COURT SQUARE

21^st  STREET

VAN ALST

GREENPOINT AVENUE

NASSAU AVENUE

METROPOLITAN AVENUE
GRAND  STREET

BROADWAY

FLUSHING AVENUE

MYRTLE - WILLOUGHBY AVENUES

BEDFORD - NOSTRAND AVENUES

CLASSON AVENUE

CLINTON - WASHINGTON AVENUES

FULTON  STREET

HOYT SCHERMERHORN

Bergen Street (Bergen Street and Smith Street) opened 10/7/1933:    Local stop, 2 tracks, 2 side platforms, all fare controls are at platform level, no crossover allowed.  Station was renovated in the early 1990's by NYCT's in-house forces and has a different shed of green from the original IND tile band at this station.  The darker green is the main band, while the top and bottom borders, normally either black or a darker shade, are light green.   It used to be an express stop, where F service in the 1970's was divided into 2 services during rush hours.  F trains to/from Kings Highway would run local and use the upper level, while F trains to/from Coney Island, would use the now abandoned lower level.  GG trains (changed to G line after the elimination of doubled lettered routes in 1986.) would always use the upper level because the track connection to the Crosstown line was only available there, no access from the lower level.  Standing on either platform, look down at the opposite platform from where you are positioned at, you can see vents below the floor and the lighted remains of Bergen Street, there was no IND tile present.  Each side has 2 fare control areas, Northbound side has the full time booth at Bergen Street at north end and has 2 street stairs, the Southbound side has a part time day booth and 2 street stairs.  When the booth is closed, there is nightly HEET access available.  Part time fare control areas are at south end at Warren Street.  Each side has ghost booth and 1 street stair, the first station of numerous ghost booths you will encounter along the joint IND/BMT Culver portion of the F line in Brooklyn (we will refer this section to the Culver line), all the way down to West 8th Street.   If the lower level remained open, there would have been 3 staircases from each platform from upper to lower level, one each next to both fare controls and the 3rd staircase in between the other 2.   This center staircase has steel doors that "cover" the staircase behind it. Some of the tiles are a mixture of green dots of varying colors; artwork is unknown and is a departure from the normally white only tiles that dot most IND stations.  There is an active tower on the north side of the Manhattan-bound platform; extensive damage was suffered in the tower in the early 1990's, also causing major disruptions to F and G service.  Within less than a month, NYCT restored tower operations there and installed a new interlocking board too. 

Carroll Street (Carroll Street at Smith Street) opened 10/7/1933: Local stop, now all 4 tracks are on the same level, 2 side platforms.  Mezzanine and crossover is allowed at the full time side with 2 exits to 2nd/3rd Streets, one a double wide staircase to Smith street, the other a passageway to East side of 2nd Street and Smith Street, it is closed late nights.  The setup for this mezzanine is similar to Nassau Street on the G line.  But Carroll Street affords an amazing view of N/B trains descending into the tunnel from the south, in nice weather people are known to stand outside the main entrance and wait for their train here.  When  an F or G train leaves Smith-9th Street from the highest elevation point, it starts it's descent into the tunnel and Carroll street, giving customers more than enough time to descend into the mezzanine and board their train there.  Directly across the street, at the tunnel's mouth and parts of the elevation along the wall facing Smith Street, is an MTA authorized artwork  Opposite end of this station are platform level fare controls with exits to President Street, Northbound side has a Part time booth and 2 street stairs.  The Southbound side has 1 street stair and remains of the old style change booth and door left intact.  Like Bergen Street, the tile band is green. 

We leave Carroll Street and become elevated, only briefly because we have to cross to Gowanus Canal.  Because the canal is extremely deep, it would be impossible to build a tunnel so deep that would run underneath the canal at a steep grade from Carroll Street, about less than ½ mile away.  The view is breathtaking. 

Fortunately, there are 2 sets of escalators that will take you as far up as to the crossunder level.  This station is slated for renovation and  under the MTA's 2005-2009 Capital Program.  The S/B platform side affords the ultimate view of the NY skyline to the north, and the nearby Gowanus Expressway to the south with the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge in the distance.  The platform canopies on both sides need some TLC. 

Just as we have left Smith-9th, there is a 5th track that rises from the end, it appears to be unfinished and leads nowhere. 

