Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center (New York City Subway)

Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center   ​ ​ ​​ ​ ​ ​​
New York City Subway station complex
Entrance from Barclays Center
Station statistics
Address	Atlantic Avenue, Pacific Street, Flatbush Avenue & Fourth Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11217
Borough	Brooklyn
Locale	Downtown Brooklyn
Coordinates	40°41′04″N 73°58′44″W / 40.684462°N 73.978758°W / 40.684462; -73.978758Coordinates: 40°41′04″N 73°58′44″W / 40.684462°N 73.978758°W / 40.684462; -73.978758
Division	A (IRT), B (BMT)
Line	BMT Fourth Avenue Line BMT Brighton Line IRT Eastern Parkway Line
Services	2  (all times) ​      3  (all except late nights) ​      4  (all times) ​      5  (weekdays only)​       B  (weekdays until 11:00 p.m.) ​      D  (all times) ​      N  (all times) ​      Q  (all times)​       R  (all times) ​      W  (limited rush hour service only)​
Transit connections	NYCT Bus: B37, B41, B45, B63, B67 MTA Bus: B103 LIRR: City Terminal Zone (at Atlantic Terminal)
Levels	3
Other information
Station code	617[1]
Accessible	ADA-accessible
Wireless service	[2]
Traffic
Passengers (2017)	13,571,093 (station complex)[3]  1.8%
Rank	21 out of 425
Location Show map of New York City Subway Show map of New York City Show map of New York Show map of the US
Street map
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times except late nights Stops all times Stops weekdays only Stops rush hours only Stops rush hours in the peak direction only
Atlantic Avenue Control House
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
MPS	Interborough Rapid Transit Subway Control Houses TR
NRHP reference #	80002643[4]
Added to NRHP	May 6, 1980
Atlantic Avenue Subway Station (IRT and BMT)
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
MPS	New York City Subway System MPS
NRHP reference #	04001023[4]
Added to NRHP	September 17, 2004

Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center (formerly Atlantic Avenue/Pacific Street) is a New York City Subway station complex shared by the BMT Fourth Avenue Line, the BMT Brighton Line and the IRT Eastern Parkway Line, located at Atlantic, Fourth, and Flatbush Avenues and Pacific Street in Downtown Brooklyn. The complex is served by the:

• 2, 4, D, N, Q and R trains at all times
• 3 train at all times except late nights
• 5 and B trains weekdays only except late nights
• W train during rush hours only, with a few trips in the peak direction

With nine subway services, this station is second to the Times Square–42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal complex in offering the most transfers to other services.

As of 2016, it is the busiest subway station in Brooklyn, with 13,818,168 passengers, and is ranked 21st overall.^[3] The control house has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1980,^[5] while the station complex as a whole has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2004,^[5] and is ADA-compliant.

History

The landmarked Atlantic Avenue Control House's exterior (left) and interior (right)

The IRT Eastern Parkway Line station was built first, in 1908, the terminal of a four-stop subway extension from Lower Manhattan to Downtown Brooklyn via the Joralemon Street Tunnel.^[6] The station's control house, a grand, ornate entrance to what was then the terminal of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company's Brooklyn lines, was designed by Heins & LaFarge, the architects who also built the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in Morningside Heights, Manhattan.^[7] This control house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980; however, the actual entrance is now removed and now serves as a skylight into the IRT station.^[5]

During the 1964–1965 fiscal year, the Brighton Line platforms at Atlantic Avenue, along with those at six other stations on the Brighton Line, were lengthened to 615 feet to accommodate a ten-car train of 60-foot IND cars, or a nine-car train of 67-foot BMT cars.^[8]

The station was overhauled in the late 1970s. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) fixed the station's structure and overhauled its appearance. It refurbished the wall tilings and replaced the old signs and incandescent lighting with modern fixtures. It also fixed the staircases and platform edges. On January 16, 1978, the ex-IRT and ex-BMT stations were connected into a single station complex, eliminating a "double fare" that formerly was required to transfer between the Atlantic Ave. IRT/BMT platforms and the Fourth Ave. BMT side of the station.^[9][10]

