenue U between East 15th and East 16th Streets in Homecrest and

Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn Sheepshead Bay is a neighborhood in southern Brooklyn, New York City. It is bounded by Ocean Parkway to the west; Avenue T and Kings Highway to the north; Nostrand Avenue and Gerritsen Avenue to the east; and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. ...

. The station is served by the Q train at all times.

History

The original station was opened on the surface Brighton Beach Railroad at Avenue U near East 15th Street, c.1902, coincident with the building of the community of Homecrest, It was closed during elevation of the Brighton Line and the current station opened around 1908. On August 1, 1920, a tunnel under

Flatbush Avenue Flatbush Avenue is a major avenue in the New York City Borough (New York City), Borough of Brooklyn. It runs from the Manhattan Bridge south-southeastward to Jamaica Bay, where it joins the Marine Parkway–Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge, which ...

opened, connecting the Brighton Line to the Broadway subway in Manhattan. At the same time, the line's former track connections to the

Fulton Street Elevated The Fulton Street Line, also called the Fulton Street Elevated or Kings County Line, was an elevated rail line mostly in Brooklyn, New York City, United States. It ran above Fulton Street from Fulton Ferry, Brooklyn, in Downtown Brooklyn east ...

were severed. Subway trains from Manhattan and elevated trains from Franklin Avenue served Brighton Line stations, sharing the line to

Coney Island Coney Island is a neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the south and west, and Gravesend to ...

. It underwent more recent reconstruction from December 2008 to January 2010. Both platforms were rebuilt with new windscreens, canopies, and tactile strip edges.

Station layout

The station is located on a raised earthen embankment. There are four tracks and two

side platform 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, ...

s. The two center tracks are used by the B express train on weekdays. Both platforms have beige windscreens with green outlines and frames along their entire lengths and red canopies with green frames in the center. The station signs are in the standard black plates in white lettering and lamp posts are on all support columns of the windscreens in the non-canopied areas. The Coney Island-bound platform has a storage area above the mezzanine staircase. The 2011 artwork here is called ''Brooklyn Wildfires'' by Jason Middlebrook and Miotto Mosaic Art Studio. It is installed on the walls of the Coney Island-bound platform's staircase and consists of ceramic tiling and glass mosaic depicting various species of wildflowers.

Exit

The station has one ground-level station house directly underneath the tracks and platforms on the north side of Avenue U. It has a token booth,

turnstile A turnstile (also called a 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 traffic#One-way traffic of people, one-way ...

bank, and double-wide staircase going up to the Coney Island-bound platform and two standard width staircases to the Manhattan-bound one. The Coney Island-bound staircase landing splits below a landing, one side leading to the station house and the other bypassing it with two exit-only turnstiles leading directly to the sidewalk. The Coney Island-bound platform also has a metal door leading to a closed staircase that goes down to the north side of Avenue U.

References

External links

* * * Station Reporter �
Q Train
* The Subway Nut �
Avenue U Pictures
* Flickr
''Brooklyn Wildfires''

Avenue U entrance from Google Maps Street View

Platforms from Google Maps Street View
{{NYCS stations navbox by line, brighton=yes U New York City Subway stations in Brooklyn Railway stations in the United States opened in 1908 1908 establishments in New York City