Prospect Park (BMT Brighton Line)
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The Prospect Park station is an express
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 ...
. It is located in between Lincoln Road, Lefferts Avenue, Empire Boulevard, Ocean Avenue and
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 ...
in
Flatbush, Brooklyn Flatbush is a neighborhood in the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood consists of several subsections in central Brooklyn and is generally bounded by Prospect Park (Brooklyn), Prospect Park to the nort ...
, near the border of Crown Heights. Prospect Lefferts Gardens, which is a subsection of Flatbush, is adjacent to the station. The station, which serves
Prospect Park Prospect Park may refer to: Businesses * Prospect Park (production company), entertainment production company *Prospect Park Productions NZ, theatre company based in Dunedin, New Zealand Places New Zealand * Prospect Park, New Zealand, a portion ...
and
Brooklyn Botanic Garden Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) is a botanical garden in the Borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn in New York City. The botanical garden occupies in central Brooklyn, close to Mount Prospect Park, Prospect Park (Brooklyn), Prospect Park, ...
, is served by the Q train and
Franklin Avenue Shuttle The Franklin Avenue Shuttle is a New York City Subway shuttle service operating in Brooklyn. The shuttle service uses the BMT Franklin Avenue Line exclusively and operates 24 hours a day. The north terminus is Franklin Avenue, with a transfe ...
at all times and by the B train on weekdays.


History

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 The Long Island Rail Road , or LIRR, is a Rail transport, railroad in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County on Long Islan ...
. In 1918, the station began a rebuilding in order to accommodate the new subway connection to the
Manhattan Bridge The Manhattan Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the East River in New York City, connecting Lower Manhattan at Canal Street with Downtown Brooklyn at the Flatbush Avenue Extension. Designed by Leon Moisseiff, the bridge has a tota ...
and
Montague Street Tunnel The Montague Street Tunnel () is a rail tunnel of the New York City Subway under the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn, connecting the BMT Broadway Line and BMT Nassau Street Line with the BMT Fourth Avenue Line. The R ...
. 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 outer track. At least 93 individuals died, making it one of the U.S.'s deadliest train crashes.Cudahy, Brian (1999).
The Malbone Street Wreck
', New York: Fordham University Press. p. 81.
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 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 ...
. To the south of this station, express service operated on the Brighton Line. The Prospect Park station was the closest station to
Ebbets Field Ebbets Field was a Major League Baseball stadium in the Flatbush, Brooklyn, Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York City, New York. It is mainly known for having been the home of the History of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Brooklyn Dodgers baseball tea ...
, home of the
Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brook ...
until the team moved to Los Angeles after the 1957 season. The
stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...
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. In April 1993, the
New York State Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the Bicameralism, two houses that act as the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York: the New York State Senate and the New York State Assem ...
agreed to give the MTA $9.6 billion for capital improvements. Some of the funds would be used to renovate nearly one hundred New York City Subway stations, including Prospect Park. The MTA conducted a $12 million renovation of the Prospect Park station in the mid-1990s. The first phase of the renovation took place from November 1992 to August 1994; it included restoring the station's tiled friezes and yellow-tile walls, as well as restoring the entrance at Empire Boulevard, adding a decorative gate alluding to the
Prospect Park Zoo The Prospect Park Zoo is a zoo located off Flatbush Avenue on the eastern side of Prospect Park, Brooklyn, New York City. , the zoo houses 864 animals representing about 176 species, and , it averaged 300,000 visitors annually. The Prospect P ...
. The second phase included renovating the Lincoln Road entrance. The renovation was completed in 1996. In 1999, the MTA leased the space above the Lincoln Road entrance to a nursery school that planned to renovate the space for $600,000. This station was the site of an October 15, 2008, NYPD arrest in which it was alleged that the suspect had been
sodomized Sodomy (), also called buggery in British English, principally refers to either anal sex (but occasionally also oral sex) between people, or any sexual activity between a human and another animal ( bestiality). It may also mean any non- procreat ...
, leading to both criminal action and a lawsuit against the
NYPD The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...
. All of the officers involved were acquitted and the lawsuit thrown out. In November 2019, officials installed a bronze memorial plaque at the Prospect Park station's northern exit in commemoration of the Malbone Street Wreck.


