Myrtle Avenue station (BMT Jamaica Line)

Myrtle Avenue (announced on New Technology Trains as Myrtle Avenue–Broadway) is a New York City Subway express station on the BMT Jamaica Line. Located at the intersection of Myrtle Avenue and Broadway in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, it is served by the J and M trains at all times, and by the Z during rush hours in peak direction.

Myrtle Avenue  ​
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Station platforms, facing West.
Station statistics
Address	Myrtle Avenue & Broadway Brooklyn, NY 11206
Borough	Brooklyn
Locale	Bedford-Stuyvesant, Bushwick
Coordinates	40°41′49″N 73°56′7″W
Division	B (BMT)
Line	BMT Jamaica Line BMT Myrtle Avenue Line (formerly)
Services	J  (all times)    M  (all times)    Z  (rush hours, peak direction)​
Transit	NYCT Bus: B15, B46, B47, B54
Structure	Elevated
Levels	2 (upper level abandoned)
Platforms	3 island platforms (2 in service (lower level), 1 disused (upper level)) cross-platform interchange (lower level)
Tracks	3 (lower level), 2 (upper level; removed)
Other information
Opened	June 25, 1888 (lower level)[1] April 27, 1889 (upper level)
Closed	October 4, 1969 (upper level)
Station code	097[2]
Accessible	not ADA-accessible; accessibility planned
Accessibility	Cross-platform wheelchair transfer available
Opposite- direction transfer	Yes
Former/other names	Myrtle Avenue–Broadway
Traffic
2019	3,854,024[3]  1.7%
Rank	128 out of 424[3]
Station succession
Next east	Broadway Junction (express): no regular service Kosciuszko Street (local): J  (Z  skips to Gates Avenue) Central Avenue: M
Next west	Flushing Avenue (local): J  ​M  Marcy Avenue (express): J  ​Z  (Terminus): M  Park Avenue (BMT Jamaica Line): no service; demolished Sumner Avenue (BMT Myrtle Avenue Line): no service; demolished
Location
Track layout no regular service to Bway Jct ​ to Kosciuszko St to Central Av ​ to Flushing Av ​ to Marcy Av
Street map
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times except late nights Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction Stops late nights only Stops rush hours in the peak direction only

The station has two platform levels, but all regular passenger service is on the lower platform level of the station. The station has an abandoned upper platform level which previously served the BMT Myrtle Avenue Line to Downtown Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge. Just east of the station, the remaining section of the BMT Myrtle Avenue Line diverges from the BMT Jamaica Line via slip switches in an at-grade junction.

History

The lower level of the station opened on June 25, 1888.[1]

The upper level station, which was marked on signs as Broadway, opened on April 27, 1889, when the Myrtle Avenue Line was extended east along Myrtle Avenue to Broadway. A transfer opportunity was created to the BMT Jamaica Line station.[4][5][6] The previous station located nearby at Stuyvesant Avenue was then closed.[7] The Myrtle Avenue Line was extended from this station to Wyckoff Avenue on July 21, 1889.[8]

The BMT Myrtle Avenue Line from Broadway to Bridge–Jay Streets closed on October 4, 1969, and was replaced via transfer to the B54 bus toward Jay Street.[9]

Station layout

3F Myrtle Avenue platform	Former southbound	No track or roadbed
	Island platform, disused
	Former northbound	No track or roadbed
2F Jamaica platforms	Westbound local[note 1]	← toward Broad Street (Flushing Avenue) ← toward 71st Avenue weekdays, Essex Street weekends (Flushing Avenue)
	Island platform
	Center track	← weekday mornings toward Broad Street (Marcy Avenue) ← weekday afternoons toward Jamaica Center (Kosciuszko Street) → ← PM rush toward Jamaica Center (Gates Avenue) → ← late night termination track → late nights toward Metropolitan Avenue (Central Avenue) → ← (No express service: Broadway Junction) →
	Island platform
	Eastbound local[note 1]	→ toward Jamaica Center (Kosciuszko Street) → → toward Metropolitan Avenue (Central Avenue) →
1F	Mezzanine	Fare control, station agent, MetroCard machines
G	Street Level	Entrances/exits

Lower level

A weekend R160A M shuttle train on the center track prior to the extension of weekend M service from Myrtle Avenue to Essex Street

This elevated station, opened on September 16, 1888, on the lower level, has three tracks and two island platforms.[10] The center track is used by J and Z trains when they run express between this station and Marcy Avenue in the peak direction on weekdays during rush hours and middays, as well as by late night M shuttle trains from Metropolitan Avenue. East of this station, J and Z trains continue along Broadway, while M trains branch off through an S curve towards the BMT Myrtle Avenue Line. The connection to the Myrtle Avenue Line is one of the few remaining level junctions in the subway as well as one of the few places on revenue tracks with slip switches.[10] From June 2017 until April 2018, this connection was closed due to long-term construction on the Myrtle Avenue Line.[11][12][13]