The station complex underwent another major overhaul from 1999 to 2003, using funds from the 1987 capital program;^[11] the $49 million in funding from that program had been delayed in 1994 due to the MTA's budget issues.^[12] This time the station received state of the art repairs and was updated for ADA-accessibility, with the installation of eight elevators in the station, as well as the widening or construction of fifteen staircases.^[7] The MTA repaired the staircases, re-tiled the walls and floors, upgraded the station's lights and the public address system, installed ADA yellow safety threads along the platform edge, installed new trackbeds for local and express trains entering the IRT station, and widened the 100-year-old passageways between the stations. To achieve this, the entire IRT station had to be supported by large 36-foot-long (11 m) crossbeams hanging from the roof of the station box, a construction technique that had never been used previously; the station was also supported by conventional columns from below. The entire feat raised the subway infrastructure under Flatbush Avenue, as well as the avenue itself, by less than an inch while the 350-foot-long (110 m) passageways were widened from 15 to 42 feet (4.6 to 12.8 m).^[7] In 2004, the entire station was made a NRHP landmark.^[5] Late that year, the MTA installed elevators on both sides of the platform and street level to accommodate wheelchairs and those with disabilities.

In June 2009, the MTA sold the naming rights of the station complex to Forest City Ratner Companies for 20 years at $200,000 per year, one of the few such renames in the system (Willets Point–Shea Stadium, in Queens, was another example of a station with such naming rights, until the MTA simply renamed it to Mets–Willets Point following Shea Stadium's demolition).^[13] Barclays Center, whose naming rights were bought by Barclays Bank, opened September 2012 and is part of Forest City Ratner Companies' Pacific Park project. As a result, the station was renamed to its present name, Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center, in May 2012. A new mezzanine and fare control area was built near the sports complex.^[14][15] Following this rename and the addition of a new exit, the MTA has considered selling the naming rights of other subway stations.^[13]

Station layout

G	Street Level	Entrances/Exits, pavilion, station house, fare control, station agents, LIRR ticket booth, MetroCard machines, connection to Long Island Rail Road (Elevators at: SE corner of Pacific Street and Fourth Avenue. customers should use Pacific Street elevator At Hanson Place and Flatbush Avenue. and LIRR customers should use Hanson Place elevator)
		Barclays Center
		Connection to Atlantic Terminal shopping mall
B1 Eastern Parkway Line platforms	Side platform, doors will open on the right
	Northbound local	← toward Wakefield–241st Street (Nevins Street) ← toward Harlem–148th Street (all except nights) (Nevins Street) ← toward Woodlawn late nights (Nevins Street)
	Northbound express	← toward Woodlawn (all except nights) (Nevins Street) ← toward Nereid Avenue PM rush hours, Dyre Avenue weekdays till 8:45pm (Nevins Street)
	Island platform, doors will open on the left
	Southbound express	→ toward Crown Heights–Utica Avenue (all except nights) (Franklin Avenue) → → toward Flatbush Avenue–Brooklyn College (weekdays) (Franklin Avenue) →
	Southbound local	→ toward Flatbush Avenue–Brooklyn College (Bergen Street) → → ( late nights) toward New Lots Avenue (Bergen Street) →
	Side platform, doors will open on the right
B1 LIRR platforms	Track 1	Atlantic Branch toward Long Island (Nostrand Avenue) →
	Platform A, doors will open on the left, right
	Track 2	Atlantic Branch toward Long Island (Nostrand Avenue) →
	Track 3	Atlantic Branch toward Long Island (Nostrand Avenue) →
	Platform B, doors will open on the left, right
	Track 4	Atlantic Branch toward Long Island (Nostrand Avenue) →
	Track 5	Atlantic Branch toward Long Island (Nostrand Avenue) →
	Platform C, doors will open on the left, right
	Track 6	Atlantic Branch toward Long Island (Nostrand Avenue) →
B2	Mezzanine	Passageway between platforms
B3 Brighton Line platform (Atlantic Avenue)	Northbound	← toward Bedford Park Boulevard (rush hours) or 145th Street (other times) (DeKalb Avenue) ← toward 96th Street (DeKalb Avenue)
	Island platform, doors will open on the left
	Southbound	→ toward Brighton Beach (Seventh Avenue) → → toward Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue via Brighton (Seventh Avenue) →
B3 Fourth Avenue Line Platforms (Pacific Street)	Northbound local	← toward Forest Hills–71st Avenue (Whitehall Street late nights) (DeKalb Avenue) ← toward Norwood–205th Street late nights (DeKalb Avenue) ← late nights, rush hours toward Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard (DeKalb Avenue)
	Island platform, doors will open on the left, right
	Northbound express	← toward Norwood–205th Street (all except nights) (Grand Street) ← toward Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard (all except nights) (Canal Street)
	Southbound express	→ toward Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue via West End (all except nights) (36th Street) → → toward Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue via Sea Beach (all except nights) (36th Street) →
	Island platform, doors will open on the left, right
	Southbound local	→ toward Bay Ridge–95th Street (Union Street) → → via West End, via Sea Beach toward Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue late nights (Union Street) → → toward Bay Parkway rush hours (Union Street) →

