Myrtle Avenue (BMT Jamaica Line)

Myrtle Avenue
New York City Subway rapid transit station
Lower platforms (in operation)
Station statistics
Address	Myrtle Avenue & Broadway Brooklyn, NY 11206
Borough	Brooklyn
Locale	Bedford-Stuyvesant, Bushwick
Coordinates	40°41′49″N 73°56′07″W / 40.696941°N 73.935285°WCoordinates: 40°41′49″N 73°56′07″W / 40.696941°N 73.935285°W
Division	B (BMT)
Line	BMT Jamaica Line
Services	J  (all times)       M  (all times)       Z  (rush hours, peak direction)
Transit connections	NYCT Bus: B15, B46, B47, B54
Structure	Elevated
Levels	2 (upper level abandoned)
Platforms	3 island platforms (2 in service (lower level), 1 disused (upper level)) cross-platform interchange (lower level)
Tracks	3 (lower level), 2 (upper level)
Other information
Opened	June 25, 1888 (lower level)[1] December 19, 1889 (upper level)
Closed	October 4, 1969 (upper level)
Accessibility	Cross-platform wheelchair transfer available
Former/other names	Myrtle Avenue – Broadway
Traffic
Passengers (2015)	3,687,468[2]  4.6%
Rank	141 out of 422
Station succession
Preceding station   New York City Subway   Following station Sumner Avenue toward Park Row BMT Myrtle Avenue Line (demolished) Central Avenue toward Metropolitan Avenue Terminus M  Flushing Avenue toward 71st Avenue BMT Jamaica Line (local) M  Flushing Avenue toward Broad Street BMT Jamaica Line (local) J  Kosciuszko Street toward Parsons/Archer Park Avenue toward Broadway Ferry BMT Jamaica Line (demolished) Marcy Avenue toward Broad Street BMT Jamaica Line (express & skip-stop) J  BMT Jamaica Line (express & skip-stop) Z  Gates Avenue toward Parsons/Archer (express) no regular service Broadway Junction toward Parsons/Archer
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times except late nights Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction Stops late nights only Stops rush hours in the peak direction only
Location

Myrtle Avenue (also called Myrtle Avenue – Broadway) is a New York City Subway express station on the BMT Jamaica Line. Located at the intersection of Myrtle Avenue and Broadway in Brooklyn, it is served by J and M trains at all times and the Z during rush hours in peak direction. The station has two platform levels, but all regular passenger service is on the lower platform level of the station. The station has an abandoned upper platform level which previously served the BMT Myrtle Avenue Line to Downtown Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge. Just east of the station, the BMT Myrtle Avenue Line diverges an at-grade junction with slip switches between the BMT Myrtle Avenue and BMT Jamaica Lines.

Station layout

3F	Former southbound Myrtle Avenue El	Trackbed
	Island platform, disused
	Former northbound Myrtle Avenue El	Trackbed
2F	Westbound local[note 1]	← toward Broad Street (off-peak) (Flushing Avenue) ← toward 71st Avenue (weekdays), Essex Street (weekends) (Flushing Avenue)
	Island platform, doors will open on the left, right
	Center track[note 2]	← toward Broad Street (AM rush) (Marcy Avenue) → toward Jamaica Center – Parsons/Archer (PM rush) (Kosciuszko Street (J local) or Gates Avenue (Z skip-stop local); no service to Broadway Junction (express)) → → toward Metropolitan Avenue (late nights) (Central Avenue) →
	Island platform, doors will open on the left, right
	Eastbound local[note 1]	→ toward Jamaica Center – Parsons/Archer (off-peak) (Kosciuszko Street) → → toward Metropolitan Avenue (all except late nights) (Central Avenue) →
1F	Mezzanine	Fare control, station agent
G	Street Level	Exit / Entrance

Lower level

A weekend R160A M shuttle train on the center track prior to the extension of weekend M service from Myrtle Avenue to Essex Street

This elevated station, opened on September 16, 1888 on the lower level, has three tracks and two island platforms. J and Z trains use the middle track for peak-direction express service on weekdays while M trains use it as a terminal track for their late night shuttle service to Middle Village – Metropolitan Avenue. For the rest of the time, all trains are on the local tracks. East of this station, J and Z trains use the local track, continuing on the Jamaica Line to Queens; M trains use an "S" curve that connects the Jamaica Line to the Myrtle Avenue Line and continue to Metropolitan Avenue. This is one of the few remaining level junctions in the subway as well as one of the few places on revenue tracks with slip switches.^[3][4] This can be a bottleneck for any arriving train around here in either direction.

This station is announced as Myrtle Avenue – Broadway in R143 and R160 cars to distinguish it from the nearby Myrtle–Wyckoff Avenues station.

Both platforms have brown canopies with green support columns and frames for their entire length except for a small section at either ends. The station signs are in the standard black plates in white lettering.

This station has an elevated station house to the west underneath the skeletal remains of the BMT Myrtle Avenue Line. Two staircases from each platform go down to an elevated crossunder, where a shorter staircase on the Queens-bound side leads to the station house's waiting area. Outside the turnstile bank, there is a token booth and two staircases going down to either western corners of Myrtle Avenue and Broadway.

The 1999 artwork here is called Jammin' Under the El by Verna Hart. It consists of stained glass windows on the platforms' sign structures as well as the station house depicting various scenes related to music.

Upper level

The abandoned upper level

The upper level station (which was marked on signs as Broadway) opened on April 27, 1889, and created a transfer opportunity to the BMT Jamaica Line. The previous station located nearby at Stuyvesant Avenue was then closed. The upper level station contained two tracks and an island platform, with stairs to both of the existing platforms on the lower level. The Myrtle Avenue upper level was extended to Wyckoff Avenue on July 21, 1889.^[5] The BMT Myrtle Avenue Line from Broadway to Bridge–Jay Streets closed on October 4, 1969, and was replaced via transfer to the B54 bus toward Jay Street.

Notes

1. This is a wrong-way concurrency in railroad direction.
2. This track is used by J Z trains in the peak direction during rush hours, with the next Jamaica-bound stop being a skip-stop local station, and by M trains during late nights.

References

1. "The Broadway Line Opened". Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, NY). June 25, 1888. p. 6.
2. "Facts and Figures: Annual Subway Ridership". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
3. BMT Nassau St./Jamaica Line: Myrtle Avenue at nycsubway.org; see photos on that page.
4. Video on YouTube
5. "Lost the Second Game". Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, NY). July 21, 1889. p. 2.

External links

Station entrance

• Station Reporter — J Train
• Station Reporter — M Train
• The Subway Nut — Myrtle Avenue Pictures
• MTA's Arts For Transit — Myrtle Avenue (BMT Jamaica Line)
• Myrtle Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Platforms from Google Maps Street View