Alabama Avenue (BMT Jamaica Line)

Alabama Avenue
New York City Subway rapid transit station
The station as seen from street level
Station statistics
Address	Alabama Avenue & Fulton Street Brooklyn, NY 11207
Borough	Brooklyn
Locale	East New York, Cypress Hills
Coordinates	40°40′37″N 73°54′00″W / 40.67683°N 73.900008°WCoordinates: 40°40′37″N 73°54′00″W / 40.67683°N 73.900008°W
Division	B (BMT)
Line	BMT Jamaica Line
Services	J  (all times)       Z  (rush hours, peak direction)
Transit connections	NYCT Bus: B12, B20, B25, B83, Q24, Q56
Structure	Elevated
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2
Other information
Opened	September 5, 1885[1]
Traffic
Passengers (2015)	814,578[2]  3.8%
Rank	383 out of 422
Station succession
Next north	Van Siclen Avenue: J  Z  (J  skips to Cleveland Street)
Next south	Broadway Junction: J  Z
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction Stops rush hours in the peak direction only Stops all times
Location

Alabama Avenue is an elevated station on the BMT Jamaica Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Alabama Avenue and Fulton Street in East New York, Brooklyn,^[3] it is served by the J train at all times and the Z train during rush hours in the peak direction.^[4]

History

Track layout
Legend
to Van Siclen Av to Bway Jct

On September 5, 1885, the Brooklyn Elevated Railway was extended to Alabama Avenue, with 1,500 passengers using the station during the morning of its first day of service.^[1]

In 1985, the station had only 321 paying daily riders on a typical weekday in 1985 not counting farebeaters, making it one of the least used stations in the system.^[5]

The station was renovated from January 14, 2005 to December 19, 2005. As part of the station renovation project, the stairs were rehabilitated, the floors were renewed, major structural repairs were made, new canopies were installed, the area around the station booth was reconfigured, the platform edge strips were replaced, walls were replaced, and a high-quality public address system was installed.^[6][7]

Station layout

3F	Express trackway	Trackbed
2F Platform level	Southbound	← toward Broad Street (Broadway Junction) ← toward Broad Street AM rush hours (Broadway Junction)
	Island platform, doors will open on the left
	Northbound	→ toward Jamaica Center – Parsons/Archer (Cleveland Street PM rush hours, Van Siclen Avenue other times) → → toward Jamaica Center – Parsons/Archer PM rush hours (Van Siclen Avenue) →
1F	Mezzanine	Fare control, station agent
G	Street Level	Exit / Entrance

The trackway at Alabama Avenue.

This elevated station has one island platform and two tracks.^[8] The platform has a red canopy with green frames and support columns at the west (railroad south) end.

The station's only entrance/exit is an elevated station house beneath the tracks. It has one staircase to the platform at the south end, turnstile bank, token booth, and two staircases facing in opposite directions going down to the southeast corner of Alabama Avenue and Fulton Street.

A trackway starts at the top of the station's flat canopy and runs to the elevated complex at Broadway Junction. This may have been for a planned express track above the local tracks of the BMT Jamaica Line that was never completed. This track was intended to be an express track, with work beginning on the proposed express track in the late 1960s.^[9] However, engineering studies completed after the work started indicated that the vibration of trains passing over the stations would be too severe and would literally shake the stations apart.

A nameless artwork by Scott Redden was installed here in 2008. It consists of three stained glass panels in eight of the nine station sign structures on the platform. The panels depict scenes related to farming including a farmhouse, chicken, and pick-up truck.^[10]

The street area under the station was depicted in a painting created by artist Rackstraw Downes, titled "Under the J Line at Alabama Avenue, 2007."^[11]

References

1. "Still Extending Its Lines The Brooklyn Elevated Reaches Alabama Avenue.". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. September 5, 1885. p. 6. Retrieved October 2, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "Facts and Figures: Annual Subway Ridership". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
3. "Neighborhood Map East New York Cypress Hills Woodhaven New Lots" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2015. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
4. "J/Z Subway Timetable, Effective November 7, 2016" (PDF). New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
5. Levine, Richard (1986-11-05). "COLUMN ONE: TRANSPORT". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
6. "Alabama Av station closed for rehabilitation Beginning 12:01 AM Mon, Jun 13 to midnight, Sun, Dec 14" (PDF). mta.info. New York City Transit. 2005. Archived from the original on December 10, 2005. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
7. "MTA NYC Transit Subway Line Information". mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2005-12-21. Archived from the original on 2005-12-21. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
8. Marrero, Robert (2015-09-13). "469 Stations, 846 Miles" (PDF). B24 Blog, via Dropbox. Retrieved 2015-10-09.
9. "City Transit Unit Seeks 141 Million: Funds for Buses and BMT Cars Included in Budget". The New York Times. July 18, 1962. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
10. "MTA - Arts & Design | NYCT Permanent Art". web.mta.info. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
11. "Rackstraw Downes Under the J Line at Alabama Avenue (2007) Artsy.net Retrieved 11-16-2013".

External links

• nycsubway.org – BMT Jamaica Line: Alabama Avenue
• Station Reporter — J Train
• The Subway Nut — Alabama Avenue Pictures
• Alabama Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Platform from Google Maps Street View