The Norton's Point Line is a

public transit Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of wh ...

line in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, formerly running mostly along a private right-of-way between Stillwell Avenue station and Sea Gate. Originally a

streetcar line A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include segment ...

, it is now the B74 Mermaid Avenue

bus route A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used i ...

operated by the

New York City Transit Authority The New York City Transit Authority (also known as NYCTA, the TA, or simply Transit, and branded as MTA New York City Transit) is a New York state public-benefit corporations, public-benefit corporation in the U.S. state of New York (state), New ...

Route description

Streetcar Line

The Norton's Point Line, operated by the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation, mostly ran along a private right-of-way north of Mermaid Avenue between elevated platforms at Stillwell Avenue adjacent to the BMT terminal and West 37th Street. It had track connections to the Surf Avenue Line and a single track continued west of West 37th Street and that line was known as the Norton's Point Shuttle. The line had the designation "73".

Bus route

The B74 begins inside the Mermaid Bus Loop of the Stillwell Avenue station. It then heads west on Mermaid Avenue to West 37th Street, turns north onto West 37th Street, east on Bayview Avenue and south on West 33rd Street until reaching Mermaid Avenue again. It then runs east on Mermaid Avenue until reaching the Mermaid Bus Loop again, where it terminates. This service operates as a loop service.

History

The streetcar line that ran from Sea Gate/Norton's Point to Coney Island was operated by the New York and Coney Island Railroad (NY&CI). It first started operating on June 9, 1879 as a steam line to connect Norton's Point to the Culver Terminal, which allowed passengers traveling on

ferryboats A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus. ...

to and from New York City (which only consisted of Manhattan at the time) have easy access to the beach. In 1899, the line was electrified, renamed to the Coney Island-Norton's Point Line and became a part of the

South Brooklyn Railway The South Brooklyn Railway is a railroad in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is owned by the government of New York City and operated by the New York City Transit Authority. Its original main line ran parallel to 38th Street from th ...

, with the steam cars substitued for el cars. On July 3, 1910, the el cars were replaced with streetcars, although from May 1918 to October 1919, they reverted back to using el cars.In May 1918, through-running service between the Culver Line and the Norton's Point Line (and therefore service east of Stillwell Terminal) was discontinued, although the elevated ramp to the terminal was retained.In 1929, the west end of the Norton's Point Line was connected with physical trackage to the Sea Gate Line. On February 17, 1936, the fare for those passengers of the trolley wishing to transfer to rapid transit lines at the Stillwell Terminal was lowered from 5 cents to 2 1/2 cents for each segment. A nickel was paid on the trolley, and upon request, the passenger given a small ticket to be redeemed at the Stillwell Terminal. Sbknyctsticketface

Those trolley passengers only using the Norton's Point Line as a stand alone trip to or from Stillwell Terminal or points in between, still paid the full 5 cent fare as before. This reduced fare consideration resulted in a nearly 5,000,000 increase in yearly patronage. On November 7, 1948, the streetcars were replaced by motorbuses. Other than an expansion of evening service in January 1998and a routing change in Sea Gate (date unknown), the route has remained largely unchanged since the conversion to motorbuses. On December 1, 2022, the MTA released a draft redesign of the Brooklyn bus network. As part of the redesign, the B74 would retain its route, but closely spaced stops would be eliminated.

References

External links

* {{Brooklyn bus routes Streetcar lines in Brooklyn B074 B074 Railway lines opened in 1879 1879 establishments in New York (state)