Marcy Avenue station

The Marcy Avenue station 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.

Marcy Avenue  ​
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
The westbound platform as seen from the eastbound platform
Station statistics
Address	Marcy Avenue and Broadway Brooklyn, New York
Borough	Brooklyn
Locale	Williamsburg
Coordinates	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 (at South Williamsburg Landing)
Structure	Elevated
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	3 (2 in passenger service)
Other information
Opened	June 25, 1888; 136 years ago (1888-06-25)[2]
Accessible	ADA-accessible
Opposite- direction transfer	No
Traffic
2023	2,864,396[3]  12.8%
Rank	114 out of 423[3]
Services Preceding station New York City Subway Following station Essex Street J  M  Z ​ westbound Myrtle Avenue J  ​Z  skip-stop Hewes Street J  ​M  via Myrtle Avenue Local
Non-revenue services and lines Preceding station New York City Subway Following station Driggs Avenue demolished no service
Location Show map of New York City Subway Show map of New York City Show map of New York
Track layout Legend to Myrtle Avenue to Hewes Street to Essex Street
Street map
Station 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

History

Remains of the Broadway Ferry spur behind the billboard

This station opened on June 25, 1888, when the Union Elevated Railroad (leased to the Brooklyn Elevated Railroad) extended its elevated line above Broadway from Gates Avenue northwest to Driggs Avenue in Williamsburg.^[4] This was a branch of the existing Lexington Avenue Elevated, which then ended at Van Siclen Avenue; Broadway trains ran between Driggs and Van Siclen Avenues.^[5] The Broadway Elevated was extended to Broadway Ferry on July 14, 1888.^[6] Upon the opening of the Williamsburg Bridge tracks in 1908, trains were rerouted across the bridge west of Marcy Avenue.^[7]

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 (168th Street, Canarsie–Rockaway Parkway, and Middle Village–Metropolitan Avenue).

On April 13, 1954, the enlarged station platform at Marcy Avenue was opened, as well as the expanded stairway facilities.^[8] In 1982, the Urban Mass Transportation Administration gave a $66 million grant to the New York City Transit Authority. Part of the grant was to be used for the renovation of several subway stations, including Marcy Avenue.^[9] In 2002, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced that elevators would be installed at the Marcy Avenue station.^[10]

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.^[11] In December 2021, the MTA awarded a contract for the replacement of the Marcy Avenue station's elevators, to be completed by late 2023 or early 2024.^[12][13]

Station layout

Platform level	Side platform
	Westbound[14]	← toward Broad Street (Essex Street) ← toward Forest Hills–71st Avenue weekdays, Essex Street weekends (Essex Street) ← AM rush toward Broad Street (Essex Street)
	Stub-end center track	→ No service
	Eastbound[14]	→ toward Jamaica Center–Parsons/Archer (Myrtle Avenue weekday afternoons, Hewes Street other times) → → toward Middle Village–Metropolitan Avenue (Hewes Street) → → PM rush toward Jamaica Center–Parsons/Archer (Myrtle Avenue) →
	Side platform
Ground	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.^[15] 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 2004 artwork here is called Space Odyssey by Ellsworth Ausby.^[16][17] It consists of eight triptychs on the platform windscreens, with stained glass windows depicting space travel.^[16]

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.^[15]

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.^[18] 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.^[19]

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.^[18]

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^[20] to the presence of the Hasidic Jewish Community in Williamsburg.

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

References

1. "Glossary". Second Avenue Subway Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) (PDF). Vol. 1. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. March 4, 2003. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 26, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
2. "The Broadway Line Opened". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, New York. June 25, 1888. p. 6.
3. "Annual Subway Ridership (2018–2023)". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
4. "The Broadway Line Opened". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. June 25, 1888. p. 6. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
5. "Trains Running This Morning". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, New York. May 30, 1893. p. 10. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
6. "When the Union Road will be Finished". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. July 13, 1888. p. 1. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
7. "Mayor Runs a Train Over New Bridge". The New York Times. September 17, 1908. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
8. Authority, New York City Transit (1953). Report.
9. "Federal Funds Awarded To Fix Subway Stations". The New York Times. September 5, 1982. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
10. "NYC Transit's Goals for 2002" (PDF). The Bulletin. Vol. 45, no. 10. Electric Railroaders' Association. October 2002. p. 1.
11. "T7160519 Station Capacity Enhancements at Marcy Avenue on the Jamaica Line". web.mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved September 3, 2017.
12. Duggan, Kevin (December 12, 2021). "Advocates raise oversight concerns as MTA eyes more private subway elevator maintenance". amNewYork. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
13. "MTA announces historic investment in accessibility projects". Mass Transit Magazine. December 13, 2021. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
14. This is a wrong-way concurrency in railroad direction.
15. Dougherty, Peter (2020). Tracks of the New York City Subway 2020 (16th ed.). Dougherty. OCLC 1056711733.
16. "Space Odyssey". MTA. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
17. "Museum Without Walls". CultureNow. April 9, 2024. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
18. "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Williamsburg and Bedford Stuyvesant" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
19. "Accessible Stations in the MTA Network". web.mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
20. Genna Rivieccio aka Smoking Barrel (May 18, 2012). "The Dictator: Less of a Dick Than You Might Think". Behind the Hype. Retrieved June 26, 2012.

External links

• 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