Graham Avenue Line and Tompkins Avenue Line

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The Graham Avenue Line and Tompkins Avenue Line are two public transit lines in Brooklyn, New York City, United States. Originally streetcar lines, they were replaced by bus routes in the late 1940s, and were combined as the B43 Manhattan Av/Graham Av/Tompkins Av bus route on September 10, 1995,^[1] operated by the New York City Transit Authority. The Graham Avenue Line, formerly the B62, ran between Downtown Brooklyn and Greenpoint along Flushing Avenue and Graham Avenue, and the Tompkins Avenue Line, formerly the B47, ran between Prospect-Lefferts Gardens and Williamsburg along Empire Boulevard, Kingston Avenue, Tompkins Avenue, and Harrison Avenue. When the routes were combined, the portions on Flushing Avenue and Harrison Avenue were removed.

Contents 1 B43 bus 2 History of the Graham Avenue Line 3 History of the Tompkins Avenue Line 4 References

[edit] B43 bus

The B43 bus route begins at the Prospect Park (BMT Brighton Line) subway station. It heads east on Empire Boulevard and turns north on Kingston and Throop Avenues (northbound) and Brooklyn and Tompkins Avenues (southbound). After turning east on Flushing Avenue (northbound) and Devoise Street (southbound), the route heads north on Graham Avenue. A jog west on Driggs Avenue (northbound) and Engert Avenue (southbound) takes buses to Manhattan Avenue, where the route ends at Box Street, just south of Newtown Creek and the former Greenpoint Bridge, a block west of the Pulaski Bridge. Along the way, connections can be made to the subway at Sterling Street (IRT Nostrand Avenue Line), Kingston Avenue (IRT Eastern Parkway Line), Kingston-Throop Avenues (IND Fulton Street Line), Flushing Avenue (BMT Jamaica Line), Graham Avenue (BMT Canarsie Line), Nassau Avenue (IND Crosstown Line), and Greenpoint Avenue (IND Crosstown Line).

[edit] History of the Graham Avenue Line

The Brooklyn City Rail Road opened the line, then known as the Flushing Avenue Line, in July 1854 from the Fulton Street Line to Throop Avenue and in April 1855 to Broadway (then Division Avenue).^[2] It was later extended north along Graham Avenue to Metropolitan Avenue (then North Second Street) in 1867^[3][4] and to Driggs Avenue (then Van Cott Avenue) in October 1872.^[5]

On April 27, 1890, the Brooklyn City opened new trackage on Flushing Avenue from Graham Avenue east to Metropolitan Avenue, making a new Flushing Avenue Line that remained on Flushing Avenue beyond Graham Avenue.^[6] The old Flushing Avenue Line came to be known as the Flushing and Graham Avenues Line and eventually the Graham Avenue Line. The Graham Avenue Line was later extended north along existing trackage on Driggs and Manhattan Avenues to Hunters Point.^{[citation needed]} Buses were substituted for streetcars on December 21, 1948.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] History of the Tompkins Avenue Line

[edit] References