Borough Hall/Court Street is an underground New York City Subway station complex shared by the BMT Fourth Avenue Line, the IRT Broadway-Seventh Avenue Line and the IRT Eastern Parkway Line. The station is named Borough Hall on the IRT lines and Court Street on the BMT. Located at the intersection of Court, Joralemon and Montague Streets at the border of Downtown Brooklyn and Brooklyn Heights, it is served by the:
- 2, 4 and R trains at all times
- 3 train all times except late nights
- 5 train weekdays except evenings and late nights
- N train during late nights only
- Limited rush hour W trains
Video Borough Hall/Court Street (New York City Subway)
Station layout
Maps Borough Hall/Court Street (New York City Subway)
IRT Broadway-Seventh Avenue Line platforms
Borough Hall on the IRT Broadway-Seventh Avenue Line has two levels. Each level has one track with a side platform on the south side. Manhattan-bound trains use the upper level while southbound trains use the lower one.
Both platforms have their original IRT trim line and name tablets reading "BOROUGH HALL" in a serif lettering style. Tablets showing images of Borough Hall are located at regular intervals on the trim line. Dark blue I-beam columns line both platforms at regular intervals with alternating ones having the standard black station name plate in white lettering.
At the eastern (railroad south) end of the platforms, a staircase from the lower level goes up to the upper level, where a passageway connects to the Manhattan-bound platform of the IRT Eastern Parkway Line section of the complex. Also, the southbound track crosses under the tracks of the Eastern Parkway Line, and both tracks become the local tracks for the line.
History
The station opened on April 15, 1919 when the branch of the IRT Broadway-Seventh Avenue Line to Wall Street was extended to Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. Through service between the Brooklyn Line and the Broadway-Seventh Avenue Line was inaugurated with this extension.
In 1976, with funding from the Exxon Corporation, this station, as well as three others citywide, received new "artfully humorous graffiti" murals and artwork. Local designer Samuel Lebowitz received $5,000 to "improve the level of lighting in an exciting and light hearted way." Some "multicolored animated neon signs" were placed underneath transparent plastic screens; such signs included "an abstract eye that winks every five seconds" and another that looked to be "blow[ing] smoke rings."
Exits
The fare control for this section of the station complex is at the west (railroad north) end of the platforms. A staircase from the lower level goes up to the upper level before another staircase goes up to the mezzanine. The lower level also has an up-only escalator that bypasses the upper level, leading directly to the mezzanine. A single elevator stopping at all three levels makes this part of the complex ADA-accessible. The mezzanine has a passageway leading to the BMT platform and two public restrooms inside fare control. Outside the turnstile bank that provides entrance/exit from the station, there is a token booth, two staircases going up to the southeast corner of Court and Montague Streets, and a staircase and elevator going up to Columbus Park, the entrance plaza of Borough Hall, on the east side of Court Street.
IRT Eastern Parkway Line platforms
Borough Hall on the IRT Eastern Parkway Line has two tracks and two side platforms.
Both platforms have their original terra-cotta wall reliefs and name tablets reading "BOROUGH HALL" in sans serif lettering. "BH" tablets are located along the reliefs at regular intervals. At the extreme east (railroad south) end of the platforms, where they were extended in the 1950s to accommodate the current standard "A" Division train length, there is a brown trim line on beige tiles with "BOROUGH HALL" in white sans serif lettering. Narrow I-beam columns painted in dark green line both platforms at regular intervals.
The Manhattan-bound platform has a passageway leading to the Manhattan-bound platform of the IRT Broadway-Seventh Avenue Line section of the complex at the east (railroad south) end. As a result, only this platform is ADA-accessible.
Railroad south (compass east) of this station, the two tracks become the express tracks of the IRT Eastern Parkway Line and the two tracks of the IRT Broadway-Seventh Avenue Line become the local tracks. As a result, Manhattan-bound trains on that line can be seen from the eastern end of the platforms as they turn away into their own tunnel.
History
This was the first underground subway station in Brooklyn, opened on January 9, 1908, as the terminal for the extension of the IRT Lexington Avenue Line from Lower Manhattan. It provided easy access to the BRT elevated Fulton Street Line and Myrtle Avenue Line, although a separate fare had to be paid.
The platforms were extended to the east in 1911 and in 1964, allowing the station to accommodate 10-car trains.
The Borough Hall IRT Eastern Parkway Line station has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since September 17, 2004.
Exits
The main fare control area is at the center of the platforms and tracks. Two overpasses connect the two platforms with two staircases to each of them. On the Manhattan-bound side, the overpasses have full height turnstiles leading to an unstaffed mezzanine and two staircases going up to the northeast corner of Court and Joralemon Streets. On the southbound side, the overpasses have small turnstile banks leading to a mezzanine that has a token booth and two staircases going up to the southeast corner of Court and Joralemon Streets. The banisters on these staircases are made of concrete since they are outside the Brooklyn Municipal Building. The mezzanine has a large set of doors leading into the building (this entrance was closed in February 1996 due to security concerns), a plaque commemorating the subway's arrival in Brooklyn, and a now defunct bank teller window. An overpass between the two platforms connects the two mezzanine areas.
