York Street station (IND Sixth Avenue Line)

History

Background

More than 50 years before the construction of the IND Sixth Avenue Line, the intersection of York and Jay Streets was between two stations on the original BMT Lexington Avenue Line. West of the intersection was York and Washington Streets station, which had a connection to the Brooklyn Bridge via the New York and Brooklyn Bridge Railway. One block east of the station was the Bridge Street station. The line and the two stations ran west to east, were built by Brooklyn Elevated Railroad on May 13, 1885 and closed by Brooklyn Rapid Transit on April 11, 1904.

Construction and opening

New York City mayor John Francis Hylan's original plans for the Independent Subway System (IND), proposed in 1922, included building over 100 mi of new lines and taking over nearly 100 mi of existing lines, which would compete with the IRT and the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT), the two major subway operators of the time. The IND Sixth Avenue Line was designed to replace the elevated IRT Sixth Avenue Line. The first portion of the line to be constructed was then known as the Houston–Essex Street Line, which ran under Houston, Essex, and Rutgers Streets. The contract for the line was awarded to Corson Construction in January 1929, and construction of this section officially started in May 1929.

The York Street station opened just after midnight on April 9, 1936, when trains began running under the East River via the Rutgers Street Tunnel, which connected the existing portion of the Sixth Avenue Line to a junction with the Eighth Avenue Line north of Jay Street–Borough Hall. The station was initially served by E trains to Church Avenue. When further sections of the Sixth Avenue Line opened on December 15, 1940, the F train replaced the E train.

Station layout

This underground, deep-level station has two tracks and one narrow island platform. The stops here at all times and is between East Broadway in Manhattan to the north and Jay Street–MetroTech to the south.

Located at the southern end of the Rutgers Street Tunnel, it has round deep-bore walls with matte-finish white brick tiling and purple tile border. The station is about 80 ft deep. The platform contains six large circular piers supporting the Manhattan Bridge, which contain white-brick tiling. The standard I-beam columns are painted blue with alternating ones having black name plates in white lettering. The columns are largely 15 ft apart, except at two locations where they are 17.5 ft apart.

To the north of the station, the Sixth Avenue Line continues via the Rutgers Street Tunnel to Manhattan; to the south, it converges with the IND Eighth Avenue Line and ends north of Jay Street. The Sixth Avenue Line tracks continue south as the IND Culver Line.

Exit

Northern exit

The only exit, located at the station's north end, leads to the Rutgers Street tunnel ventilation tower at the intersection of York Street and Jay Street. It has a turnstile bank and long passageway and staircase to the platform.

Proposed southern exit

There were proposals for a mezzanine at the station's south end, with an unbuilt entrance leading to the intersection of High Street and Jay Street. In 2016, Delson or Sherman Architects (now operating as Studio Delson and Sherman Architects) proposed a new accessible entrance at the south end of the York Street station.

The MTA started conducting a feasibility study for a new entrance in 2021, following complaints from local residents and politicians who said the single entrance posed a safety hazard. The study found that both options for a new southern entrance would be prohibitively expensive because of the complex infrastructure around the site. A full stair and elevator entrance would cost $420–450 million, while an entrance containing only elevators would cost $230–260 million.

Points of interest

• Dumbo Tech Triangle
• Farragut Houses
• Brooklyn Navy Yard
• Commandant's House at Brooklyn Navy Yard

References

References

1. (May 13, 1885). "Done at Last". [[Brooklyn Daily Eagle]].
2. "www.nycsubway.org".
3. (August 4, 1923). "Two Subway Routes Adopted by City". The New York Times.
4. (March 12, 1924). "Plans Now Ready to Start Subways". The New York Times.
5. (January 11, 1930). "Delaney For Razing Elevated Line Now; Work in 6th Av. Could Begin in Six Months if Condemnation Started at Once, He Says. Sees Cut In Subway Cost Eliminating Need for Underpinning Would Save $4,000,000 and Speed Construction, He Holds.". The New York Times.
6. (February 24, 1929). "East Side Subway Will Evict 10,000; Work on New Line, Likely to Begin in May, Will Force Many Tenants to Move. 200 Buildings Will Fall Transportation Board Notifies Property Owners—Condemnation to Coat Over $11,000,000. Expect Work to Start in May. Residents Recall Other Days.". The New York Times.
7. (May 2, 1929). "East Side Subway Started By Mayor; He Breaks Ground for Crosstown System at Second Av. and East Houston St. Miller Hails Project Sees Area Rejuvenated by Line and City's Plan to Raze Old Tenements.". The New York Times.
8. (April 9, 1936). "New Subway Link Opened by Mayor". The New York Times.
9. (April 6, 1936). "Two Subway Links Start Wednesday". The New York Times.
10. (April 9, 1936). "New Subway Link Opened by Mayor". The New York Times.
11. (December 15, 1940). "The New Subway Routes". The New York Times.
12. (June 16, 2022). "York Street Station Constructability Study". [[Metropolitan Transportation Authority]].
13. {{NYCS const. trackref. trackbook
14. (2015). "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Downtown Brooklyn and Borough Hall". [[Metropolitan Transportation Authority]].
15. Luo, Michael. (2004-05-01). "Mistakes During a Subway Fire Spur New Emergency Training". The New York Times.
16. Gill, Lauren. (June 24, 2016). "F yeah! Architect designs second York Street subway exit".
17. "York Street F Station".
18. "York Street Subway Station".
19. Duggan, Kevin. (March 22, 2021). "MTA studies second entrance for 'disaster waiting to happen' York Street station in Dumbo".
20. Brachfeld, Ben. (September 23, 2021). "Locals demand second entrance to 'dangerous' York Street station".
21. Duggan, Kevin. (June 21, 2022). "Second entrance for York Street subway station in Brooklyn could cost nearly half a billion: MTA".