4^th Avenue/ 9^th Street (4th Ave between 9^th and 10^th Streets) is discussed in the Complexes page 

Back to the tunneled portion we go.  Although since we descend at first from a high elevation to underground again, the next underground stop, 7th Ave, is actually higher than the elevated 4th Ave stop.  This is due to the topology of the streets in the namesake neighborhood, Park Slope.  If you were walking up 9th Street in an easterly direction (towards Prospect Park), you will be faced with a very long uphill that encompasses 3 blocks and nearly 1 mile 

7^th Avenue (7^th  Avenue at 9^th  Street) Opened 10/7/1933  Express stop, 4 tracks, 2 island platforms, full length mezzanine with clear evidence that there were booths at both ends of the station.  Today the booth is situated in the middle of the mezzanine, however there are HEETs available at both ends, customers can use them without having to walk to the middle area to enter fare control, and crossover is allowed at any staircase.  There are 4 street stairs at the 7th Ave end, and 3 street stairs at the 8th Ave end, the 8th Ave end also has an intermediate level at the first staircase, otherwise a descending hill.  Near inside far control at the mezzanine center, 8th Ave side, is a large scale painting of Prospect Park's The Raven. 

After leaving 7th Ave, the express tracks take a short cut away from us.  We will meet up with them at Church Ave.  The express tracks take a different route than the F  and G locals, so the next 2 stations have no express tracks anywhere. 

15^th Street Prospect Park (about 100 feet east of Prospect Park West from Prospect Park Southwest to Windsor Place)  Opened 10/7/1933 Located in the heart of Windsor Terrace, this local stop has 2 tracks on 1 island platform along a curve.  The mezzanine is full length and has a minimum of 2 ghost booths, one for the 2 exits to Prospect Park West and another near the 16th Street staircase.  Because of the way the tunnel was built, the station is not located underneath a street.  Instead the station and tunnel was constructed about 100 feet east of Prospect Park West.  Therefore some portions of the tunnel are directly underneath Prospect Park, and others between Prospect Park West and John P. Devaney Blvd.  If you enter Prospect Park through the parking lot, you will see subway grilles inside near the lot's edge.  There are 5 street stairs, a wall sized NYCT neighborhood map has 6 exits incorrectly listed.  From north to south, the exits are located as follows:  At Bartel Prichard Square between PP West and 15th Street (closed at night), both sides on Prospect Park West near the square, 1 exit on 16th Street and another on Windsor Place.  The current booth is located closer to the Windsor Place side.  The full length passageway allows out of system walking from one end to another, the area inside fare control does not.  The tile band is now orange-yellow. 

Ft. Hamilton Parkway (Greenwood Ave at Prospect Ave, also Fort Hamilton Parkway at foot of Prospect Expressway) Opened 7/10/1933:  Local stop, 2 tracks and 2 side platforms.  Full time side is at north side, by Greenwood and Prospect Avenues and has 2 street stairs and block long passageway to Reeve Place for 1 additional street stair.  The stairway at the Northeast corner of Greenwood and Prospect has a closed staircase that would have taken you to what appears to be an abandoned fare control area on platform level, Manhattan-bound side.  This area is gated shut and about 1/2 of the space is taken by station facilities with additional tiles.  The south end is to Fort Hamilton Parkway and has 24/7 HEET access and ghost booth.  The only exit out to Fort Hamilton Parkway is a ramp (no staircase) that runs alongside the Prospect Expressway, up and down a small hill.  This exit replaced the original 1933 staircase exit because when Robert Moses built the Prospect Expressway, the work also required relocating the exit too.  From the mezzanine area, you can see the variation in tile colors and styles that leave its mark of a "new" entrance in 1962, when the expressway also opened; this can be seen as you are facing the ramp. 

Church Avenue (Church Avenue and McDonald Ave) Opened 7/10/1933  From it's initial opening, until the Culver connection opened in 1954, it was the terminal stop for D trains here (From 1933 to 1940, the E ran to Church Ave, until the IND Sixth Ave line in Manhattan opened.  Currently an express stop, with 4 tracks and 2 island platforms.  tile band is Maroon and has a crossover at each end .  The Full time side at the south end leads to Church Ave and has 4 street stairs; the 2 southernmost stairs are through a passageway similar to Greenpoint Ave and Bedford-Nostrand Ave stations.  The Part time side at Albemarle Road has ghost booth and 2 street stairs.  An active tower is at the south end of the Coney Island-bond platform, while yard leads are visible south of this station.