High Street (IND Eighth Avenue Line)

High Street
New York City Subway rapid transit station
Station statistics
Address High Street & Cadman Plaza East
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Borough Brooklyn
Locale Brooklyn Heights
Coordinates 40°41′57″N 73°59′24″W / 40.699129°N 73.989862°W / 40.699129; -73.989862Coordinates: 40°41′57″N 73°59′24″W / 40.699129°N 73.989862°W / 40.699129; -73.989862
Division B (IND)
Line       IND Eighth Avenue Line
Services       A  (all times)
      C  (all except late nights)
Structure Underground
Platforms 1 island platform
Tracks 2
Other information
Opened June 24, 1933 (1933-06-24)[1]
Former/other names High Street – Brooklyn Bridge
Traffic
Passengers (2014) 2,687,244[2] Increase 10.1%
Rank 184 out of 421
Station succession
Next north Fulton Street: A  C 
Next south Jay Street – MetroTech: A  C 

High Street, also signed as High Street – Brooklyn Bridge, is a station on the IND Eighth Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. It is located at Cadman Plaza East near Red Cross Place and the Brooklyn Bridge approach in Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn. Its name comes from older street names; its original location was at the intersection of High Street and Washington Street. It is served by the A train at all times and the C train at all times except late nights.

History

Station entrance. Note the sign that gives the station name as "High Street – Brooklyn Bridge".

The High Street station, also referred to as "Brooklyn Bridge Plaza" and "Cranberry Street", was part of a three-stop extension of the IND Eighth Avenue Line from Chambers Street in Lower Manhattan to Jay Street – Borough Hall in Downtown Brooklyn.[3][4][5] Construction of the extension began in June 1928.[5] Due to the station's proximity to the Cranberry Street Tunnel under the East River, instead of typical cut-and-cover (or open-cut) construction methods, the station site was constructed 70 feet (21 m) below the street (the tunnel is 90 feet (27 m) below the surface at its lowest point) using mining techniques. The station was built between the eastern ends of the cast-iron river tubes reinforced with cement, leading to its tubular design.[5]

The extension opened to Jay Street on February 1, 1933, but the High Street station remained closed for an additional five months. The trains ran through the station without stopping, because the escalators to the street had not been completed due to lack of funding.[3][4][6] The station opened on June 24, 1933.[7]

The station was located below the sites of the Sands Street terminal for BMT elevated trains, some of which traveled over the Brooklyn Bridge.[8][9] The BMT station closed in 1944[10] and was replaced by Cadman Plaza. Old Fulton Street (now Cadman Plaza West) and Cranberry Street was also the site of the printing shop where Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass was first published in 1855.[11] The area is now the site of the Whitman Close Apartments.[12]

The High Street station was the site of an attempted robbery of subway revenue on June 18, 1954, in which the unarmed perpetrator was fatally shot by one of the two armed transit employees collecting fares and used transfer slips from token booths.[13] In the 1970s, the escalators at the eastern end of the station to Adams Street were replaced.[14]

Station layout

G Street Level Exit/ Entrance
B1 Mezzanine Fare control, station agent
Escalators, to Exits
B2
Platforms		 Northbound ← toward Inwood – 207th Street (Fulton Street)
← toward 168th Street (Fulton Street)
Island platform, doors will open on the left
Southbound → toward Lefferts Boulevard, Far Rockaway, or Rockaway Park (Jay Street – MetroTech) →
→ toward Euclid Avenue (Jay Street – MetroTech) →
One of the sets of escalators to the station's platforms.

This underground station has two tracks and one island platform. It is the northernmost Brooklyn station for the A and C trains. To the north, the IND Eighth Avenue Line enters the Cranberry Street Tunnel and passes under the East River into Manhattan. As a result, the station was built in a tube design, and built with escalators between the upper fare control level and the lower mezzanine level to easier traverse the 70 foot (21 m) drop below street level.[4][5][7][15] The tile band at this station is a small "High" printed on the walls in a dark purple color scheme.

