Seventh Avenue station (BMT Brighton Line)

The Seventh Avenue station is a station on the BMT Brighton Line of the New York City Subway, located at the intersection of Seventh Avenue, Park Place and Flatbush Avenue in Park Slope and Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. The station is served by the Q train at all times and by the B train on weekdays only.

 7 Avenue
 "B" train"Q" train
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
View from southbound platform
Station statistics
AddressSeventh Avenue, Park Place & Flatbush Avenue
Brooklyn, New York
BoroughBrooklyn
LocalePark Slope, Prospect Heights
Coordinates40°40′46″N 73°58′25″W / 40.679352°N 73.973694°W / 40.679352; -73.973694
DivisionB (BMT)[1]
LineBMT Brighton Line
Services   B weekday rush hours, middays and early evenings (weekday rush hours, middays and early evenings)
   Q all times (all times)
TransitBus transport NYCT Bus: B41, B67, B69
StructureUnderground
Platforms2 side platforms
Tracks2
Other information
OpenedAugust 1, 1920; 104 years ago (August 1, 1920)[2]
Opposite-
direction
transfer
Yes
Traffic
20232,160,144[3]Increase 13.9%
Rank153 out of 423[3]
Services
Preceding station New York City Subway New York City Subway Following station
Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center
B weekday rush hours, middays and early eveningsQ all times
Prospect Park
B weekday rush hours, middays and early eveningsQ all times
services split
Location
Seventh Avenue station (BMT Brighton Line) is located in New York City Subway
Seventh Avenue station (BMT Brighton Line)
Seventh Avenue station (BMT Brighton Line) is located in New York City
Seventh Avenue station (BMT Brighton Line)
Seventh Avenue station (BMT Brighton Line) is located in New York
Seventh Avenue station (BMT Brighton Line)
Track layout

Street map

Map

Station service legend
Symbol Description
Stops all times Stops all times
Stops weekdays during the day Stops weekdays during the day

History

edit

Although on the BMT Brighton Line, Seventh Avenue was built almost fifty years after the main segment of the line from Prospect Park to Brighton Beach opened in 1878. Prior to its opening, trains on the line used what is now the Franklin Avenue Shuttle and a connection to the elevated BMT Fulton Street Line on their way to the line's terminus at Fulton Ferry in Brooklyn or Park Row in Manhattan.[4]

Construction and opening

edit
 
R46 Q train boarding at the southbound platform

The Dual Contracts were formalized in March 1913, specifying new lines or expansions to be built by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) and the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT; after 1923, the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation or BMT). Two lines under Flatbush Avenue, one operated by the BRT and IRT, were approved.[5]: 203–219 [6][7] The BRT route, an extension of the Brighton Line,[8] was to run under Flatbush Avenue and St. Felix Street in Downtown Brooklyn, with a station at Seventh Avenue.[9][10] The IRT was authorized to extend its Brooklyn line (now the Eastern Parkway Line) under Flatbush Avenue, with a four-track route paralleling the BRT's subway southeast of the existing Atlantic Avenue station.[7]

The BRT route was originally planned as a four-track line.[11] Groundbreaking for the lines under Flatbush Avenue took place in May 1914, by which point the BRT line was reduced to two tracks.[12][13] The Seventh Avenue station was built as part of section 1A of the Flatbush Avenue tunnel, which extended from Prospect Place to Grand Army Plaza. The contract for this section was awarded to the Cranford Construction Company on May 1, 1914.[14] The BRT Brighton Line's Seventh Avenue station opened on August 1, 1920,[15][2] providing direct service between the existing Brighton Line and Midtown Manhattan.[16] This moved trains from the elevated Franklin Avenue Line to the new underground line.[2]

Later years

edit

During the 1964–1965 fiscal year, the platforms at Seventh Avenue, along with those at six other stations on the Brighton Line, were lengthened to 615 feet (187 m) to accommodate a ten-car train of 60 feet (18 m)-long IND cars, or a nine-car train of 67 feet (20 m)-long BMT cars.[17]

Station layout

edit
Ground Street level Exit/entrance
Mezzanine Mezzanine Fare control, station agent
Platform level IRT Northbound local    do not stop here
Side platform
Northbound   weekdays toward Bedford Park Boulevard or 145th Street (Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center)
  toward 96th Street (Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center)
Southbound   weekdays toward Brighton Beach (Prospect Park)
  toward Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue (Prospect Park)
Side platform
IRT Southbound local    do not stop here →
IRT Express Tracks[18] Northbound express    do not stop here
Southbound express    do not stop here →
 
Mosaic name tablet

The Seventh Avenue station has two tracks and two side platforms.[19] The platforms are superimposed above the IRT Eastern Parkway Line's express tracks, which run on a lower level.[18][14] There is a mezzanine above the station, which leads to exits on either side of Flatbush Avenue.[14] The mezzanine crosses over the Eastern Parkway Line's local tracks, which flank the BMT tracks on either side.[18][14] Each platform has two closed staircases that lead to a closed portion of the mezzanine above the platforms.

