Avenue U station (BMT Brighton Line)

For other uses, see Avenue U (disambiguation).

Avenue U
View from southbound platform
Station statistics
Address	Avenue U & East 16th Street Brooklyn, New York
Borough	Brooklyn
Locale	Homecrest, Sheepshead Bay
Coordinates	40°35′56″N73°57′21″W / 40.598875°N 73.955841°W / 40.598875; -73.955841
Division	B (BMT) [1]
Line	BMT Brighton Line
Services	Q   (all times)
Transit	NYCT Bus: B3
Structure	Embankment
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	4
Other information
Opened	(surface station): c. 1902 (current station): c. 1908
Opposite- direction transfer	Yes
Traffic
2024	891,603 [2]   1.6%
Rank	322 out of 423 [2]
Services Preceding station New York City Subway Following station Kings Highway toward 96th Street Local Neck Road toward Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue does not stop here
Location Show map of New York City Subway Show map of New York City Show map of New York
Track layout Legend to Kings Highway to Neck Road
Street map
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times

The Avenue U station is a local station on the BMT Brighton Line of the New York City Subway, located at Avenue U between East 15th and East 16th Streets in Homecrest and Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. The station is served by the Q train at all times. ^[3]

History

The original station was opened on the surface Brighton Beach Railroad at Avenue U near East 15th Street, c.1902, coincident with the building of the community of Homecrest, It was closed during elevation of the Brighton Line and the current station opened around 1908.

On August 1, 1920, a tunnel under Flatbush Avenue opened, connecting the Brighton Line to the Broadway subway in Manhattan. ^{[4] [5]} At the same time, the line's former track connections to the Fulton Street Elevated were severed. Subway trains from Manhattan and elevated trains from Franklin Avenue served Brighton Line stations, sharing the line to Coney Island. ^{[5] [6]}

It underwent more recent reconstruction from December 2008 to January 2010. Both platforms were rebuilt with new windscreens, canopies, and tactile strip edges. ^[7]

Station layout

Platform level	Side platform
	Northbound local	← toward 96th Street (Kings Highway)
	Northbound express	← does not stop here
	Southbound express	→ does not stop here →
	Southbound local	→ toward Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue (Neck Road) →
	Side platform
Ground	Street level	Entrances/exits, station building and agent, MetroCard and OMNY vending machines

The station is located on a raised earthen embankment. There are four tracks and two side platforms. The two center tracks are used by the B express train on weekdays. ^[8]

Both platforms have beige windscreens with green outlines and frames along their entire lengths and red canopies with green frames in the center. The station signs are in the standard black plates in white lettering and lamp posts are on all support columns of the windscreens in the non-canopied areas. The Coney Island-bound platform has a storage area above the mezzanine staircase.

The 2011 artwork here is called Brooklyn Wildfires by Jason Middlebrook and Miotto Mosaic Art Studio. It is installed on the walls of the Coney Island-bound platform's staircase and consists of ceramic tiling and glass mosaic depicting various species of wildflowers.

Exit

The station has one ground-level station house directly underneath the tracks and platforms on the north side of Avenue U. It has a token booth, turnstile bank, and double-wide staircase going up to the Coney Island-bound platform and two standard width staircases to the Manhattan-bound one. The Coney Island-bound staircase landing splits below a landing, one side leading to the station house and the other bypassing it with two exit-only turnstiles leading directly to the sidewalk. The Coney Island-bound platform also has a metal door leading to a closed staircase that goes down to the north side of Avenue U. ^[9]

References

1. "Glossary". Second Avenue Subway Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) (PDF). Vol. 1. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. March 4, 2003. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 26, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
2. "Annual Subway Ridership (2018–2023)". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
3. "QSubway Timetable, Effective June 30, 2024". Metropolitan Transportation Authority . Retrieved May 29, 2025.
4. "New Subway Link Opens; Service Started Through Queens and Montague Street Tubes". The New York Times. August 1, 1920. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on October 18, 2022. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
5. "Montague Street Tube, Brighton Subway Operation Begun". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. August 1, 1920. p. 53. Archived from the original on May 3, 2018. Retrieved May 3, 2018– via Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com.
6. Kennedy, Randy (September 30, 2003). "Tunnel Vision; Short Line. Small Train. Little Graffiti". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 3, 2018. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
7. "Press Release - NYC Transit - Temporary Loss of Brighton Line Express". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. July 29, 2009. Archived from the original on August 12, 2017. Retrieved August 11, 2017.
8. Dougherty, Peter (2006) [2002]. Tracks of the New York City Subway 2006 (3rd ed.). Dougherty. OCLC   49777633 – via Google Books.
9. "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Midwood" (PDF). mta.info . Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2015. Retrieved August 2, 2015.

External links

Artwork by Jason Middlebrook

• Media related to Avenue U (BMT Brighton Line) at Wikimedia Commons
• nycsubway.org – BMT Brighton Line: Avenue U
• Station Reporter — Q Train
• The Subway Nut — Avenue U Pictures
• Flickr - Brooklyn Wildfires
• Avenue U entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Platforms from Google Maps Street View