There are exits at both ends to the full length mezzanine[12] along with evidence of removed center exits; since this station was built, the area now known as Cadman Plaza was completely rebuilt. Cadman Plaza East was previously called Washington Street.[16] High Street is not directly accessible from the station, as the short one block street is blocked by a parking lot.[12] However, Red Cross Place, which was once a part of High Street,[16] is directly accessible.[17]

The north (geographically west) exit leads to Cadman Plaza West (formerly Fulton Street, as indicated on wall mosaic signs)[7][16] in Brooklyn Heights. This was the original exit to the station.[7][12] The south (east) exits lead to Adams Street, on the border of Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO and Downtown Brooklyn, adjacent to the central courthouse for the Federal Eastern District of New York. These exits were opened following an additional delay to complete the escalators.[7][12] Adams Street was widened from 100 feet to 160 feet in the 1950s to accommodate new ramps to the Brooklyn Bridge,[16] and now carries carries the secondary name "Brooklyn Bridge Boulevard". The current exit staircases lead to ether side of Adams Street, acting as a pedestrian underpass.[12] There are painted-over mosaics pointing to former exits at Washington Street (now Cadman Plaza East).[18]

East (railroad south) of the station, the line curves south onto Jay Street and has three track switches with the IND Sixth Avenue Line.[12] A power station for the line is located on the west side of Jay Street just north of Concord Street.[16] A second substation is located at Red Cross Place and Cadman Plaza East.[16]

References

  1. ↑ New York Times, Jobs are Filled on All Subway Links, June 25, 1933, page 8
  2. ↑ "Facts and Figures: Annual Subway Ridership". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved 2015-04-28.
  3. 1 2 "City Opens Subway to Brooklyn Today: Regular Express Service on the Extension of Independent Line Starts at 6:05 A.M.". The New York Times. February 1, 1933. p. 19. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 "City Subway To Open Here About Feb. 1: Trains to Run to Borough Hall-O'Brien to Speed Funds for Completion". Newspapers.com. Brooklyn Daily Eagle. January 15, 1933. p. 2. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Whitman, Hamilton (March 16, 1930). "The Sandhogs: Men of Courage, Energy and Skill". Newspapers.com. Brooklyn Daily Eagle. p. 89. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  6. ↑ "New Subway Link Opens Wednesday: Independent Line Will Offer Express Service to Borough Hall in Brooklyn". The New York Times. January 29, 1933. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "JOBS ARE ALL FILLED ON SUBWAY LINKS; Board Reports Thousands Already Listed -- High St. Station, Brooklyn, Opened.". The New York Times. June 25, 1933. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  8. ↑ "Work Starts On Boro Hall Trolley Loop: Extra Track to Be Built on Joralemon St.-New Downtown Routing Plan". Newspapers.com. Brooklyn Daily Eagle. February 7, 1930. p. 3. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  9. ↑ Downtown Brooklyn Elevated Lines (TheJoeKorNer)
  10. ↑ New York Times, Last Train is Run on Fulton St. 'El', June 1, 1940
  11. ↑ "A Gesture in Cranberry Street". Newspapers.com. Brooklyn Daily Eagle. June 1, 1931. p. 18. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Downtown Brooklyn & Borough Hall" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transit Authority (New York). 2015. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  13. ↑ "Collector Slays Subway Bandit". Newspapers.com. Brooklyn Daily Eagle. June 18, 1954. p. 1, 11. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  14. ↑ "Escalators Being Replaced on New York Subways". The New York Times. November 25, 1977. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  15. ↑ New York Times, Taxpayer's Suit on Subway Heard, June 17, 1933, page 15
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "New Downtown Artery Is Sought". Newspapers.com. Brooklyn Daily Eagle. November 4, 1954. p. 1, 14. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  17. ↑ "'Places' Matter".
  18. ↑ Photo of painted-over mosaic sign to Washington Street.

Further reading

External links

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