Lorimer Street / Metropolitan Avenue (New York City Subway)

Lorimer Street / Metropolitan Avenue
New York City Subway rapid transit station complex
300px Lorimer Street stair
Station statistics
Address	Metropolitan Avenue between Lorimer Street & Union Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11211
Borough	Brooklyn
Locale	Williamsburg
Coordinates
Division	BMT/IND.
Line	BMT Canarsie Line       IND Crosstown Line
Services	G  (all times)       L  (all times)
Transit connections	NYCT Bus: B24, B48, Q54, Q59
Levels	2
Other information
Opened	July 1, 1948 (1948-07-01)
Traffic
Passengers (2014)	5,090,344 (station complex)  1%
Rank	94 out of 421
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times

Lorimer Street / Metropolitan Avenue is an underground New York City Subway station complex shared by the BMT Canarsie Line and the IND Crosstown Line. Located in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, the complex is served by the G and L trains at all times.

The BMT Canarsie Line platforms, which are named Lorimer Street, are located above the IND Crosstown Line platforms, which are named Metropolitan Avenue.

BMT Canarsie Line platforms

Lorimer Street
New York City Subway rapid transit station
300px
Station statistics
Division	B (BMT)
Line	BMT Canarsie Line
Services	L  (all times)
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Other information
Opened	September 21, 1924 (1924-09-21)
Station succession
Next north	Bedford Avenue: L
Next south	Graham Avenue: L
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times

The Lorimer Street station on the BMT Canarsie Line has two tracks and two side platforms. It opened on September 21, 1924, as part of the initial segment of the underground Canarsie Line, a product of the Dual Contracts, stretching from Sixth Avenue in Manhattan to Montrose Avenue.

The Lorimer Street entry point has a mezzanine above the station. There is also another entrance at Union Avenue that leads directly to the Manhattan-bound platform.

Image gallery

• Lorimer Street BMT IMG 9156.JPG

  Lorimer Street full-name mosaic

• Lorimer Street BMT IMG 9159.JPG

  Lorimer Street "L" mosaic

• Union n Metro Av BMT sta jeh.JPG

  Metropolitan Avenue stair

IND Crosstown Line platforms

Metropolitan Avenue
New York City Subway rapid transit station
300px Street stair at southeast corner of Metropolitan & Union Avenues
Station statistics
Division	B (IND)
Line	IND Crosstown Line
Services	G  (all times)
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Other information
Opened	July 1, 1937 (1937-07-01)
Former/other names	Metropolitan Avenue – Grand Street
Station succession
Next north	Nassau Avenue: G
Next south	Broadway: G
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times

The Metropolitan Avenue station on the IND Crosstown Line opened on July 1, 1937 as part of the extension of the Crosstown Line from Nassau Avenue to Hoyt-Schermerhorn Streets. The station also has two tracks and two side platforms. Station tile signage retains the original name of the station: Metropolitan Avenue – Grand Street. IND icon tiles indicate "To Street and Transfer." The mezzanine is full length, but the central and south portions are used as a police facility and as employee space and offices. The south exit is an emergency exit and leads to Grand Street. There is another exit in the center of the station that is now abandoned and sealed.

Image gallery

• Metropolitan Ave vc.jpg

  Platform

• Metropolitan Avenue closed exit vc.jpg

  Closed exit

• Faith Fate Metropolitan Avenue vc.jpg

  Artwork by Jackie Chang

Station layout

G	Street Level	Entrances/Exits
B1	Side platform, doors will open on the right
	Northbound	← toward Eighth Avenue (Bedford Avenue)
	Southbound	→ toward Canarsie – Rockaway Parkway (Graham Avenue) →
	Side platform, doors will open on the right
B2	Mezzanine	to entrances/exits, station agent, MetroCard vending machines
B3	Side platform, doors will open on the right
	Northbound	← toward Court Square (Nassau Avenue)
	Southbound	→ toward Church Avenue (Broadway) →
	Side platform, doors will open on the right

The main entrances at the corner of Metropolitan and Union Avenues lead to the transfer passageway between the lines. (A second set of entrances at Metropolitan Avenue and Lorimer Street to the east leads directly to the Canarsie Line platforms.) The L-shaped passageway, located above the Crosstown Line at its northern end and below the Canarsie Line at its western end, also serves as the mezzanine for the Crosstown Line lower level. When viewed from the Crosstown Line mezzanine, the passageway splits up as the right half leads to a ramp for Canarsie-bound trains while the left half leads to a crossunder to Eighth Avenue-bound trains.

Originally, passengers who wished to transfer between the Canarsie and Crosstown lines had to pay a separate fare, because the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (operator of the Canarsie Line) and the Independent Subway System (the Crosstown Line's operator) were competing companies. On July 1, 1948, eight years after the three operators of New York's subways were unified into a single entity, the transfer passageway was reconfigured to be inside fare control, thus permitting free transfers between lines.

The 2000 artwork in the transfer passageway and the Crosstown Line mezzanine is called Signs of Life by Jackie Chang. A precinct of the New York City Transit Police is also located on the Crosstown Line mezzanine.

External links

• nycsubway.org—BMT Canarsie Line: Lorimer Street
• nycsubway.org—IND Crosstown Line: Metropolitan Avenue
• Station Reporter — Metropolitan Avenue/Lorimer Street Complex
• The Subway Nut — Lorimer Street Pictures
• The Subway Nut — Metropolitan Avenue – Grand Street Pictures
• MTA's Arts For Transit — Metropolitan Avenue/Lorimer Street
• Union Avenue, Keap Street, and Metropolitan Avenue entrances from Google Maps Street View
• Metropolitan Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Lorimer Street entrances from Google Maps Street View
• BMT platforms from Google Maps Street View