The BMT Fourth Avenue Line is a rapid transit line of the New York City Subway, mainly running under Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn. The line is served by the D, N, and R at all times; the R typically runs local, while the D and N run express during the day and local at night. During rush hours, select W trains also serve the line. Northbound D and N trains run local along the line after 6:45 p.m. during weekdays as well. The line was originally built by the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT; later Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation, or BMT) and is now internally operated as part of the New York City Subway's B Division.
The fully underground line starts as a two-track line in Downtown Brooklyn west of Court Street, connecting to the BMT Broadway Line and BMT Nassau Street Line in Manhattan via the Montague Street Tunnel under the East River. It travels east under Montague and Willoughby Streets to DeKalb Avenue, where it then turns southeast under Flatbush Avenue. At DeKalb Avenue, the express tracks, which continue from the Manhattan Bridge to the northwest, split off from the BMT Brighton Line and join the Fourth Avenue Line. At Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center, the line curves southwest under Fourth Avenue to the end of the line at Bay Ridge–95th Street. Going south from Atlantic Avenue, the BMT West End Line splits from both the local and express tracks south of 36th Street, while the express tracks continue as the BMT Sea Beach Line south of 59th Street.
Fourth Avenue never had a streetcar line or elevated railway due to the provisions of the assessment charged to neighboring property owners when the street was widened. Construction of the line was only undertaken because of the efforts of the local communities. After the line was opened, development resulting from the line's construction transformed communities such as Dyker Heights, Fort Hamilton, Bay Ridge, and Sunset Park. One station, Myrtle Avenue, was abandoned in 1956 as part of the reconfiguration of the busy DeKalb Avenue Junction.
Route
Coming south from DeKalb Avenue and off of Fulton Street, the four-track line runs entirely under Fourth Avenue to just past 59th Street. South of 36th Street, the West End Line, formerly the New Utrecht Avenue elevated line, branches off eastward, running to its terminus at Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue. Until 1954, the BMT Culver Line also branched off from here, replaced by the Culver Shuttle until 1975, when it was discontinued. At 64th Street, after the Sea Beach Line branches off eastward towards Coney Island via an open-cut right-of-way, the line becomes two-tracked and continues under Fourth Avenue to its terminus at Bay Ridge–95th Street. Between 86th Street and 95th Street there is a third track available for train storage. While this section of the line was built with two tracks, there are provisions to add two additional express tracks between 59th and 85th Streets if the need ever arises.
The line's northernmost section serves Brooklyn Heights and Downtown Brooklyn. The central section serves Park Slope east of Fourth Avenue and north of Prospect Expressway; Boerum Hill and Gowanus west of Fourth Avenue and north of Prospect Expressway; and Sunset Park to the south of Prospect Expressway.* The southernmost section serves the communities of Bay Ridge and Fort Hamilton.
Services The following services use the Fourth Avenue Line: RouteStops Time periodWest of DeKalb AveDeKalb AveBetween Atlantic Aveand 36 StBetween 36 Stand 59 StBetween 59 Stand 95 StAll except nightscolspan=2 expresscolspan=2 Nightslocalcolspan=2 All except nightsand off-peak rushcolspan=2 expressOff-peak rush(limited service)localNightslocalAll timeslocalLimited rush hourslocal
The line normally carries the Fourth Avenue service on the local tracks and the Sea Beach and West End services on the express tracks. During weekdays, five local N trains per day are designated as trains, Manhattan-bound from DeKalb Avenue, the local tracks run via the Montague Street Tunnel to Lower Manhattan, serving either Whitehall Street on the BMT Broadway Line (N, R) or Broad Street on the BMT Nassau Street Line (no service; the last service to use these tracks was the , rerouted in 2010). The express tracks go to Manhattan via the Manhattan Bridge to either the BMT Broadway Line's Canal Street express station (N) or the IND Sixth Avenue Line's Grand Street station (D).
History
Background
Context Transportation to the area was first provided in 1889 with the establishment of the 39th Street Ferry, which connected the area to Manhattan. Between 1888 and 1893, a new elevated line was opened along Fifth Avenue. Initially, the line terminated at 27th Street where people could transfer to horse cars. In 1892, the first trolley line was built in Brooklyn, starting at the ferry and running via Second Avenue to 65th Street, and then via Third Avenue. The Fifth Avenue Elevated was then extended to Third Avenue and 65th Street.
A building boom in South Brooklyn started in about 1902 and 1903. Thousands of people started coming to the area from Manhattan and from other places. In 1905 and 1906 realty values increased by about 100 percent, and land values increased. This growth was spurred by the promise of improved transportation access. The improved transportation access transformed the community from an isolated farm community to a center of industrial and commercial life.
