Hoyt–Schermerhorn Streets (New York City Subway)

Hoyt–Schermerhorn Streets
New York City Subway rapid transit station

An train stops on the Fulton Street Line tracks.
Station statistics
Address Hoyt Street & Schermerhorn Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Borough Brooklyn
Locale Downtown Brooklyn
Division B (IND)
Line IND Crosstown Line
IND Fulton Street Line
Services       A  (all times)
      C  (all except late nights)
      G  (all times)
Connection
(all on Livingston Street)
Structure Underground
Platforms 4 island platforms (2 in regular service)
cross-platform interchange
Tracks 6 (4 in regular service)
Other information
Opened April 9, 1936; 75 years ago (April 9, 1936)
Traffic
Passengers (2010) 2,923,091[1]  2.1%
Rank 161 out of 422
Station succession
Next north Jay Street – MetroTech (Fulton express): A  C 
Court Street (Fulton local): no regular service
Fulton Street (Crosstown): G 
Next south Lafayette Avenue (Fulton local): A  C 
Nostrand Avenue (Fulton express): A 
Bergen Street (Culver): G 

Hoyt–Schermerhorn Streets is a station of the New York City Subway, serving the IND Crosstown Line and the IND Fulton Street Line. Located at the intersection of Hoyt Street and Schermerhorn Street in Downtown Brooklyn, it is served by the A and G trains at all times and the C train at all times except late nights.

Contents

Physical description

This wide station has six tracks and four island platforms. The center pair of tracks belongs to the Crosstown Line (G). To the east (railroad north), they run under Lafayette Avenue while to the west (railroad south), they turn south and merge with the IND Sixth Avenue Line to form the IND Culver Line under Smith Street. The next pair of tracks from the center are the express tracks of the Fulton Street Line (A and C). Trains using these tracks open their doors on the center island platforms, not the outer ones. To the east, the C trains diverge to the local tracks and all four tracks continue under Fulton Street. To the west, the express tracks curve north under Jay Street and continue as the IND Eighth Avenue Line. The outermost pair of tracks, the Fulton Street local tracks, and the outer two island platforms are not used in revenue service. To the west, the tracks continue under Schermerhorn Street to Court Street, currently the site of the New York Transit Museum, in Brooklyn Heights.

Due to its width, the southern half of the station had to be built under private property on the south side of Schermerhorn Street. The station's mezzanine, located over the northern half of the station and under Schermerhorn Street, contains a New York City Transit Police substation and several New York City Transit Authority offices. There are two staircases to each active platform, turnstile bank, token booth, and two staircases to the streets. One leads to the northeast corner of Schermerhorn and Hoyt Streets, is built within the front entrance of 250 Schermerhorn Street, and connects to fare control via a corridor. The other staircase leads to the northwest corner of Bond and Schermerhorn Streets and is built inside a building housing the Goodwill Store and Donation Center.

There are numerous sealed stairways and exits in the mezzanine, including a sealed passageway to Livingston Street/Schermerhorn Street and a direct entrance to the former Loeser's Department Store.

History

Hoyt–Schermerhorn Streets opened as part of the Fulton Street Line on April 9, 1936, serving both Fulton local and express trains (the Crosstown Line extension from Nassau Avenue did not open until July 1, 1937). From this station, northbound local trains were planned to continue to Court Street and terminate there. Express trains would turn north under Jay Street and continue to Manhattan via the Cranberry Street Tunnel. However, initial Fulton Street service ran entirely local since at the time, the line only ran to Rockaway Avenue. Without express service, local trains provided service to Manhattan via the express tracks at this station while the HH shuttle was instituted to serve Court Street and the local tracks/platforms.

Due to low ridership, Court Street was closed and the shuttle was discontinued in 1946. All Fulton Street service was routed via the express tracks at this station to Jay Street – Borough Hall. This eliminated any use for the local tracks and they have been out of service since. The outer platforms were also closed until 1959, when the Aqueduct Racetrack special service began. Service ran from the lower level of 42nd Street – Port Authority Bus Terminal to Aqueduct Racetrack via the IND Eighth Avenue Line, Fulton Street Line, and IND Rockaway Line. Like the lower level at 42nd Street, the outer platforms at this station provided a convenient place to segregate passengers who had paid the extra fare required to board the special trains. Consequently, Hoyt–Schermerhorn Streets was the only stop between 42nd Street and the racetrack.

Since the elimination of the Aqueduct service in 1981, the outer platforms have remained out of revenue service. The abandoned parts of the station are used occasionally for film shoots (e.g., The Warriors and The Taking of Pelham 123) and other special functions—for example, a public display of the R160Bs on November 29, 2005.

This station was featured in the 1988 Eddie Murphy comedy Coming to America in which the main character boards an R38 E train. It is also featured in the 1988 Paul Hogan adventure comedy Crocodile Dundee II. The station's mezzanine was the main setting for the filming of Michael Jackson's music video/short film for his hit 1987 single, "Bad". It was also featured in "The Wiz" (1978) in which the characters find themselves in a strange Emerald city subway with evil monsters such as chomping trashcans and subway columns that move and try to trap the characters. The opening scene of the Law & Order episode "Subterranean Homeboy Blues" was filmed in this station, with Cynthia Nixon's character, Laura di Biasi, boarding a train.

Following the 2009 death of Michael Jackson, New York City Councilwoman Letitia James advocated renaming the station in Jackson's honor and hanging a plaque at the station to commemorate the filming of his video there, but met with resistance from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. MTA spokesperson Kevin Ortiz explained that the agency prohibits plaques at station and is currently developing guidelines for station naming-rights deals in order to raise money while other sources assert that naming stations after individuals would confuse riders.[2]

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. 
  2. ^ Calder, Rich (2009-09-02). "Jacko Off Tracko". New York Post. http://www.nypost.com/p/news/regional/jacko_off_tracko_jogpw2yEkTsOUtEs1iBxoM. Retrieved 2009-09-09. 

External links