Marcy Avenue station

Marcy Avenue  ​
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Manhattan-bound platform
Station statistics
Address	Marcy Avenue & Broadway Brooklyn, NY 11211
Borough	Brooklyn
Locale	Williamsburg
Coordinates	40°42′30″N 73°57′29″W / 40.708361°N 73.957944°W / 40.708361; -73.957944Coordinates: 40°42′30″N 73°57′29″W / 40.708361°N 73.957944°W / 40.708361; -73.957944
Division	B (BMT)[1]
Line	BMT Jamaica Line
Services	J  (all times)    M  (all times except late nights)    Z  (rush hours, peak direction)​
Transit	NYCT Bus: B24, B32, B39, B44, B44 SBS, B46, B60, B62, Q54, Q59 (at Williamsburg Bridge Plaza Bus Terminal) ⛴ NYC Ferry: East River Route (at South Tenth Street west of Kent Avenue)
Structure	Elevated
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	3 (2 in passenger service)
Other information
Opened	June 25, 1888; 133 years ago (1888-06-25)[2]
Station code	101[3]
Accessible	ADA-accessible
Opposite- direction transfer	No
Traffic
2019	4,717,791[5]  13.1%
Rank	98 out of 424[5]
Station succession
Next east	Myrtle Avenue (express): J  ​Z  Hewes Street (local): J  ​M
Next west	Essex Street: J  M  Z ​ Driggs Avenue: no service; demolished
showLocation Show map of New York City SubwayShow map of New York CityShow map of New YorkShow all
showTrack layout Legend to Myrtle Av to Hewes St to Essex St
showStreet map Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
showStation service legend Symbol Description Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction Stops all times Stops rush hours in the peak direction only Stops all times except late nights

Marcy Avenue is a station on the BMT Jamaica Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Marcy Avenue and Broadway in Brooklyn, it is served by the J train at all times, the M train at all times except late nights, and the Z train during rush hours in the peak direction.

History[]

Remains of the Broadway Ferry spur behind the billboard

Marcy Avenue opened on June 25, 1888 as a part of the Broadway Elevated, one of the first elevated lines in New York City. Trains traveled westbound to the Broadway Ferry terminal on the East River in Brooklyn and eastbound services ran to Canarsie (this routing is no longer used due to the later building of the Canarsie Line) and a connection over the Williamsburg Bridge to Delancey Street/Essex Street in Manhattan opened in 1908.^[6] In 1913, trains were extended farther down the newly opened Nassau Street Line to Chambers Street. A year later, a connection was built to allow Myrtle Avenue trains to run on the Broadway Elevated.

The Dual Contracts expansion projects radically changed operations at Marcy Avenue. A third track was added, allowing trains to run express, although the track remains as a stub-end at Marcy Avenue for storage and turn-arounds. The Contracts also provided for the merger of the Jamaica Line from Broadway Junction to 168th Street with the Broadway Elevated, in turn making the Broadway Elevated part of the Jamaica Line and giving trains three eastern terminals.

On April 13, 1954, the enlarged station platform at Marcy Avenue was opened, as well as the expanded stairway facilities.^[7]

As part of the 2015–2019 Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Capital Program, station capacity enhancements will be made at the station. The project will assess the feasibility of widening and reconstructing the stairs at Havemeyer Street, widening the westerly outbound platform, and widening the platform level fare control areas to fit in an additional low-level turnstile. Design work started in April 2017 and will be finished in December 2017, with construction set to begin in April 2018.^[8]

Station layout[]

P Platform level	Side platform
	Westbound[9]	← toward Broad Street (Essex Street) ← toward 71st Avenue weekdays, Essex Street weekends (Essex Street) ← AM rush toward Broad Street (Essex Street)
	Stub-end center track	→ No service
	Eastbound[9]	→ toward Jamaica Center (Myrtle Avenue weekday afternoons, Hewes Street other times) → → toward Metropolitan Avenue (Hewes Street) → → PM rush toward Jamaica Center (Myrtle Avenue) →
	Side platform
G	Street level	Entrances/exits Elevator for outbound service at southwest corner of Marcy Avenue and Broadway; elevator for inbound service at northwest corner

View from the eastbound platform, looking west

This station has two side platforms and three tracks and is the westernmost station on the Jamaica Line. The center track dead ends at the west end at a bumper block and is unusable for service. Both platforms have beige windscreens and red canopies with green frames that run along the entire length except for a section at the southeast (railroad south), where they have waist-high black steel fences. During the 1999 reconstruction of the Williamsburg Bridge, a temporary platform was erected over the center track for the station's use as a terminal station.

The 2005 artwork here is called A Space Odyssey by Ellsworth Ausby. It consists of stained glass windows depicting space travel on the platform windscreens.

Just west of this station, there is a short section of trackway continuing straight which once led to the Broadway Ferry Spur. As now configured, westbound trains run over the Williamsburg Bridge, connecting to the BMT Nassau Street Line in Manhattan. To the east, there are switches that are used to access the center express track, which is used by the J and Z trains in the peak direction weekday midday and rush hours.

Exits[]

All four fare control areas of the station are on platform level. As a result, there is no free transfer between directions. The primary ones, are elevated station houses adjacent to the platforms. Each station house has doors leading to the stairs and platform, turnstile bank, token booth, and two stairs and one ADA-accessible elevator to the street. The stairs from the Manhattan-bound station house go down to either northern corner of Marcy Avenue and Broadway while the stair from the Queens-bound station house go down to either southern corners.^[10] The elevators go down to either western corner of Marcy Avenue and Broadway, with the Queens-bound elevator on the southwest corner and the Manhattan-bound elevator on the northwest corner.^[11]

Both platforms have a HEET turnstile entrance/exit at their extreme west end that was added during a 1990s renovation. Each leads to a canopied staircase that goes down to either side of Broadway near Havemeyer Street.^[10]

In popular culture[]

SW Corner entrance

The home of the character Dave Stutler in the 2010 film The Sorcerer's Apprentice is located near this station. Stutler is also attacked by a wolf in this station.^{[citation needed]}

The fictional neighborhood of "Little Wadiya", from the 2012 film The Dictator, is located near to this station. The choice may be related^[12] to the presence of the Hasidic Jewish Community in Williamsburg.

Flight of the Conchords are seen emerging from Marcy Avenue station singing the song during season 1, episode 2 of their eponymous TV show.^{[citation needed]}

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Marcy Avenue (BMT Jamaica Line).

• nycsubway.org – BMT Jamaica Line: Marcy Avenue
• Station Reporter — J Train
• Station Reporter — M Train
• The Subway Nut — Marcy Avenue Pictures
• MTA's Arts For Transit — Marcy Avenue (BMT Jamaica Line)
• Marcy Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Havemeyer Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Platforms from Google Maps Street View