The station consists of three levels. The shallowest below ground, the IRT Eastern Parkway Line platforms, is at the same level as the LIRR's Atlantic Terminal railway platforms and are only 20 feet (6.1 m) below street level. The second level below ground is the BMT Fourth Avenue Line platforms, which are 40 feet (12 m) deep and have a mezzanine, and a connecting passageway to the IRT Eastern Parkway Line and BMT Brighton Line, above the platforms. The deepest is the BMT Brighton Line platform, which are 50 feet (15 m) deep and have a mezzanine above them, which serves both the Brighton Line platform and the Eastern Parkway Line platforms.

IRT Eastern Parkway Line platforms

Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center   ​ ​ ​
New York City Subway rapid transit station
Southbound local 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 only)
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2 side platforms (local) 1 island platform (express)
Tracks	4
Other information
Opened	May 1, 1908 (1908-05-01)
Station code	339[1]
Accessible	ADA-accessible
Wireless service	[2]
Former/other names	Atlantic Avenue
Station succession
Next north	Nevins Street: 2  ​3  ​4  ​5
Next south	Bergen Street (local): 2  ​3  ​4  Franklin Avenue (express): 4  ​5
Next north	Borough Hall (local): 2  ​3  Borough Hall (express): 4  ​5  (northbound only)
Next south	Crown Heights–Utica Avenue (via Eastern Parkway): 2  ​3  ​4  ​5  Church Avenue (via Nostrand Avenue): 2  ​5
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times except late nights Stops all times Stops weekdays only Stops late nights only Stops weekdays and weekday late nights Stops late nights and weekends Stops weekends and weekend late nights

Track layout
to Nevins St to Bergen St to Franklin Av

Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center (originally Atlantic Avenue) is an express station on the IRT Eastern Parkway Line which has four tracks, one island platform, and two side platforms. On the center platform, there are two old indicator signs which mark the next train, formerly used for non-rush hour short turn trains. An old style sign to the Brooklyn Academy of Music also exists. The trackway to the Long Island Rail Road Atlantic Branch is still visible at the north end of the northbound local track, although much of it is behind corrugated wall; more information about this and other unused trackways is at Bergen Street. The LIRR Atlantic Terminal platforms, slightly lower, are clearly visible through floor-to-ceiling railings.

This station has been completely renovated. The northbound local trackway and track have been completely redone with concrete base and welded rail.

The IRT Eastern Parkway Line platform has a passageway to the BMT Fourth Avenue and Brighton Lines under the platforms, with the Fourth Avenue Line to the southwest and the Brighton Line to the northeast. Another passageway between the Eastern Parkway and Brighton Line is present at the south end of the station, which also leads to an exit immediately adjacent to Barclays Center. The Barclays Center exit features a part-time booth that is staffed during events at the arena and two escalators.^[16]

Although the station is wheelchair accessible, the Eastern Parkway Line express platform was formerly too narrow in some areas to accommodate wheelchairs. Passengers were notified of this fact by announcements on trains before reaching the station. The stairs have since been trimmed in width to allow full wheelchair access.

