Lorimer Street / Metropolitan Avenue (New York City Subway)

Lorimer Street / Metropolitan Avenue
New York City Subway rapid transit station complex

Street stair at southeast corner of Metropolitan & Union Avenues
Station statistics
Address Metropolitan Avenue between Lorimer Street & Union Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11211
Borough Brooklyn
Locale Williamsburg
Division B (BMT/IND)
Line BMT Canarsie Line
IND Crosstown Line
Services       G  (all times)
      L  (all times)
Connection
Levels 2
Other information
Opened July 1, 1948; 63 years ago (July 1, 1948)[1]
Traffic
Passengers (2010) 4,394,498 (station complex)[2]  2.8%
Rank 101 out of 422

Lorimer Street / Metropolitan Avenue is an underground New York City Subway station complex shared by the BMT Canarsie Line and the IND Crosstown Line. Located in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, the station is served by the following trains at specifically named platforms:

The Lorimer Street platforms are located above the Metropolitan Avenue platforms.

Contents

Station complex

The main entrances at the corner of Metropolitan and Union Avenues leads to the transfer passageway between the lines. (A second set of entrances at Metropolitan Avenue and Lorimer Street to the east leads directly to the Canarsie Line platforms.) The L-shaped passageway, located above the Crosstown Line at its northern end and below the Canarsie Line at its western end, also serves as the mezzanine for the Crosstown Line lower level. When viewed from the Crosstown Line mezzanine, the passageway splits up as the right half leads to a ramp for Canarsie-bound trains while the left half leads to a crossunder to Eighth Avenue-bound trains.

Originally, passengers who wished to transfer between the Canarsie and Crosstown lines had to pay a separate fare, because the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (operator of the Canarsie Line) and the Independent Subway System (the Crosstown Line's operator) were competing companies. On July 1, 1948, eight years after the three operators of New York's subways were unified into a single entity, the transfer passageway was reconfigured to be inside fare control, thus permitting free transfers between lines.[1]

The 2000 artwork in the transfer passageway and the Crosstown Line mezzanine is called Signs of Life by Jackie Chang. A precinct of the New York City Transit Police is also located on the Crosstown Line mezzanine.


BMT Canarsie Line platforms

Lorimer Street
New York City Subway rapid transit station
Station statistics
Division B (BMT)
Line BMT Canarsie Line
Services       L  (all times)
Structure Underground
Platforms 2 side platforms
Tracks 2
Other information
Opened September 21, 1924; 87 years ago (September 21, 1924)
Station succession
Next north Bedford Avenue: L 
Next south Graham Avenue: L 

The Lorimer Street station on the BMT Canarsie Line has two tracks and two side platforms. It opened on September 21, 1924, as part of the initial segment of the underground Canarsie Line, a product of the Dual Contracts, stretching from Sixth Avenue in Manhattan to Montrose Avenue.

The Lorimer Street entry point has a mezzanine above the station. There is also another entrance at Union Avenue that leads directly to the Manhattan-bound platform.

Image gallery


IND Crosstown Line platforms

Metropolitan Avenue
New York City Subway rapid transit station
Station statistics
Division B (IND)
Line IND Crosstown Line
Services       G  (all times)
Structure Underground
Platforms 2 side platforms
Tracks 2
Other information
Opened July 1, 1937; 74 years ago (July 1, 1937)
Former/other names Metropolitan Avenue – Grand Street
Station succession
Next north Nassau Avenue: G 
Next south Broadway: G 

The Metropolitan Avenue station on the IND Crosstown Line also has two tracks and two side platforms. Station tile signage retains the original name of the station: Metropolitan Avenue – Grand Street. IND icon tiles indicate "To Street and Transfer." The mezzanine is full length, but the central and south portions are used as a police facility and as employee space and offices. The south exit is an emergency exit and leads to Grand Street. There is another exit in the center of the station that is now abandoned and sealed.


References

  1. ^ a b New York Times, Transfer Points Under Higher Fare, June 30, 1948, page 19
  2. ^ "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