Nassau Avenue station explained

Nassau Avenue
Address:Nassau Avenue & Manhattan Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
Borough:Brooklyn
Locale:Greenpoint
Coordinates:40.7238°N -73.9508°W
Division:IND
Line:IND Crosstown Line
Service:Crosstown
Connection: NYCT Bus:
Platforms:2 side platforms
Tracks:2
Structure:Underground

The Nassau Avenue station is a station on the IND Crosstown Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Manhattan and Nassau Avenues in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, it is served by the G train at all times.

History

This station opened on August 19, 1933 as the initial terminal station for the IND Crosstown Line.[1] With the completion of the Crosstown Line on July 1, 1937, Nassau Avenue ceased to be the line's terminal.[2]

New York City councilmember Lincoln Restler founded a volunteer group, the Friends of MTA Station Group, in early 2023 to advocate for improvements to the Nassau Avenue station and four other subway stations in Brooklyn.[3] [4]

Station layout

This underground station has two tracks and two side platforms.[5] The G stops at the station at all times. The station is between Greenpoint Avenue to the north and Metropolitan Avenue to the south.

Both platforms have a green trim line with a black border and mosaic name tablets reading "NASSAU AVE." in white sans-serif lettering on a black background and green border. Small "NASSAU" tile captions in white lettering on a black background run directly below the trim line and directional signs in the same style are below some of the name tablets. The tiles were part of a color-coded tile system used throughout the IND.[6] The tile colors were designed to facilitate navigation for travelers going away from Lower Manhattan. Because the Crosstown Line does not merge into a line that enters Manhattan at either end, all stations on the line had green tiles.[7] [8] Green I-beam columns run along both platforms at regular intervals with alternating ones having the standard black name plate in white lettering.

North of the station is a diamond crossover switch, allowing terminating trains to reverse direction.[5] These switches were used in regular service until July 1, 1937, when the remainder of the Crosstown Line opened.[9] Prior to that, Nassau Avenue was the line's southern terminus.[1] [10] [11] South of the station, the line shifts from Manhattan Avenue onto Union Avenue, running diagonally under McCarren Park.

Exits

The station's full-time fare control is at the south end, which is the more heavily used of the station's two entry-exit points. A short staircase from each platform goes up to mezzanine level. On the Church Avenue-bound side, one exit-only turnstile and one High Entry/Exit Turnstile leads to two staircases going up to either western corners of Manhattan and Nassau Avenues. The Queens-bound side has the station's full-time turnstile bank, token booth, and two staircases going up to either eastern corners of the same intersection. A raised crossover connects the two sides both inside and outside fare control and is split in two by a steel fence. The mezzanine has mosaic directional signs in white lettering on a green background.[5] [12] G trains, which are about half the length of the 600feet platform, stop near the south end of the station.[13]

Both platforms have an unstaffed platform-level fare control at their north end, with no crossover. On the Church Avenue-bound side, one exit-only turnstile and one High Entry/Exit Turnstile lead to a single staircase going up to the northwest corner of Norman and Manhattan Avenues. On the Queens-bound side, a single full-height turnstile leads to a staircase going up to the northeast corner of the same intersection.[5] [12]

In preparation for the 14th Street Tunnel shutdown in 2019, it was initially planned to reconfigure the split free/paid area at the south end of the station into an exclusively unpaid area. This would have removed the free transfer between platforms, but would have allowed for increased flow from passengers entering and exiting the station.[14] Though this was not done, a project to replace high-entry/exit turnstiles at the station with four low turnstiles was completed in January 2019.[15]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Two Subway Units Open At Midnight; Links in City-Owned System in Queens and Brooklyn to Have 15 Stations.. The New York Times. November 7, 2015. August 18, 1933.
  2. Book: Kramer, Frederick A.. Building the Independent Subway. January 1, 1990. Quadrant Press. 9780915276509. en.
  3. Web site: Brendlen . Kirstyn . February 24, 2023 . Restler launches new 'Friends of MTA Station' initiative to care for 5 local subway stops . May 6, 2023 . Brooklyn Paper.
  4. Web site: Nessen . Stephen . March 5, 2023 . Want to be 'friends' with a subway station? A Brooklyn councilmember seeks volunteers. . May 6, 2023 . Gothamist.
  5. Web site: Review of the G Line: Appendices. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. October 28, 2015. July 10, 2013.
  6. News: August 22, 1932 . Tile Colors a Guide in the New Subway; Decoration Scheme Changes at Each Express Stop to Tell Riders Where They Are . en-US . The New York Times . live . July 1, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220701184626/https://www.nytimes.com/1932/08/22/archives/tile-colors-a-guide-in-the-new-subway-decoration-scheme-changes-at.html . July 1, 2022 . 0362-4331.
  7. Web site: Carlson . Jen . February 18, 2016 . Map: These Color Tiles In The Subway System Used To Mean Something . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230510153052/https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/map-these-color-tiles-in-the-subway-system-used-to-mean-something . May 10, 2023 . May 10, 2023 . Gothamist.
  8. Web site: Gleason . Will . February 18, 2016 . The hidden meaning behind the New York subway's colored tiles . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230510153052/https://www.timeout.com/newyork/blog/the-hidden-meaning-behind-the-new-york-subways-colored-tiles-021816 . May 10, 2023 . May 10, 2023 . Time Out New York.
  9. News: New Crosstown Subway Line Is Opened. December 24, 2015. Brooklyn Daily Eagle. July 1, 1937.
  10. Web site: Independent Subway Services Beginning in 1932. thejoekorner.com. August 2, 2015. August 21, 2013.
  11. News: Natalie . O'Neill . G wiz! MTA plans to save the G train extension! . . July 19, 2012 . July 21, 2012.
  12. Web site: MTA Neighborhood Maps: Greenpoint. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. November 7, 2015. 2015.
  13. Web site: Review of the G Line. mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. August 2, 2015. July 10, 2013.
  14. Web site: MTA New York City Transit Canarsie Tunnel Project Supplemental Environmental Assessment and Section 4(f) Review: Final Report. New York City Transit Authority. New York City Transit Authority. July 2018. mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. July 27, 2018. 15.
  15. Web site: MTA Investment Reconfiguration of Fare Control Areas (FCA) Replace High Entry/Exit Turnstiles (HEETs) with Low Entry Turnstiles (TS). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2021. archive.org. May 27, 2024.