Gates Avenue (BMT Jamaica Line)

Gates Avenue
New York City Subway rapid transit station

Western exit stair of northbound platform
Station statistics
Address Gates Avenue & Broadway
Brooklyn, NY 11211
Borough Brooklyn
Locale Bedford-Stuyvesant, Bushwick
Division B (BMT)
Line BMT Jamaica Line
BMT Lexington Avenue Line (formerly)
Services       J  (all except rush hours, peak direction)
      Z  (rush hours, peak direction)
Connection
Structure Elevated
Platforms 2 side platforms
Tracks 3 (2 in regular service)
Other information
Opened May 13, 1885; 126 years ago (May 13, 1885)[1]
Traffic
Passengers (2010) 1,749,349[2]  5%
Rank 256 out of 422
Station succession
Next north Halsey Street: J 
(Z  skips to Chauncey Street)
Next south Kosciuszko Street: J 
(Z  skips to Myrtle Avenue)
Reid Avenue (Lex. Ave. Line; demolished)

Gates Avenue is a skip-stop station on the elevated BMT Jamaica Line of the New York City Subway, located at the intersection of Gates Avenue and Broadway in Bushwick, Brooklyn. It is served by the Z train during rush hours in the peak direction and the J train at all other times.

Contents

History

The oldest remaining subway station in the entire system, Gates Avenue opened on May 13, 1885. It has been in continuous operation for 126 years . Prior to the Dual Contracts, trains either operated down Broadway to Broadway Ferry (which closed upon the opening of the Williamsburg Bridge tracks to Essex Street) or Lexington Avenue, eventually merging onto the Myrtle Avenue El.[3] The Dual Contracts expanded the BMT Jamaica Line, including Gates Avenue, to three tracks, allowing for express service, as well as expanding service in Manhattan down Nassau Street. In 1950, the Lexington Avenue El closed, resulting in the redirection of all trains to the Williamsburg Bridge.

Station layout

This station has two side platforms and three tracks with the center track not normally used. Each platform has beige windscreens and red canopies (both with green frames) that run along the entire length except for a small section at both ends.

Despite the station name, it has no longer has an entrance from Gates Avenue. It is now an emergency exit only, containing a single double flight staircase from each platform at their east ends. The station's only entrance is an elevated station house beneath the tracks at Quincy Street and Broadway. It has two street stairs (one leading to the southern corner of the aforementioned intersection and one along the north side of Broadway), a token booth, turnstile bank, and single staircase from each platform at their west end. Both staircase landings have an exit-only turnstile that allow passengers to exit the subway without having to go through the station house.

The 2002 artwork here is called Dream Train by Chris Robinson and features mass transit-related stained glass windows in the station house and the windscreens.

South of this station, the BMT Jamaica Line connected to the BMT Lexington Avenue Line before it ceased operation on October 13, 1950 and some remains are visible. The next stop on the Lexington Avenue El was Reid Avenue on its way to Downtown Brooklyn and Park Row, Manhattan.

References

External links