North of this station, there is an unused trackway, splitting from the southbound local track for a proposed subway under Fourth Avenue (later built as the BMT Fourth Avenue Line). It merges with the Manhattan-bound express track and ends on a bumper block between the two express tracks at Nevins Street. When this station originally opened in 1908 it was the terminal for the line, and had two side platforms, an island platform, and two tracks. All the platforms were connected together at their southern ends.

This station is one of three express stations to have side platforms for local services and a center island platform for express services, the other two being the 34th Street–Penn Station stops on the IND Eighth Avenue Line and the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line respectively. The reason for this is that the station is connected to Atlantic Terminal, and the next station west from Atlantic Avenue, Nevins Street, is also an express station with the more common two island platform configuration. This limits overcrowding by preventing cross-platform interchanges between local and express services.

BMT Fourth Avenue Line platforms

Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center  ​ ​​ ​
New York City Subway rapid transit station
Manhattan-bound platform
Station statistics
Division	B (BMT)
Line	BMT Fourth Avenue Line
Services	D  (all times) ​      N  (all times) ​      R  (all times) ​      W  (limited rush hour service only)
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2 island platforms cross-platform interchange
Tracks	4
Other information
Opened	June 22, 1915 (1915-06-22)[17]
Station code	027[1]
Accessible	ADA-accessible
Wireless service	[2]
Former/other names	Atlantic Avenue–Pacific Street Pacific Street
Station succession
Next north	DeKalb Avenue (local): D  ​N  ​R  ​W  Canal Street (express via Broadway): N  Grand Street (express via 6th Avenue): D
Next south	Union Street (local): D  ​N  ​R  ​W  36th Street (express): D  ​N
Next north	DeKalb Avenue (local): D  ​N  ​R  ​W  14th Street–Union Square (express via Broadway): N  Broadway–Lafayette Street (express via 6th Avenue): D
Next south	Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue (via Sea Beach Line): N  Bay Parkway (via West End Line): D  none: R  ​W
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times except late nights Stops all times Stops late nights only Stops rush hours only Stops rush hours in the peak direction only

Track layout
to Canal St or Grand St to DeKalb Av to Union St to 36 St

Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center (originally Pacific Street then Atlantic Avenue–Pacific Street) is an express station on the BMT Fourth Avenue Line that has four tracks and two island platforms. It opened on June 22, 1915.^[17] A wall separates the two platforms.

At the north end of the BMT Fourth Avenue platforms, two staircases and one elevator go up to the main fare control area, where a turnstile bank provides access to/from the station and two staircases going up to either northern corners of Pacific Street and Fourth Avenue. The northeast corner also has an elevator going down to the mezzanine. A pathway connects to the rest of the complex.^[16]

BMT Brighton Line platform

Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center   ​
New York City Subway rapid transit station
Manhattan-bound train of R68 cars arrives at the station
Station statistics
Division	B (BMT)
Line	BMT Brighton Line
Services	B  (weekdays until 11:00 p.m.) ​      Q  (all times)
Structure	Underground
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2
Other information
Opened	August 1, 1920 (1920-08-01)[18]
Station code	040f[1]
Accessible	ADA-accessible
Wireless service	[2]
Former/other names	Atlantic Avenue
Station succession
Next north	DeKalb Avenue: B  ​Q
Next south	Seventh Avenue: B  ​Q
Next north	DeKalb Avenue: B  ​Q
Next south	Prospect Park: B  ​Q
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times Stops weekdays only

Track layout
to DeKalb Av to 7 Av

Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center (originally Atlantic Avenue) on the BMT Brighton Line has two tracks and an island platform.

