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Metropolitan
Avenue/Lorimer Street Complex
Metropolitan Avenue/ Grand Street (G)
has two tracks and two wall platforms. The north
exit leads to the Mezzanine and the connection
to the L, The station had a full mezzanine but
the south portion is used by a police facility
and as employee space and offices. Neat IND icon
tiles indicate "To Street and Transfer". The
south exit now is an emergency exit and leads to
Grand Street. A center exit is also sealed
Artwork is by Jackie Chang and is entitled
"Signs of Life" and was installed In.2000. It
was renovated by NYCT in house contract. The
passageway to the L ramps up and splits with the
right half going to the Brooklyn L and the left
leads to a crossunder to the Manhattan L.
Lorimer Street (L) At the west end of
the station is a maze of ramps, stairways and
passages which connect the two lines. There is a
slight curve at the platform's east end. A full
renovation occurred in 1999, lasting for over a
year and a half. There is no mezzanine at the
Manhattan end; two platform-level exits lead to
Metropolitan Avenue above. Mosaic band
predominates browns, white and light blue with
grays and golds at the edges. This station is
one of the first to feature properly-recreated
full mosaic tablets, featuring the proper colors
and materials. Sections of frieze were also
treated in this way. There is artwork in
stairwells and in the passageways as well.
Lorimer Street opened September 21, 1924, two
side platforms. A mezzanine exists at the
Canarsie end.
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According to the MTA
web site, artwork is by
Jackie Chang and is entitled Signs of Life and was installed in
2000. "...Constructed of glass and
ceramic tile, Jackie Chang's Signs of Life offers
text and images arranged as a puzzle throughout the
station. A rock sits atop a pointed shape between two
words, "FAITH" and "FATE." Other words -- "MAN," "KIND,"
"IT," "SELF" - are in the path of a cresting wave below.
The artist seeks to spark the viewers' imaginations,
perhaps hoping that interpretations will emerge over
repeated viewings and rumination. The tone of the
messages are enigmatic: are they optimistic or
pessimistic; are they speaking of the past or to the
future? "I kept my titles brief," Chang says. "I wanted
them to be challenging." In a sense, these bits of what
Chang calls "urban poetry" are an acknowledgment of the
creative energy flowing through the community.."
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