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Atlantic Avenue/ Pacific
Street Complex
Atlantic Avenue – Pacific
Street (BMT 4th Avenue)
Atlantic Ave-Pacific Street: This complex
serves the IRT 2,
3,
4, 5 lines with the
BMT Brighton B, and
Q lines as well as the
BMT D,
N, and
R lines. If
offers easy connections to the MTA Long Island
Railroad at Flatbush Ave now renamed
Atlantic Ave terminal as well as one of
the borough's busiest traffic intersections and
two interconnecting shopping malls.
Despite all of the stations components being
built during the Dual Contracts era, with
passageways connecting to each other, no free
transfer between areas ever existed until 1967.
Customers wanting to transfer from the BMT to
IRT lines before the transfer was built
had to pay another fare if you wanted to walk
from the Brighton platform to the 4th Ave line
platform. The free transfer from the Brighton
line platform to the IRT was introduced in 1967,
while the turnstiles to the BMT Pacific St
station on the 4th Ave line, were removed in the
late 1970's and the passageway is now barrier
free.
Most of the station was
renovated in 2004 by Schiavone Construction,
with the exception of the platforms at Pacific
Street which were done by an earlier contract.
BMT Brighton Line (Atlantic Avenue)
Opened 3/11/1920: 2 tracks on 1
island platform, current station has 3
staircases to the passageway and 2 staircases to
the Hanson Place side at the north end.
This side has an escalator that leads to a
separate mezzanine with no transfers to other
lines. It has a ghost booth, removed by
sneaky NYCT during renovations without a public
hearing. There is 1 street stair that also
leads to the Williamsburg Savings Bank and clock
tower, the tallest building in Brooklyn.
Another 2 street staircases are sealed
temporarily until work is complete on the new
Atlantic Terminal Mall and Office complex. The
lower level at Hanson Place side had a
passageway, that is now sealed, that ran above
the platform from Hanson Place, signs "To Hanson
Place" and other signs are covered up.
This area is now space used by RTO and
Subdivision C employees, with the entrance at
the other side. The mezzanine also has an out
of system passageway to the LIRR terminal and to
the F/T fare control at the IRT side. There is a
removed staircase in between the 2 Hanson Pl and
3 main staircases. The northernmost
staircase was added during renovation while the
other 2 staircases were narrowed in order to
comply with ADA guidelines regarding minimum 36"
width clearances anywhere. The platform
extension is clearly show to the south end,
while the name tablets and "A" are authentic
replicas on the N/B platform wall, while the S/B
wall was tiled around them. The area on
the S/B wall where the platform extends out is
replicas as well, since there were no mosaics
built, only a green wall prior to the
renovation, which indicates where the platform
was extended in the 19069s to fit 10 car trains.
Going upstairs along the main passageway
area, we see HEETs on 2 different locations.
There are 2 ghost booths from the Brighton line
area to the IRT area, along with the following
staircases: 2 HEET access points to LIRR
tracks #1 and 2. One staircase with fare
control turnstiles at the platform level of the
LIRR. Track #3 and 4 to your left (the staircase
to your right also went to the LIRR level, and
is sealed during renovation. One more
staircase from platform level to the LIRR track
#5 level (again the staircase to your right is
sealed). Now we enter the IRT area.
IRT Platforms (Atlantic Ave): opened
5/1/1908 One of the few stations in the
entire NYCT system to have 3 active platforms on
one level. There are 4 tracks on 2 side
platforms and 1 island platform. The
2 and
3 trains use the side
local platforms, while the
4 and 5 express
trains use the island platform in the middle.
This area is served by a F/T booth by the LIRR
terminal on the Manhattan-bound 2/3 platform.
To the north of the booth are abandoned
trackways from the LIRR terminal to the IRT
tracks along with platform extensions.