The platform has seven staircases, three to the main mezzanine, two to the Hanson Place exit at the north end, which is an escalator that leads to a separate mezzanine with no transfers to the other lines and two at the south end, which leads to both an exit immediately adjacent to Barclays Center and another mezzanine that connects to the IRT platforms. The Barclays Center exit features a part-time booth that is staffed during events at the arena and two escalators.^[16]

The street staircase on the Hanson Place mezzanine leads to the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower. The exit at Hanson Place once had a booth that has since been removed.^[16] The lower level of this mezzanine had a passageway, now sealed, that ran above the platform from Hanson Place. The "To Hanson Place" and other signs are covered up. This area is now space used by MTA employees with the entrance at the other side.

The main mezzanine also has an out-of-system passageway to the LIRR's Atlantic Terminal and the full-time fare control at the IRT side of the station.^[16] Two of the street staircases lead to the Atlantic Terminal Mall. There is a removed staircase in between the two sets of stairs. The northernmost staircase was added during renovation, while the other two staircases were narrowed in order to comply with ADA guidelines regarding minimum 36-inch width clearances.

A platform extension is clearly visible at the south end of the platform, where the name tablets and "A" are authentic replicas on the northbound platform wall, while the southbound wall was tiled around them. The area on the southbound wall where the platform extends out is made of replicas as well. Since there were no mosaics built, only a green wall was present prior to renovation, which indicates where the platform was extended in the 1964–1965 to fit ten car trains.^[8]

North of this station, a bellmouth is visible from a Manhattan-bound train.^[19] The bellmouth was for the proposed Ashland Place Connection which would have connected to the now-demolished BMT Fulton Street El.

BMT Fifth Avenue Line station

Atlantic Avenue
Former New York City Subway station
The Fifth Avenue Line station was located right above the headhouse for this station complex
Station statistics
Address	Flatbush Avenue and Atlantic Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11217
Borough	Brooklyn
Locale	Downtown Brooklyn
Division	B (BMT)
Services	BMT Fifth Avenue Line BMT Culver Line
Structure	Elevated
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2
Other information
Opened	November 5, 1888 (November 5, 1888)
Closed	June 1, 1940 (June 1, 1940)
Station succession
Next north	Fulton Street
Next south	St. Mark's Avenue
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops in station at all times Stops all times except late nights Stops late nights only Stops late nights and weekends only Stops weekdays only Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction Stops all times except weekdays in the peak direction Stops daily except rush hours in the peak direction Stops rush hours only Stops rush hours in the peak direction only Station is closed (Details about time periods)

The station complex formerly had an elevated portion on the BMT Fifth Avenue Line, called Atlantic Avenue. It was served by trains of the BMT Culver Line and BMT Fifth Avenue Line and had two tracks and one island platform. It was located at Flatbush Avenue and Atlantic Avenue, right above the headhouse for the current complex. It also served the St. Johns Place Line, Flatbush Avenue Line, Third Avenue Line, and Seventh Avenue Line streetcars.

On June 25, 1923 two cars of a train coming from 65th Street Terminal derailed and fell towards Flatbush Avenue. Eight passengers died and many were injured.^[20][21] With increased use of the subways compared to the elevated lines, and the completion of the unification of the city's three subway systems, the Fifth Avenue Line was closed at midnight on June 1, 1940, and was demolished in 1941.^{[22][23][24][25]}

Gallery

• 
  Looking southwest at the head-house. The Fifth Avenue Line station has been demolished
• 
  Stair from IRT mezzanine to Fourth Avenue mezzanine and exit, directly below the former headhouse
• 
  Tilework
• 
  Close-up
• 
  Street stair at the NW corner of Fourth Avenue and Pacific Street.
• 
  BMT Fourth Avenue southbound platform in 2007 bearing the old Pacific Street name.

References

Further reading

• Lee Stokey. Subway Ceramics : A History and Iconography. 1994. ISBN 978-0-9635486-1-0

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Atlantic Avenue – Pacific Street (New York City Subway) and Atlantic Avenue Control House.

nycsubway.org:

The Subway Nut:

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