This station is announced as Myrtle Avenue–Broadway on New Technology Train cars to distinguish it from the nearby Myrtle–Wyckoff Avenues station.[14]

Both platforms have brown canopies with green support columns and frames for their entire length except for a small section at either end.[15] The station signs are in the standard black plates in white lettering.[16]

The 1999 artwork here is called Jammin' Under the El by Verna Hart. It consists of stained glass windows on the platforms' sign structures as well as the station house depicting various scenes related to music.[17]

As part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's 2015–2019 Capital Program, a station entrance will be rebuilt at the northwestern corner of Jefferson Street and Broadway, and a second mezzanine will be reopened.[18][19] In 2019, the MTA announced that this station would become ADA-accessible as part of the agency's 2020–2024 Capital Program.[20]

Upper level

The abandoned upper level

The upper level station (which was marked on signs as Broadway) opened on April 27, 1889, and created a transfer opportunity to the BMT Jamaica Line. The previous station located nearby at Stuyvesant Avenue was then closed. The upper level station contained two tracks and an island platform, with stairs to both of the existing platforms on the lower level. The Myrtle Avenue upper level was extended to Wyckoff Avenue on July 21, 1889.[8] The BMT Myrtle Avenue Line from Broadway to Bridge–Jay Streets closed on October 4, 1969, and was replaced via transfer to the B54 bus toward Jay Street.[9]

Exits

Station entrance

The lower level station has an elevated station house to the west underneath the skeletal remains of the BMT Myrtle Avenue Line. Two staircases from each platform go down to an elevated cross-under, where a shorter staircase on the Queens-bound side leads to the station house's waiting area. Outside the turnstile bank, there is a token booth and two staircases going down to either of the western corners at Myrtle Avenue and Broadway.[21]

In popular culture

In the 1990 drama Ghost, Patrick Swayze follows his killer, Rick Aviles, leaving the J train onto the station's platform and entrance.[22] In 1994, it was shown in the music video for Here Comes the Hotstepper by Jamaican dancehall artist Ini Kamoze.

Notes

1. This is a wrong-way concurrency in railroad direction.

References

1. "The Broadway Line Opened". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. June 25, 1888. p. 6. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
2. "Station Developers' Information". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
3. "Facts and Figures: Annual Subway Ridership 2014–2019". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
4. Report. January 1, 1890.
5. Roess, Roger P.; Sansone, Gene (August 23, 2012). The Wheels That Drove New York: A History of the New York City Transit System. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 9783642304842.
6. "Will Open on Saturday". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. April 25, 1889. p. 1. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
7. "Brooklyn Daily Eagle: It Reaches Broadway (April 5, 1889)". bklyn.newspapers.com.
8. "Lost the Second Game". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. July 21, 1889. p. 2.
9. "Service Changes For Myrtle Avenue "El" Riders". www.thejoekorner.com. New York City Transit Authority. October 1969. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
10. Dougherty, Peter (2006) [2002]. Tracks of the New York City Subway 2006 (3rd ed.). Dougherty. OCLC 49777633 – via Google Books.
11. Rivoli, Dan (March 17, 2016). "M line to be shut down next year for repairs". New York Daily News. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
12. Brown, Nicole (March 18, 2016). "MTA: M line will shut down for part of next year". am New York. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
13. "Myrtle Avenue Line Infrastructure Projects". mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
14. NovaBus5189 (November 12, 2016), On Board R160 (M) Train From Middle Village Metropolitan Avenue to Myrtle Avenue-Broadway, retrieved February 18, 2018
15. Cox, Jeremiah (July 26, 2013). "The doors close on a R42 J train that will have to leave first because the R160 M train must crossover the other three tracks". subwaynut.com. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
16. Cox, Jeremiah (June 25, 2008). "A close-up of a Myrtle Avenue column sign". subwaynut.com. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
17. "Myrtle Avenue Verna Hart Jammin' Under the EL, 1999". web.mta.info. MTA Arts & Design. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
18. "Station Capacity Enhancements at Myrtle Avenue on the Jamaica Line". web.mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. December 31, 2017. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
19. https://www.nycsubway.org/wiki/BMT_Nassau_Street
20. "Press Release - MTA Headquarters - MTA Announces 20 Additional Subway Stations to Receive Accessibility Improvements Under Proposed 2020-2024 Capital Plan". MTA. December 19, 2019. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
21. "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Bushwick" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2015. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
22. "Ghost Film Locations - On the set of New York". onthesetofnewyork.com. On The Set of New York. Retrieved 19 April 2020.

External links

• Station Reporter — J Train
• Station Reporter — M Train
• MTA's Arts For Transit — Myrtle Avenue (BMT Jamaica Line)
• Myrtle Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Platform and unused upper level from Google Maps Street View