Franklin Avenue – Botanic Garden (New York City Subway)

Not to be confused with Franklin Avenue – Fulton Street (New York City Subway).
Franklin Avenue – Botanic Garden
New York City Subway rapid transit station complex
Station statistics
Address Franklin Avenue & Eastern Parkway
Brooklyn, NY 11225
Borough Brooklyn
Locale Crown Heights
Division A (IRT), B (BMT)
Line IRT Eastern Parkway Line
BMT Franklin Avenue Line
Services       2  (all times)
      3  (all except late nights)
      4  (all times)
      5  (weekdays until 8:45 p.m.)
      S  (all times)
Levels 2
Other information
Opened 1999; 12 years ago (1999)
Traffic
Passengers (2010) 4,433,981[1]  3.1%
Rank 100 out of 422

Franklin Avenue – Botanic Garden is a New York City Subway station complex shared by the IRT Eastern Parkway Line and the BMT Franklin Avenue Line. Located at the intersection of Franklin Avenue and Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, it is served by the:

The station complex is named for its proximity to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The free transfer between the Eastern Parkway and Franklin Avenue shuttle platforms was added in 1999 using a passageway that had existed since October 1928, when the BMT Botanic Garden station opened.

Contents


IRT Eastern Parkway Line platforms

Franklin Avenue
New York City Subway rapid transit station

Northbound platform
Station statistics
Division A (IRT)
Line IRT Eastern Parkway Line
Services       2  (all times)
      3  (all except late nights)
      4  (all times)
      5  (weekdays until 8:45 p.m.)
Structure Underground
Platforms 2 island platforms
cross-platform interchange
Tracks 4
Other information
Opened August 23, 1920; 91 years ago (August 23, 1920)
Station succession
Next north Eastern Parkway – Brooklyn Museum (local): 2  3  4 
Atlantic Avenue (express): 4  5 
Next south Nostrand Avenue (Eastern Parkway local): 2  3  4 
Crown Heights – Utica Avenue (Eastern Parkway express): 4  5 
President Street (Nostrand): 2  5 

Franklin Avenue is an underground express station on the IRT Eastern Parkway Line that has four tracks with two island platforms and opened on August 23, 1920.

Both platforms have yellow i-beam columns on both sides at regular intervals with every other one having the standard black station name plate in white lettering. The platform walls have their original Dual Contracts trim line with "F" tablets for "Franklin" at regular intervals. At the extreme west (railroad north) end, the platforms were extended in the 1950s to accommodate the current standard IRT train length of 510 feet. The walls here have a blue trim line with "FRANKLIN AVE" in white sans serif letting on two lines.

The station's main entrance is a mezzanine above the platforms and tracks at their center. Two staircases from each platform go up to a waiting area that allows a free transfer between directions. Outside of the turnstile bank, there is a token booth and four street stairs to either eastern corners of Franklin Avenue and Eastern Parkway.

The transfer to the Franklin Avenue Shuttle is at the west end of the station. A single staircase from each platform goes up to a mezzanine, where a passageway leads to the north end of the Franklin Avenue-bound platform. A crossover is required to reach the Prospect Park-bound platform.

East of this station is Rogers Junction, where the IRT Nostrand Avenue Line diverges from the Eastern Parkway Line and turns compass south under Nostrand Avenue. Between the station and the junction, the southbound express track rises above the northbound express track, and the northbound local track crosses to the south side, below the southbound local track creating a dual level two-over-two track layout. Crossover tracks allow express trains to access Rogers Junction and the Nostrand Avenue Line, which is only connected to the local tracks; this is a point of congestion during rush hours. There is a closed tower at the south end of the southbound platform.

The station has been adopted by Clara Barton High School as part of New York City Transit's Adopt-A-Station program.

Gallery


BMT Franklin Avenue Line platforms

Botanic Garden
New York City Subway rapid transit station

Northbound platform
Station statistics
Division B (BMT)
Line BMT Franklin Avenue Line
Services       S  (all times)
Structure Enclosed open cut
Platforms 2 side platforms
Tracks 2
Other information
Opened 1928; 83 years ago (1928)
Rebuilt October 18, 1999; 12 years ago (October 18, 1999)
Former/other names Consumers Park
Station succession
Next north Park Place: S 
Next south Prospect Park: S 

Botanic Garden on the BMT Franklin Avenue Line has two tracks and two side platforms. The station is named for the nearby Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

There was no station at this location until 1928, when a new station was constructed to replace Consumers Park several blocks to the south, which was considered too close to Prospect Park to be useful. Consumers Park had been renamed Botanic Garden in 1924. The new station assumed this name upon opening and the old station closed at the same time.

The current station was built in the open-cut right-of-way to the south of Eastern Parkway, and the half of the station closest to that street was roofed over in the appearance of a subway structure.

The station deteriorated over the years as the New York City Transit Authority considered whether to abandon or rehabilitate the station and the line. Support in the Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights communities persuaded the city to rebuild the line from July 1998 to September 1999. A transfer to Franklin Avenue on the IRT Eastern Parkway Line was added via a passageway that connects the Franklin Avenue-bound platform to the IRT mezzanine.

The station's mezzanine is above the platforms and tracks. Two staircases from each side go up to a waiting area that allows a free transfer between directions (this is needed for passengers transferring between the IRT and Prospect Park-bound trains). Outside of the turnstile bank, there is a token booth and one street stair.

The rebuilt station is located entirely inside the subway structure that was built in 1928. At street level, it features floral wrought iron fencing in recognition of its location near the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. At track level it includes 1920s-era mosaic tiling. To the immediate north of the station, the 1878 railroad tunnel that carries the line under Eastern Parkway has been dramatically lighted.

The 1995 artwork here is called Wings for the IRT: The Irresistible Romance of Travel by Jane Greengold. It features iron shapes of leaves on the fence that surrounds the station entrance.

Gallery


References

  1. ^ "Facts and Figures: 2010 Annual Subway Ridership". New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority. http://mta.info/nyct/facts/ridership/ridership_sub_annual.htm. Retrieved 2011-05-18. 

External links

Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Franklin_Avenue_%E2%80%93_Botanic_Garden_(New_York_City_Subway) Franklin Avenue – Botanic Garden (New York City Subway)] at Wikimedia Commons