Joe Brennan notes that the Dual Contracts
called for a proposal to have a 2 track
connection from north of the IRT station, to the
4th Ave BMT line, some traces of the walls are
visible on the S/B side. The restoration artists
made great detail in reproducing the Atlantic
Ave station tablets on both sides while
restoring the 1908 "A" mosaic leaf to its
original appearance. The original 1908
Times Plaza stationhouse which served as one of
the original fare control areas at the
triangular intersection of Atlantic/Flatbush and
4th Avenues, is restored and reborn as a
permanent art display, with flood lights and
glass that allow natural sunlight to beam down
to platform level. (It was going to be
demolished, until community leaders and area
politicians argued successfully on the
importance of preserving this now-landmarked
stationhouse. At the south end are sealed
exits to the south side of Atlantic Ave, along
with at least 1 ghost booth, the staircases and
exits are left intact, but are now used for
storage. A proposed indoor sports
arena that will be the new home for the NBA Nets
basketball team, it is located on the same side
on Atlantic Ave as the sealed exits and no other
access is possible without crossing Atlantic Ave
first. I am hoping that when we are
sure that the new sports area is under
construction, NYCT will do the right thing and
initiate a separate contract to reopen this
area, although don't hold your breath for a S/A
booth to pop up here. The local platforms
have 2 staircases to the lower mezzanine level,
while the express platform has 3 staircases.
All of the platforms have elevators, while the
S/B platform now has a direct ramp to the
Pacific Street end that runs underneath the
skylight and the 1908 Times Plaza stationhouse.
There are 2 up staircases to the stationhouse
that were removed during renovation.
BMT 4th Ave line (Atlantic Ave-Pacific
Street) opened 9/13/1915:
This area is served by the D,
N, and
R trains. Express
stop, with 4 tracks and 2 island platforms, the
area was renovated in the early 1990's with the
BRT Pacific Street tablets preserved throughout.
Platform extensions are to the south, while
there are 3 staircases and 1 elevator from each
platform to mezzanine level. There are 2
street stairs, and one elevator, the stair on
the W/S of 4th Ave behind the P.C.
Richard electronics store) has a replica shell
of the original Dual Contracts entrances along
the IRT and BMT lines, the attention to detail
to the shell and points that NYCT has proven on
how much better it is to at least replicate
something from many decades ago, as opposed to
the modern look and destroying any traces of the
original station design. Inside the
passageway are 2 closed street stairs that give
clear evidence that this area was outside fare
control, until a 1978 reconfiguration to a free
transfer, made these staircases exit only.
These areas are now used as storage space, and
the passageway was widened to twice it's
original width. The original station name
was Pacific Street, it was renamed Atlantic
Ave-Pacific Street in order to avoid confusion
with the rest of the complex.
For the walking tour, start at the Pacific
Street end, and go downstairs to look at the 4th
Ave line platforms, go back upstairs and walk
through the passageway. Stay to the right
and use the ramp to the SB IRT platform, make a
right first. Look at the IRT mosaics and
it's beauty, then go back to the ramp, walk back
to the wide staircase and look up, you will see
the light and stationhouse interior. (Don't
stand in the middle of the staircase; you will
risk injury to other customers. Go downstairs
and look at the vast open space along the IRT
area, with many signs. Look at the giant
sized photographs by Ellen Jaffe, and is titled
"Cityscape". Continue down to the Brighton
side and make a left, you will see the sealed
passageway that is now the MOW offices. Go
downstairs to the other side and come back up to
Hanson Place.
The stairways to the lower mezzanine
from the 2,
3,
4,and 5 and the
lower mezzanine passageway to the Fourth Avenue
D,
N, and R lines have
granite art in an undulating pattern
suggestive of the two Oceans. Additional art is
located over the stairs to the IRT crossunder in
the space once occupied by the Times Place(Not
to be confused with Times Square in
Manhattan ) entrance and station house. The
former stationhouse's skylight has been added to
allow natural light into the station. This
artwork is by George Trakas and is entitled Hook
(Archean Reach), Line (Sea House), and Sinker
(Mined Swell). It was installed in 2004.
It features Polished granite, brushed steel,
limestone, and Rockville granite throughout
station. The
MTA web site states "The array of
subway and rail lines at the Atlantic
Avenue-Pacific Street and LIRR's Terminal
presented a perfect opportunity for an
"architect/artist" collaboration to unify
passages and stairways, creating a coherent and
efficient space. George Trakas uses forms and
materials that underscore the structure and
beauty of the cavernous space.
Trakas selected the stone pavers and bollards
for the plaza area. The architects designed a
skylight for the historic station kiosk and
Trakas added a small peephole equipped with a
lens that provides a view from the street to the
light-filled space below. The viewer spies a
boat-shaped gantry of stainless steel and mesh
beneath the skylight. A granite "wave" runs
along the walls and crests at the point where
the two stations, Atlantic Avenue and Pacific
Street, meet - linking the passageways.
Referencing the names Atlantic and
Pacific, the overarching concept is a place
of landing and departure - functions shared by
train stations and seaports."
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