Saratoga Avenue station (IRT New Lots Line)

For the former station on the BMT Fulton Street Line, see Saratoga Avenue (BMT Fulton Street Line).
 Saratoga Avenue
 "3" train
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Station from street
Station statistics
AddressSaratoga Avenue & Livonia Avenue
Brooklyn, New York
BoroughBrooklyn
LocaleBrownsville
Coordinates40°39′42″N 73°54′56″W / 40.661531°N 73.915586°W / 40.661531; -73.915586
DivisionA (IRT)[1]
LineIRT New Lots Line
Services   2 limited rush hour service in the reverse-peak direction (limited rush hour service in the reverse-peak direction)
​   3 all except late nights (all except late nights)
​   4 late nights, and limited rush hour service in the peak direction (late nights, and limited rush hour service in the peak direction)
​   5 limited a.m. rush hour service in the northbound direction only (limited a.m. rush hour service in the northbound direction only)
TransitBus transport NYCT Bus: B7
StructureElevated
Platforms2 side platforms
Tracks2
Other information
OpenedNovember 22, 1920; 104 years ago (November 22, 1920)
RebuiltApril 11, 2016; 8 years ago (April 11, 2016) to September 19, 2016; 8 years ago (September 19, 2016)
Opposite-
direction
transfer		Yes
Traffic
2023941,203[2] Increase 2.3%
Rank304 out of 423[2]
Services
Preceding station New York City Subway New York City Subway Following station
Sutter Avenue–Rutland Road
2 limited rush hour service in the reverse-peak direction ​3 all except late nights ​4 late nights, and limited rush hour service in the peak direction ​5 limited a.m. rush hour service in the northbound direction only
toward Harlem–148th Street
 Rockaway Avenue
2 limited rush hour service in the peak direction ​3 all except late nights ​4 late nights and limited rush hour service in the peak direction
toward New Lots Avenue
Location
Saratoga Avenue station (IRT New Lots Line) is located in New York City Subway
Saratoga Avenue station (IRT New Lots Line)
Saratoga Avenue station (IRT New Lots Line) is located in New York City
Saratoga Avenue station (IRT New Lots Line)
Saratoga Avenue station (IRT New Lots Line) is located in New York
Saratoga Avenue station (IRT New Lots Line)
Track layout

Legend
to Sutter Avenue–Rutland Road
to Rockaway Avenue
Street map

Map

Station service legend
Symbol Description
Stops all times Stops all times
Stops late nights only Stops late nights only
Stops late nights and weekends Stops late nights and weekends
Stops rush hours only Stops rush hours only
Stops rush hours in the peak direction only Stops rush hours in the peak direction only
Stops weekdays during the day Stops weekdays during the day

The Saratoga Avenue station is a station on the IRT New Lots Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Saratoga Avenue and Livonia Avenue in Brownsville, Brooklyn, it is served by the 3 train at all times except late nights, when the 4 train takes over service. During rush hours, occasional 2, 4 and 5 trains also stop here.[3]

History

The New Lots Line was built as a part of Contract 3 of the Dual Contracts between New York City and the Interborough Rapid Transit Company, including this station.[4] It was built as an elevated line because the ground in this area is right above the water table, and as a result the construction of a subway would have been prohibitively expensive.[5] The first portion of the line between Utica Avenue and Junius Street, including this station, opened on November 22, 1920, with shuttle trains operating over this route.[6][7] The line was completed to New Lots Avenue on October 16, 1922,[7] with a two-car train running on the northbound track.[8] On October 31, 1924, through service to New Lots Avenue was begun.[8]

From April 11, 2016 until September 19, 2016, Saratoga Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue were closed for renovation.[9]

Station layout

Platform level Side platform
Northbound ← "3" train toward Harlem–148th Street (Sutter Avenue–Rutland Road)
← "4" train toward Woodlawn late nights (Sutter Avenue–Rutland Road)
← "2" train toward Wakefield–241st Street (select rush hour trips) (Sutter Avenue–Rutland Road)
← "5" train toward Eastchester–Dyre Avenue (select rush hour trips) (Sutter Avenue–Rutland Road)
Center trackway No track or roadbed
Southbound "3" train ("4" train late nights) toward New Lots Avenue (Rockaway Avenue) →
"2" train"4" train toward New Lots Avenue (select rush hour trips) (Rockaway Avenue) →
Side platform
Mezzanine Fare control, station agent, MetroCard and OMNY machines
Ground Street level Exit/entrance

This elevated station has two side platforms and two tracks with space for a center track that was never installed.[10] Both platforms are longer than the standard IRT train length of 514 feet (157 m) and have beige windscreens and brown and red canopies with green canopies with green frames and support columns for their entire length except for a small section at the west (railroad north) end. Here, they have waist-high black steel fences with two lampposts and one standard black station sign in white lettering in-between them. The windscreens and canopy frames also have black and white station signs.

The station house had several enamel white-on-navy blue "To Street" porcelain signs directing passengers to the street stairs,[11] one of which also had porcelain signs of the same style at the bottom of the canopy that said, "Interborough Rapid Transit Company: To All Trains."[12] These signs were removed during the 2016 renovation.

Exits

The station's only entrance/exit is an elevated station house beneath the tracks at the extreme east (railroad south) end. Inside fare control, it has a waiting area that allows a free transfer between directions, one staircase to the Manhattan-bound platform and two to the New Lots Avenue-bound one. One of those staircases is built adjacent to the platform instead of directly on it and connected to the station house with a wooden elevated passageway. Outside fare control, there is a turnstile bank, token booth, and three staircases going down to all corners of Saratoga and Livonia Avenues except the northeast one.[13]

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. ^ a b "Annual Subway Ridership (2018–2023)". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
  3. ^ *"2 Subway Timetable, Effective June 26, 2022". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved December 16, 2024.
  4. ^ "Nearly 70 Track Miles to Be Added To Rapid Transit Facilities in 1920". Brooklyn Standard Union. December 28, 1919. Retrieved August 14, 2016 – via Fulton History.
  5. ^ "Differ Over Assessment Plans in Transit Projects: Eastern Parkway Subway and Livonia Avenue Extension the Cause of Bitter Dissension Among Property Owners Uptown". The Daily Standard Union. March 13, 1910. Retrieved August 14, 2016 – via Fulton History.
  6. ^ "Annual report. 1920-1921". HathiTrust. Interborough Rapid Transit. Retrieved September 5, 2016.
  7. ^ a b Cunningham, Joseph; DeHart, Leonard O. (1993). A History of the New York City Subway System. J. Schmidt, R. Giglio, and K. Lang. p. 53.
  8. ^ a b "IRT Brooklyn Line Opened 90 Years Ago". New York Division Bulletin. 53 (9). New York Division, Electric Railroaders' Association. September 2010. Retrieved August 31, 2016 – via Issu.
  9. ^ "The Stations Were Closed for Renewal Work Since April". mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. September 16, 2016. Archived from the original on September 18, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
  10. ^ Dougherty, Peter (2006) [2002]. Tracks of the New York City Subway 2006 (3rd ed.). Dougherty. OCLC 49777633 – via Google Books.
  11. ^ "To Street" porcelain sign (The Subway Nut)
  12. ^ IRT "To All Trains" porcelain sign (The Subway Nut)
  13. ^ "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Brownsville" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2015. Retrieved July 19, 2015.