Station layout

This open cut station has four tracks and two
island platform An island platform (also center platform (American English) or centre platform (British English)) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway inte ...
s. Both platforms have red canopies with green frames and support columns that run for the either length. Every other column has the standard black station name plate in white lettering. The station is served by the train and the
Franklin Avenue Shuttle The Franklin Avenue Shuttle is a New York City Subway shuttle service operating in Brooklyn. The shuttle service uses the BMT Franklin Avenue Line exclusively and operates 24 hours a day. The north terminus is Franklin Avenue, with a transfe ...
at all times, and by the train only on weekdays during the day. The center express tracks are used by B and Q trains. The northbound local track is used to originate and terminate the shuttle, as the station is its southern terminus. The southbound local track is only used for train storage or construction reroutes. The next stop to the north is Seventh Avenue for B and Q trains and
Botanic Garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...
for the shuttle. The next stop to the south is Parkside Avenue for local Q trains and Church Avenue for express B trains. At the north end of the station, B and Q trains ramp down into a tunnel under Flatbush Avenue, running parallel to the
IRT Eastern Parkway Line The IRT Eastern Parkway Line is one of the lines of the A Division (New York City Subway), A Division of the New York City Subway. Built for the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT), it stretches from Downtown Brooklyn south along Flatbush ...
before merging with the
BMT Fourth Avenue Line The BMT Fourth Avenue Line is a rapid transit line of the New York City Subway, mainly running under Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn. The line is served by the D, N, and R at all times; the R typically runs local, while the D and N run express dur ...
at DeKalb Avenue while the shuttle curves to the northeast and becomes an open cut route after a short tunnel towards Franklin Avenue. The platforms are split into two sections at this end separated by a beige concrete wall. At the south end 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 Brighton Beach is a List of Brooklyn neighborhoods, neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn, within the greater Coney Island area along the Atlantic Ocean coastline. Brighton Beach ...
; Q trains switch to the local track and run to
Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue Coney may refer to: Places * Côney, a river in eastern France * Coney, Georgia, an unincorporated community in the United States * Coney Island (disambiguation) * Coney Mountain, a mountain in New York state People * Dean Coney (born 1963), ...
.


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 Prospect Park may refer to: Businesses * Prospect Park (production company), entertainment production company *Prospect Park Productions NZ, theatre company based in Dunedin, New Zealand Places New Zealand * Prospect Park, New Zealand, a portion ...
. This artwork is also at Parkside Avenue.


Exits

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 An elevator (American English) or lift (Commonwealth English) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive traction cables and counterweight systems suc ...
is connected to the station house by a glass-enclosed passageway above their respective platforms. There is a bank of
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 ...
s, a waiting area that allows a free transfer between directions and a token booth inside the station house. 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 A mezzanine (; or in Italian, a ''mezzanino'') is an intermediate floor in a building which is partly open to the double-height ceilinged floor below, or which does not extend over the whole floorspace of the building, a loft with non-sloped ...
that had its part-time token booth removed in 2010. 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 s ...
, 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. Diagonally across the intersection from the exit is the southwest entrance of the
Brooklyn Botanic Garden Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) is a botanical garden in the Borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn in New York City. The botanical garden occupies in central Brooklyn, close to Mount Prospect Park, Prospect Park (Brooklyn), Prospect Park, ...
. An inscribed bronze plaque to the Malbone Street Wreck, installed in 2019, is located on the wall outside the northern exit.


References


External links

* * nycsubway.org â€
Brighton Clay Re-Leaf Artwork by Susan Tunick (1994)
* Station Reporter â€

* Station Reporter â€

* Station Reporter â€

* The Subway Nut â€
Prospect Park Pictures
* MTA's Arts For Transit â€

* [https://maps.google.com/?ll=40.660669,-73.957944&spn=0.014275,0.033023&layer=c&cbll=40.660693,-73.961928&panoid=hCSlaLjktJRo72ZIPHXMcw&cbp=12,314.65,,0,-0.51&t=m&z=16 Lincoln Road entrance from Google Maps Street View]
Flatbush Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View

Platforms from Google Maps Street View
{{NYCS stations navbox by line, franklin=yes, brighton=yes BMT Brighton Line stations BMT Franklin Avenue Shuttle stations New York City Subway stations in Brooklyn New York City Subway terminals Railway stations in the United States opened in 1878 New York City Subway transfer stations Flatbush, Brooklyn Prospect Park (Brooklyn) 1878 establishments in New York (state)