Franklin Avenue – Botanic Garden (New York City Subway)

Franklin Avenue – Botanic Garden
New York City Subway rapid transit station complex

Entrance to the BMT station
Station statistics
Address Franklin Avenue & Eastern Parkway
Brooklyn, NY 11225
Borough Brooklyn
Locale Crown Heights
Coordinates 40°40′15″N 73°57′31″W / 40.670711°N 73.958545°W / 40.670711; -73.958545Coordinates: 40°40′15″N 73°57′31″W / 40.670711°N 73.958545°W / 40.670711; -73.958545
Division A (IRT), B (BMT)
Line IRT Eastern Parkway Line
BMT Franklin Avenue Line
Services       2  (all times)
      3  (all except late nights)
      4  (all times)
      5  (weekdays until 8:45 p.m.)
      S  (all times)
Transit connections NYCT Bus: B48
Levels 2
Other information
Opened 1999 (1999)
Traffic
Passengers (2015) 5,100,038 (station complex)[1] Decrease 5.2%
Rank 94 out of 422

Franklin Avenue – Botanic Garden is a New York City Subway station complex shared by the IRT Eastern Parkway Line and the BMT Franklin Avenue Line. Located at the intersection of Franklin Avenue and Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, it is served by the:

The station complex is named for its proximity to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The free transfer between the Eastern Parkway and Franklin Avenue shuttle platforms was added in 1999 using a passageway that had existed since October 1928, when the BMT Botanic Garden station opened.

The 1999 artwork here is called IL7/Square by Millie Burns. It features iron shapes of leaves on the fence that surrounds the station entrance.

BMT Franklin Avenue Line platforms

Botanic Garden
New York City Subway rapid transit station

Northbound platform
Station statistics
Division B (BMT)
Line BMT Franklin Avenue Line
Services       S  (all times)
Structure Enclosed open cut
Platforms 2 side platforms
Tracks 2
Other information
Opened September 30, 1928 (1928-09-30)[2]
Rebuilt October 18, 1999 (1999-10-18)
Former/other names Consumers Park
Station succession
Next north Park Place: S 
Next south Prospect Park: S 

Botanic Garden on the BMT Franklin Avenue Line has two tracks and two side platforms. The station is named for the nearby Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

There was no station at this location until December 1926,[3] when a new station was constructed to replace Consumers Park several blocks to the south, which was considered too close to Prospect Park to be useful. Consumers Park had been renamed Botanic Garden in 1924. The new station assumed this name upon opening on September 30, 1928 and the old station closed at the same time.[2]

The current station was built in the open-cut right-of-way to the south of Eastern Parkway, and the half of the station closest to that street was roofed over in the appearance of a subway structure.

The station deteriorated over the years as the New York City Transit Authority considered whether to abandon or rehabilitate the station and the line. Support in the Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights communities persuaded the city to rebuild the line from July 1998 to September 1999. A transfer to Franklin Avenue on the IRT Eastern Parkway Line was added via a passageway that connects the Franklin Avenue-bound platform to the IRT mezzanine.

The station's mezzanine is above the platforms and tracks. Two staircases from each side go up to a waiting area that allows a free transfer between directions (this is needed for passengers transferring between the IRT and Prospect Park-bound trains). Outside of the turnstile bank, there is a token booth and one street stair.

The rebuilt station is located entirely inside the subway structure that was built in 1928. At street level, it features floral wrought iron fencing in recognition of its location near the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. At track level it includes 1920s-era mosaic tiling. To the immediate north of the station, the 1878 railroad tunnel that carries the line under Eastern Parkway has been dramatically lighted.

Gallery

IRT Eastern Parkway Line platforms

Franklin Avenue
New York City Subway rapid transit station

Northbound 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 until 8:45 p.m.)
Structure Underground
Platforms 2 island platforms
cross-platform interchange
Tracks 4
Other information
Opened August 23, 1920 (1920-08-23)
Accessibility Cross-platform wheelchair transfer available
Station succession
Next north Eastern Parkway – Brooklyn Museum (local): 2  3  4 
Atlantic Avenue – Barclays Center (express): 4  5 
Next south Nostrand Avenue (local): 2  3  4 
Crown Heights – Utica Avenue (express): 4  5 
President Street (via Nostrand Ave): 2  5 

Franklin Avenue is an underground express station on the IRT Eastern Parkway Line that has four tracks with two island platforms and opened on August 23, 1920.

