15th Street–Prospect Park station

15th Street–Prospect Park is a local station on the IND Culver Line of the New York City Subway. Located at 15th Street east of Prospect Park West in the Windsor Terrace and Park Slope neighborhoods in Brooklyn, it is served by the F and G trains at all times.

For the station at Empire Boulevard & Flatbush Avenue, see Prospect Park station (BMT lines).

 15 Street–Prospect Park
 ​
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Platform view
Station statistics
Address15th Street near Prospect Park West
Brooklyn, NY 11215
BoroughBrooklyn
LocaleWindsor Terrace, Park Slope
Coordinates40°39′38″N 73°58′45″W
DivisionB (IND)
LineIND Culver Line
Services   F  (all times)
​   G  (all times)
Transit NYCT Bus: B61, B68
StructureUnderground
Platforms1 island platform
Tracks2
Other information
OpenedOctober 7, 1933 (1933-10-07)
Station code241[1]
Opposite-
direction
transfer		Yes
Traffic
20191,964,534[2]  5.2%
Rank240 out of 424[2]
Station succession
Next northSeventh Avenue: F  ​G 
Next southFort Hamilton Parkway: F  ​G 
15th Street–Prospect Park Subway Station (IND)
MPSNew York City Subway System MPS
NRHP reference No.05000748[3]
Added to NRHPJuly 27, 2005

This underground station, opened on October 7, 1933, has two tracks and one island platform. The Culver Line's express tracks run underneath in a different alignment, crossing directly under Prospect Park and are not visible from the platforms. Due to the alignment of the street grid, the station and tunnel were constructed about 100 feet (30 m) east of Prospect Park West, rather than directly under any street. This station was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

History

One of the goals of Mayor John Hylan's Independent Subway System (IND), proposed in the 1920s, was a line to Coney Island, reached by a recapture of the BMT Culver Line.[4][5] As originally designed, service to and from Manhattan would have been exclusively provided by Culver express trains, while all local service would have fed into the IND Crosstown Line.[6] The line was extended from Bergen Street to Church Avenue on October 7, 1933, including the 15th Street–Prospect Park station.[7][8]

Upon the station's completion, it served Windsor Terrace, a mostly residential area with brownstones and row houses occupied by European immigrants. It was also directly adjacent to Prospect Park and close to Green-Wood Cemetery.[3]:8 This station was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 27, 2005.[3]

Service patterns

The station was originally served by the A train. In 1936, the A was rerouted to the IND Fulton Street Line and was replaced by E trains from the Queens Boulevard Line.[7] In 1937, the connection to the IND Crosstown Line opened and GG (later renamed the G) trains were extended to Church Avenue, complementing the E. In December 1940, after the IND Sixth Avenue Line opened, E trains were replaced by the F, and the GG was cut back to Smith–Ninth Streets.[7] Following the completion of the Culver Ramp in 1954,[9][10] D Concourse Express trains replaced F service to Coney Island.[10][11] In November 1967, the Chrystie Street Connection opened and D trains were rerouted via the Manhattan Bridge and the BMT Brighton Line to Coney Island. F trains were extended once again via the Culver Line.[11][12]

The station acted as a local-only station from 1968 to 1976, when F trains ran express in both directions between Bergen Street and Church Avenue during rush hours.[13] G trains were extended from Smith–Ninth Streets to Church Avenue to provide local service.[14][6] Express service between Bergen and Church ended in 1976 due to budgetary concerns and passenger complaints, and the GG, later renamed the G, was again terminated at the Smith–Ninth Streets station.[14][6][15]

In July 2009, the G was extended from its long-time terminus at Smith–Ninth Streets to a more efficient terminus at Church Avenue to accommodate the rehabilitation of the Culver Viaduct.[14][16] The G extension was made permanent in July 2012.[17] In July 2019, the MTA revealed plans to restore express service on the Culver Line between Jay Street and Church Avenue. Express service started on September 16, 2019.[18][19]

Tile caption below trim line

Station layout
G Street level Exit/entrance
M Mezzanine Fare control, station agent
P
Platform level		 Northbound local ← toward 179th Street (Seventh Avenue)
← toward Court Square (Seventh Avenue)
Island platform
Southbound local → toward Coney Island (Fort Hamilton Parkway) →
→ toward Church Avenue (Fort Hamilton Parkway) →

This underground station has two tracks and an island platform. The two express tracks of the line run along a more direct alignment under Prospect Park, and are not visible from this station.[3]:3, 8[20] The station is approximately 662 feet (202 m) long and 50 feet (15 m) wide, excluding exits and passageways.[3]:3 The station and tunnel were constructed about 100 feet (30 m) east of Prospect Park West. Therefore, the station is not located underneath a street. Some portions of the tunnel are directly underneath Prospect Park, while others are between Prospect Park West and 10th Avenue.[21]

Both trackside walls have an orange-yellow trim line with a medium red-brown border with small black and white "15TH ST" tile captions below it at regular intervals. The tile band is set in a three-high course, a pattern usually reserved for express stations.[3]:4 The tile color was part of a color-coded tile system for the entire Independent Subway System.[3]:4[22] Ventilation grates are located along the trackside walls. A row of large, white tiled columns runs along either side of the platform and the mezzanine above at 15-foot (4.6 m) intervals. Alternating columns carry the standard black-and-white station name plate.[3]:4 The ceiling of the platform level is held up by H-shaped piers located every 15 feet (4.6 m), which support girders underneath the mezzanine. The roof girders are also connected to columns in the trackside walls.[3]:3