Planning The Fourth Avenue Line was built as part of the Dual Contracts. It replaced the parallel elements of an old, now long-ago-demolished elevated system running above Fifth Avenue and Third Avenue. In 1902, a committee of the West End Board of Trade announced their support for a subway line from the Battery to Coney Island via Atlantic or Hamilton Avenues in front of the Rapid Transit Commission. The first definite plans for a subway under Fourth Avenue were proposed by Rapid Transit Commission engineer William Barclay Parsons in 1903. On April 10, 1905, a citizens' committee was created to aid the creation of the subway line.
In 1906, the plan for the Fourth Avenue subway included a spur via 86th Street running through Dyker Heights and Bensonhurst. At this time the spur was not authorized, but at the time it was viewed as a necessary part of the transportation plan for the area. The line was planned as a four-track line from Dean Street to Fort Hamilton, before being fed by a subway line going under the East River, and by a line over the Manhattan Bridge. An additional two-track spur was to begin at 37th Street before running under private property and 38th Street, before connecting with the South Brooklyn Railway. An additional two-track spur would branch off between 63rd and 64th Streets before connecting with the Sea Beach Railway. South of 65th Street the main line was planned to continue as a four-track line to 100th Street. Another proposal for a branch line was for a subway via New Utrecht Avenue. The line, consisting of four tracks, would have branched off at 40th Street before turning under New Utrecht Avenue and 86th Street to a point between 23rd and 24th Avenues. From there the line would have become an elevated line running to Coney Island. A spur of the Fourth Avenue line via 86th Street would have merged in here.
As a possible alternative to subway construction, engineer F. H. Behr proposed a monorail system for Brooklyn. Each car was proposed to carry 80 to 120 passengers and attain a speed of . An application was filed with the Board of Alderman for franchises for four routes, with the first running to South Brooklyn. It would have run from the intersection of Flatbush Avenue and Atlantic Avenue and down Fourth Avenue to 85th or 86th Streets, where it would turn eastward to Stillwell Avenue, where it would turn onto West 12th Street and continue to a terminal loop at Coney Island.
On June 1, 1905, the Rapid Transit Commission adopted the Fourth Avenue route to Fort Hamilton. The proposal, on July 7, 1905, was presented to the Board of Estimate, and was approved by them on July 14. The Mayor signed the bill on July 28. On June 18, 1906, the route was approved by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court after the Rapid Transit Commission was unable to get the necessary consents of property owners along the planned route. This plan included a connection between the line and the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT)'s extension into Brooklyn which was then planned to run under Flatbush Avenue. A track connection was also planned to another proposed route: this route would have run under Pacific Street, Court Street, and Montague Street, before running under the East River to Manhattan. That route was never built, but provisions were built for it in the south wall of the Montague Street Tunnel south of the Whitehall Street station.
On December 7, 1906, the Board of Estimate recommended that two bids be let: one for the construction of the line, and one for the construction, equipment, and operation of the line. A spur to Coney Island was added to the plan after the persistency of Frank Hudson. On May 31, 1907, the Rapid Transit Commission requested that the Board of Estimate rescind the above resolution so that bids of construction alone might be asked for, and it authorized the preparation of the plans and contracts. On June 4, 1907, a resolution was passed by the Board of Estimate that authorized the Rapid Transit Commission that rescinded the resolution and authorized the Rapid Transit Commission to let out bids of construction only. On June 27, 1907, the Rapid Transit Commission approved the plans and contracts with the exception of the section between Ashland Place and Fulton Street to Sackett Street and Fourth Avenue. The Rapid Transit Commission was succeeded by the Public Service Commission (PSC) on July 1, 1907, and the new commission hesitated to approve the plan for the line. People in South Brooklyn were angered by the delay, and 3,000 people from the area showed up to a meeting on September 11, 1907, urging the PSC to act. In October and November 1907, the PSC approved the plans and contracts with modifications concerning grades and an increase in the height of the subway to fifteen feet.
The commissioners, from the PSC, adopted plans for the line on March 10, 1908, and proposed contracts for the line. On March 20, 1908, at a meeting of the Board of Estimate, Controller Metz sent the plan to a committee within the Board for study, angering five hundred supporters of the line at the meeting. Coler, the Brooklyn Borough President, objected to the committee, citing that Mr. Lewis, the Chief Engineer, was against the construction of the project. This resolution was defeated, and the main resolution failed to get a two-thirds majority. Afterwards, Metz procured an injunction that restrained the Board from acting until the debt limit was established: this blocked any immediate action. After hearings, General Tracy announced that the project was $150,000,000 within the debt limit, and Mayor George McClellan and Controller Metz joined with their colleagues to vote unanimously in favor of the Fourth Avenue subway line on March 27, 1908.