Both platforms have yellow i-beam columns on both sides at regular intervals with every other one having the standard black station name plate in white lettering. The platform walls have their original Dual Contracts trim line with "F" tablets for "Franklin" at regular intervals. At the extreme west (railroad north) end, the platforms were extended in the 1950s to accommodate the current standard IRT train length of 510 feet. The walls here have a blue trim line with "FRANKLIN AVE" in white sans serif lettering on two lines.

The station's main entrance is a mezzanine above the platforms and tracks at their center. Two staircases from each platform go up to a waiting area that allows a free transfer between directions. Outside of the turnstile bank, there is a token booth and four street stairs to either eastern corners of Franklin Avenue and Eastern Parkway.

The transfer to the Franklin Avenue Shuttle is at the west end of the station. A single staircase from each platform goes up to a mezzanine, where a passageway leads to the north end of the Franklin Avenue-bound platform. A crossover is required to reach the Prospect Park-bound platform.

The station has been adopted by Clara Barton High School as part of New York City Transit's Adopt-A-Station program.

Rogers Junction

East (railroad south) of this station is Rogers Junction, where trains can diverge to the IRT Nostrand Avenue Line or just continue on Eastern Parkway. From west to east between the station and the junction, the northbound local track descends to a lower level directly below the southbound local track. Then, the northbound express track, which is still on the upper level at this point, descends to the lower level directly below the southbound express track, creating a dual level two-over-two track layout.[4]

At the junction, a switch on the upper level allows southbound 5 express trains to change to the local track, and a corresponding switch on the lower level allows 5 trains on the northbound local track to change to the express track. Directly to the east, all of the mainline tracks shift slightly to the north, and the mainline local tracks on both levels become the Nostrand Avenue Line tracks, which turn to the south. There is a closed tower at the south end of the southbound platform.[4]

This junction is a severe traffic bottleneck during rush hours. In 1968, as part of the Program for Action, a rebuilding of the junction was planned in order to alleviate congestion. However, financial troubles caused the plan to be dropped.

Gallery

Station layout

G Street Level Exit/Entrance
B1 Mezzanine Fare control, station agent
B2
BMT platform level		 Side platform, doors will open on the right
Southbound ← toward Prospect Park (Terminus)
Northbound → toward Franklin Avenue (Park Place) →
Side platform, doors will open on the right
B3
IRT platform level		 Northbound local ← toward Wakefield – 241st Street (Eastern Parkway – Brooklyn Museum)
← toward Harlem – 148th Street ( toward Woodlawn late nights) (Eastern Parkway – Brooklyn Museum)
Island platform, doors will open on the left, right
Northbound express ← toward Woodlawn (Atlantic Avenue – Barclays Center)
← toward Nereid Avenue PM rush hours, Dyre Avenue weekdays till 8:45pm (Atlantic Avenue – Barclays Center)
Southbound express → toward Utica Avenue (Terminus) →
→ toward Flatbush Avenue – Brooklyn College weekdays till 8:45pm (President Street) →
Island platform, doors will open on the left, right
Southbound local → toward Flatbush Avenue – Brooklyn College (President Street) →
→ ( late nights) toward New Lots Avenue (Nostrand Avenue) →

Exits

Due to the free transfer passageway, all exits serve all platforms.[5]

Exit location Exit type Number of exits Platform served
Eastern Parkway (south side
between Franklin Avenue and Classon Avenue)		 Staircase 1 BMT Franklin Avenue Line
SE corner of Eastern Parkway and Franklin Avenue Staircase 1 IRT Eastern Parkway Line
Eastern Parkway, south side mall
SE corner of Eastern Parkway and Franklin Avenue		 Staircase 1 IRT Eastern Parkway Line
Eastern Parkway, north side mall
NE corner of Eastern Parkway and Franklin Avenue		 Staircase 1 IRT Eastern Parkway Line
NE corner of Eastern Parkway and Franklin Avenue Staircase 1 IRT Eastern Parkway Line

References

  1. ↑ "Facts and Figures: Annual Subway Ridership". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
  2. 1 2 "Botanic Garden Station Opened". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. October 1, 1928. Retrieved November 5, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ "B.M.T. Gets Permit to Change Station". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. December 23, 1926. Retrieved November 5, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. 1 2 "www.nycsubway.org: New York City Subway Track Maps". www.nycsubway.org. 2015-10-09. Retrieved 2015-10-09.
  5. ↑ "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Park Slope/Prospect Park" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transit Authority (New York). 2015. Retrieved 2 August 2015.

External links

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