North of Seventh Avenue, the Brighton Line tracks descend slightly beneath the Eastern Parkway local tracks at the Bergen Street station, while the Eastern Parkway express tracks rise to a higher level.[14] South of the Seventh Avenue station, the Eastern Parkway local tracks rise above the Brighton Line tracks to serve the Grand Army Plaza station.[14]

Both platform walls have a golden mosaic trim line with blue and brown borders and white on blue "7" friezes appearing within them at regular intervals. Mosaic name tablets reading "7TH AVENUE" in white seriffed lettering on a blue background and gold and brown border appear below the trim lines. Gamboge I-beam columns run along both platforms, alternating ones having the standard black station name plate with white lettering.

This is one of two stations on the B train named "Seventh Avenue"; the other is Seventh Avenue–53rd Street on the IND Sixth Avenue Line in Manhattan.

Exits

edit

This station has two entrances and exits. One stair goes up to the south sidewalk of Park Place east of Flatbush Avenue, while the other stair goes to the south sidewalk of Flatbush Avenue southeast of Park Place.[20]

References

edit
  1. ^ "Glossary". Second Avenue Subway Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) (PDF). Vol. 1. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. March 4, 2003. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 26, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "New Subways Add Seven More Miles to BRT on Aug 1". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. July 25, 1920. Retrieved August 19, 2016 – via newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b "Annual Subway Ridership (2018–2023)". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
  4. ^ 1912 BMT network map NYCSubway Retrieved July 20, 2009
  5. ^ Walker, James Blaine (1918). Fifty Years of Rapid Transit — 1864 to 1917. New York, N.Y.: Law Printing. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  6. ^ "A New Subway Line for New York City". Engineering News. 63 (10). March 10, 1910. Archived from the original on July 5, 2012. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
  7. ^ a b "Subway Contracts Solemnly Signed; Cheers at the Ceremonial Function When McCall Gets Willcox to Attest" (PDF). The New York Times. March 20, 1913. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 4, 2022. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
  8. ^ "Transit Relief Big Stimulus". The Brooklyn Citizen. April 13, 1913. pp. 13, 14. Archived from the original on May 22, 2023. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  9. ^ "Dual Subway Stations: Protesting Owners Should File Petitions for Changes". New-York Tribune. May 4, 1913. p. C8. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 575088610.
  10. ^ "Station Sites for New Subways; Pamphlet Issued by Utilities Board Contains List of Stops on Dual System". The New York Times. July 6, 1913. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on February 13, 2023. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  11. ^ "Fix Station Sites on Brooklyn Lines; Prospect Park Plaza Will Become a Great Subway Traffic Centre". The New York Times. April 13, 1913. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 21, 2023. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  12. ^ "Subway Festival Held in Brooklyn; McCall Turns the First Sod for Interborough Extension from Atlantic Ave". The New York Times. May 24, 1914. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on November 3, 2020. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  13. ^ "M'Call Breaks Ground for Subway on Flatbush Av. and Eastern P'kway". Brooklyn Times Union. May 23, 1914. pp. 1, 17. Archived from the original on May 22, 2023. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  14. ^ a b c d e f "Many Problems in Dual Subway". Brooklyn Times Union. December 30, 1916. p. 14. Retrieved May 24, 2023.
  15. ^ "Brooklyn and Queens Brought Closer to Manhattan and Its Activities by New Subway Transit Links". New-York Tribune. August 1, 1920. p. 32. Archived from the original on May 21, 2023. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  16. ^ "New Subways Add Seven More Miles to BRT on Aug 1". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. July 25, 1920. Archived from the original on October 26, 2016. Retrieved August 19, 2016 – via newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Annual Report 1964–1965. New York City Transit Authority. 1965.
  18. ^ a b c Dual Contracts construction map
  19. ^ Dougherty, Peter (2006) [2002]. Tracks of the New York City Subway 2006 (3rd ed.). Dougherty. OCLC 49777633 – via Google Books.
  20. ^ "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Park Slope/Prospect Park" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2015. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
edit