The tunnel is covered by a "U"-shaped trough that contains utility pipes and wires. The outer walls of this trough are composed of columns, spaced approximately every 5 feet (1.5 m) with concrete infill between them. There is a 1-inch (25 mm) gap between the tunnel wall and the trackside wall, which is made of 4-inch (100 mm)-thick brick covered over by a tiled finish.[3]:3

The narrow mezzanine is full-length, sparsely decorated with plain tiling typical of the IND, and allows out-of-system walking from one end to the other. Six staircases lead from the platform to the mezzanine. The area inside the fare control area is split into two sections, one considerably smaller than the other.[3]:4

Exits

There are six entrances to the station in total.[3]:4 The northern end has four exit stairs. Two of them are reached only by a long passageway extending west; one stair goes to the northwest corner of Bartel-Pritchard Square while another goes to the east side of Prospect Park West between 15th Street and Bartel-Pritchard Square. The other two staircases go to the northern and southern sides of Prospect Park Southwest, east of Bartel-Pritchard Square.[3]:5[21] The eastern staircase on Prospect Park West, as well as the northern staircase on Prospect Park South, are located within the boundaries of Prospect Park and contain stone banisters. The other staircases contain metal banisters, typical of other New York City Subway stations. Communications rooms are also located near the Prospect Park West staircase.[3]:5

The center of the mezzanine has one staircase going up to the north side of 16th Street while the south end has one staircase going up to the north side of Windsor Place near the intersection of Howard Place. Both stairs contain typical metal banisters.[3]:5[21] Full height turnstiles provide access to and from the fare control areas near these entrances. The station's only token booth and bank of regular turnstiles is located between the south and center fare control areas, and there are additional communications rooms on the southern end of the mezzanine. Evidence of at least two former booths exist.[3]:5

  • Northeastern stair
  • Eastern stair
  • Southern stair, Windsor Place

Several dream sequences in the film Pi, which take place in an empty generic-looking New York City Subway station, were shot at 15th Street–Prospect Park.[23]

References
  1. "Station Developers' Information". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
  2. "Facts and Figures: Annual Subway Ridership 2014–2019". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  3. "New York MPS 15th Street--Prospect Park Subway Station (IND)". Records of the National Park Service, 1785 - 2006, Series: National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks Program Records, 2013 - 2017, Box: National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks Program Records: New York, ID: 75313327. National Archives.
  4. "Plan to Recapture Culver Line Ready" (PDF). The New York Times. July 12, 1932. p. 9. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  5. "New Subway Routes in Hylan Program to Cost $186,046,000" (PDF). The New York Times. March 21, 1925. p. 1. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  6. Feasibility and Analysis of F Express Service in Brooklyn (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Report). May 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 27, 2016. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  7. "Independent Subway Services Beginning in 1932". thejoekorner.com. August 21, 2013. Archived from the original on November 22, 2019. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
    Information adapted from:
    • New York Division Bulletin (Report) (October and November 1968 ed.). Electric Railroaders’ Association, Inc. Fall 1968.
  8. "City Subway Extended" (PDF). The New York Times. October 7, 1933. p. 16. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
  9. "NYCTA- Pass for Culver Line Ceremonies - 1954". flickr.com. New York City Transit Authority. 1954. Retrieved August 14, 2016.
  10. "Adequate Transit Promised For City" (PDF). The New York Times. October 29, 1954. p. 25. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  11. Sparberg, Andrew J. (October 1, 2014). From a Nickel to a Token: The Journey from Board of Transportation to MTA. Fordham University Press. ISBN 978-0-8232-6190-1.
  12. Perlmutter, Emanuel (November 16, 1967). "Subway Changes To Speed Service" (PDF). The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  13. "'F' Line Rush-Hour Service Will Be Added in Brooklyn" (PDF). The New York Times. June 8, 1969. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
  14. Review of F Line Operations, Ridership, and Infrastructure (PDF). nysenate.gov (Report). MTA New York City Transit Authority. October 7, 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 31, 2010. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
  15. Geberer, Raanan (March 6, 2013). "Light at End of Tunnel: F Train Express may return". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Archived from the original on March 27, 2020. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
  16. Review of the G Line (PDF). mta.info (Report). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. July 10, 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 24, 2019. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
  17. Flegenheimer, Matt (July 19, 2012). "M.T.A. Subway, Train and Bus Services to be Restored". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  18. Barone, Vincent (July 9, 2019). "Limited F express service coming to Brooklyn for rush hour". AMNY. Archived from the original on October 3, 2019. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  19. "MTA NYC Transit Adding Limited F Express Service for Brooklyn Residents with Longest Commutes" (Press release). New York City Transit. July 10, 2019. Archived from the original on September 14, 2019. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
  20. Dougherty, Peter (2006) [2002]. Tracks of the New York City Subway 2006 (3rd ed.). Dougherty. OCLC 49777633 – via Google Books.
  21. "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Park Slope / Prospect Park" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  22. Whitehorne, Wayne; Sklar, Bob. "www.nycsubway.org: IND Station Tile Colors". www.nycsubway.org. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
  23. Bindelglass, Evan (September 20, 2017). "20 best NYC subway cameos in movies and TV". Curbed NY. Archived from the original on March 25, 2020. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
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