This section of the station complex has an unstaffed fare control area at the extreme north (geographical west) end. A single staircase from each platform goes up to a crossover, where a turnstile bank and two exit-only turnstiles provide entrance/exit from the station. Outside fare control, two staircases go up to either western corners of Livingston and Court Streets.
Image gallery
BMT Fourth Avenue Line platform
Court Street on the BMT Fourth Avenue Line is a local station with two tracks and an island platform. Since the tunnel descends to go underneath the East River, it was constructed with a deep-bore tunnel, making both track walls curved. The walls also still have their original Dual Contracts mosaic tablets and trim line. The name tablets have "COURT ST." in serif lettering, and tablets showing scenes of Borough Hall are located along the trim line at regular intervals. The western end (railroad north) of the walls are plain white.
Yellow I-beam columns line both sides of the island platform at regular intervals with alternating ones having the standard black station name plate in white lettering. Some of these show the name "Carnegie", from Carnegie Steel (predecessor of United States Steel).
This portion of the complex is not ADA-accessible as there are no elevators from the platform going to fare control. The elevator from the street to fare control is only for the services at the IRT stations.
To the west of the station, the line goes through the Montague Street Tunnel under the East River to connect to the BMT Broadway Line and the BMT Nassau Street Line. Currently, all trains use the former connection. The latter connection has been unused since the rerouting of the M train in June 2010.
History
Service running from the BMT Broadway Line through to the BMT Fourth Avenue Line via the Montague Tunnel began on August 1, 1920, along with the opening of the Court Street station.
On weekdays between August 2, 2013 and September 15, 2014, this station served as the northern terminal of the Brooklyn half of the divided R. Service ran in two sections: one section between Forest Hills and Whitehall Street-South Ferry, and the other between Court Street-Borough Hall and Bay Ridge-95th Street. This change was necessary to repair damage on the Montague Street Tunnel resulting from Hurricane Sandy.
Exits
At the east (railroad south) end of the platform, two staircases go up a landing, where two staircases and two escalators go up to a passageway that leads to the fare control area of the IRT Broadway-Seventh Avenue Line. At the west (railroad north) of the platform, a single staircase goes up to a landing where two elevators and an emergency staircase that is commonly opened for public use go up to a mezzanine. The elevator banks here have two pairs of doors to each elevator car. The mezzanine has a part-time turnstile bank and customer assistance booth (full height turnstiles provide entrance/exit from the station at all times) and two staircases going up to either western corners of Montague and Clinton Streets. The northwest staircase has an antique "SUBWAY" white and green globe sign since it is in the front yard of St. Ann's and Holy Trinity Church (the mezzanine has a mosaic sign with the church's name on it). However, the southwest staircase is next to the basement entrance of a Kiddie Korner daycare.
Image gallery
Surface connections
In 1916, a single-track counterclockwise trolley loop was built around Borough Hall with both ends at Joralemon Street and access from westbound Fulton Street to the loop and from the loop to southbound Court Street. Passengers on lines that used the loop, Court Street, or Fulton Street could transfer to the entrance of this station complex bounded by those two streets and the loop, north of Borough Hall. The lines that used this loop included:
- Flatbush-Prospect Park Line to Prospect Park
- Flatbush-Seventh Avenue Line to Greenwood Cemetery and the Ninth Avenue Depot
- Hicks Street Line to Erie Basin
- Rogers Avenue Line to Flatbush
- St. Johns Place Line to Ocean Hill
- Third Avenue Line to Fort Hamilton
- 16th Avenue Line to New Utrecht
There were other lines that passed Borough Hall and thus served the station. On Court Street, such lines included:
- Court Street Line to Gowanus
- Flatbush Avenue Line to Bergen Beach
- Greenpoint Line to Greenpoint (also on Joralemon Street)
- Montague Street Line to Wall Street Ferry
- Union Street Line to Greenwood Cemetery, Ninth Avenue Depot, and Coney Island
On Fulton Street:
- DeKalb Avenue Line to Ridgewood
- Fulton Street Line to Cypress Hills
- Greene and Gates Avenues Line to Ridgewood
- Myrtle Avenue Line to Ridgewood
- Putnam Avenue Line to Ridgewood
On Joralemon Street:
- Crosstown Line to Erie Basin and Long Island City
- Erie Basin Line to Erie Basin
On April 7, 1930, the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation eliminated the loop to relieve congestion. Several lines were moved to a loop on Washington Street north of Tillary Street or a clockwise loop on Livingston Street, Court Street, Joralemon Street, Fulton Street, and Boerum Place.
References
Further reading
- Lee Stokey. Subway Ceramics : A History and Iconography. 1994. ISBN 978-0-9635486-1-0
External links
NYC Subway.org:
Google Maps: Street View:
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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