Prospect Park (BMT Brighton Line)

Prospect Park
New York City Subway rapid transit station
300px Coney Island-bound platform
Station statistics
Address	Empire Boulevard & Flatbush Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11238
Borough	Brooklyn
Locale	Flatbush
Coordinates
Division	B (BMT)
Line	BMT Brighton Line BMT Franklin Avenue Line
Services	B  (weekdays until 11:00 p.m.)       Q  (all times)       S  (all times)
Transit connections	NYCT Bus: B16, B41, B43, B48
Structure	Open-cut
Platforms	2 island platforms cross-platform interchange
Tracks	4 (3 in regular service)
Other information
Opened	July 2, 1878 (1878-07-02)
Accessible
Traffic
Passengers (2014)	3,312,727  3.8%
Rank	154 out of 421
Station succession
Next north	Seventh Avenue (via Brighton): B  Q  Botanic Garden (via Franklin): S
Next south	Parkside Avenue (local): Q  Church Avenue (express): B  (Terminal): S
Next north	Atlantic Avenue – Barclays Center (via Brighton): B  Q  Park Place (via Franklin): S
Next south	Avenue H (local): Q  (southbound only) Kings Highway (express): B  none: S
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times Stops weekdays only

Prospect Park is an express station on the BMT Brighton Line of the New York City Subway. Located at Empire Boulevard and Flatbush Avenue in Flatbush, Brooklyn, near the border of Crown Heights, Prospect Heights, and Park Slope, it is served by the Q and Franklin Avenue Shuttle trains at all times and the B train on weekdays.

Station layout

G	Street Level	Exit/Entrance
M	Mezzanine	Fare control, station agent
		Waiting area, to Exits/Entrances (Entrance ramp on Lincoln Road between Flatbush Avenue and Ocean Avenue; elevators after fare control)
P Platforms	Northbound shuttle	← toward Franklin Avenue (Botanic Garden)
	Island platform, doors will open on the left
	Separation at north end
	Island platform, doors will open on the right
	Northbound express	← toward Bedford Park Boulevard rush hours, 145th Street weekdays (Seventh Avenue) ← toward Astoria – Ditmars Boulevard weekdays, 57th Street – Seventh Avenue weekends (Seventh Avenue)
	Southbound express	→ toward Brighton Beach weekdays (Church Avenue) → → toward Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue (Parkside Avenue) →
	Island platform, doors will open on the right
	Separation at north end
	Island platform, not in service
	Southbound local	→ No regular service

This open cut station has four tracks and two island platforms. Both platforms have red canopies with green frames and support columns that run for the either length. Alternating columns have the standard black station name plate in white lettering.

At the north end of the station, the two express tracks, used by B and Q trains, ramp down into a tunnel under Flatbush Avenue parallel to the IRT Eastern Parkway Line before merging with the BMT Fourth Avenue Line at DeKalb Avenue while the local tracks curve to the northeast and become an open cut after a short tunnel towards Franklin Avenue. The platforms are split into two sections at this end separated by a beige concrete wall. The Franklin Avenue Shuttle terminates on the northbound local track while the southbound one is not normally used in revenue service.

South of the station, there are crossovers and switches as the Brighton Line becomes a four-track corridor to Ocean Parkway. B trains stay on the express track and run to Brighton Beach; Q trains switch to the local track and run to Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue.

The 1994 artwork here is called Brighton Clay Re-Leaf by Susan Tunick. It features ceramic tiles in both station entrances/exits that depict leaves to symbolize Prospect Park. This artwork is also at Parkside Avenue.

Entrances and exits

The station has two entrances/exits:

• The full-time one is at the extreme south end. A single double-wide staircase and ADA-accessible elevators go up from each platform to a beige ground level station house that is on the north side of the Lincoln Road overpass above the platforms between Ocean and Flatbush Avenues. Each platform elevator is connected to the station house by a glass-enclosed passageway above their respective platforms. There is a bank of turnstiles, a waiting area that allows a free transfer between directions, and a token booth inside the station house, which is shared with a private preschool.
• The station's other entrance/exit at the north end is un-staffed. Two staircases from each platform at the tunnel portal go up to a waiting area, where a bank of turnstiles and one exit-only turnstile lead to a mezzanine that had its part-time token booth removed in 2010. Outside fare control, a single staircase goes up to a small plaza with an ornate fence between two buildings on the west side of Flatbush Avenue between Ocean and Lefferts Avenues. On the opposite side of this staircase in the mezzanine, there is an emergency exit that has a single staircase going up to an alleyway that leads to Saint Paul's Place.

History

File:Malbone Street Tunnel.jpg

The Malbone Street Tunnel on the southbound local track.

This station opened on July 2, 1878 when the Brooklyn, Flatbush and Coney Island Railway established it as the Brighton Line's temporary northern terminus on what was then known as the Willink Entrance to Prospect Park. On August 18, 1878, the line was completed north to Bedford Terminal with a connection to the Long Island Rail Road.

In 1918, the station began a rebuilding in order to accommodate the new subway connection to the Manhattan Bridge and Montague Street Tunnel. This rebuilding contributed to the Malbone Street Wreck on November 1 when a train of elevated cars was wrecked on the then-new curve on what is now the unused southbound (O1) local track. At least 93 individuals died, making it one of the U.S.'s deadliest train crashes.

The connection to the bridge and lines in Manhattan was completed on August 1, 1920, with four-track express service beginning south of this station.

Prospect Park was the closest station to Ebbets Field, home of the Brooklyn Dodgers until the team moved to Los Angeles after the 1957 season. The stadium was located at Bedford Avenue and Sullivan Place three blocks to the east and one block to the north. That area is now occupied by the Ebbets Field Apartments.

This station was the site of an October 15, 2008 NYPD arrest in which it was alleged that the suspect had been sodomized, leading to both criminal action and a lawsuit against the NYPD. All of the officers involved were acquitted and the lawsuit thrown out.

External links

• nycsubway.org—BMT Brighton Line: Prospect Park
• nycsubway.org — Brighton Clay Re-Leaf Artwork by Susan Tunick (1994)
• Station Reporter — B Train
• Station Reporter — Q Train
• Station Reporter — Franklin Shuttle
• The Subway Nut — Prospect Park Pictures
• MTA's Arts For Transit — Prospect Park (BMT Brighton Line)
• Lincoln Road entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Flatbush Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View
• elevators and passageways from Google Maps Street View