The Broadway Junction station is a New York City Subway station complex shared by the elevated BMT Canarsie Line and BMT Jamaica Line, and the underground IND Fulton Street Line. It was also served by trains of the Fulton Street Elevated until that line closed in 1956. It is located roughly at the intersection of Broadway, Fulton Street and Van Sinderen Avenue at the border of the Bedford–Stuyvesant, Bushwick and East New York neighborhoods of Brooklyn. The complex is served by the A, J, and L trains at all times; the C train except at night; and the Z train during rush hours in the peak direction.
The station is adjacent to the East New York Yard and a complex track junction between the tracks leading to the yard, the Canarsie Line, and the Jamaica Line. The structure of the elevated station still contains the ironwork for the trackways used by the old Fulton Elevated. The station has a single exit and entrance through a fare control building located at the eastern end of the Fulton Street Line station. There is evidence of closed exits from the Jamaica Line platforms. There is also a New York City Police Department (NYPD) transit precinct at the station.
The station opened as Manhattan Junction as part of the BMT Lexington Avenue Line in 1885. In 1900, an elevated connection was made with the Fulton Street Elevated, resulting in a change in service patterns. Lexington Avenue and Fulton Street trains were through-routed, going around the East New York Loop, with service to Cypress Hills requiring a transfer. The station started to be used by service to Canarsie in 1906. In 1919, the Manhattan Junction station was replaced by the current station which was then known as Eastern Parkway. The modern-day Canarsie Line platforms, known as Broadway Junction, opened in 1928 when that line was connected to the 14th Street–Eastern District Line. The Independent Subway System's Fulton Street Line was extended to Broadway–East New York in 1946, and the three stations were combined as one station complex on July 1, 1948. The names of the stations in the complex were conformed to Broadway Junction in 2003.
Although Broadway Junction ranked 166th in the system for passenger entries in 2016, with 3,085,401 total entries, it is Brooklyn's third-busiest station in terms of passenger activity. It sees 100,000 passengers per day , the vast majority of whom use it to make transfers. In 2017, the New York City Economic Development Corporation started studying options to rezone the surrounding area as a transit hub.Hu, Winnie. "A Tired Brooklyn Transit Hub Is Finally Getting Attention; New York City officials aim to transform Broadway Junction from a pass-through to a destination stop with offices, stores, restaurants and other amenities." , The New York Times, November 26, 2017. Accessed November 27, 2017. "Currently, about 100,000 riders pass through Broadway Junction every weekday, making it the third busiest station in Brooklyn, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Most riders are transferring between the various lines."
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History
The Broadway Junction station complex is shared by the elevated BMT Canarsie and BMT Jamaica Lines and the underground IND Fulton Street Line. Throughout the history of the area, this has been a key junction point between various different rail lines. What is now Broadway Junction sits atop the historical Jamaica Pass, the junction of the modern Broadway, Fulton Street, and Jamaica Avenue. The Pass is where these roads passed through the valleys of the area, which are part of the terminal moraine created by the Wisconsin glaciation.
BMT complex The first rail service in the area was the Atlantic Branch of the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) at East New York station. The line opened as the Brooklyn and Jamaica Railroad in 1836, under lease to the LIRR, but did not include a station at East New York until early 1843. The Brooklyn and Rockaway Beach Railroad (the predecessor to the BMT Canarsie Line) began service in the area in 1865. The name Manhattan Junction or Manhattan Beach Junction was applied to the station on what is now the Jamaica Line when it opened in 1885; the area had been known as Manhattan Beach Crossing since before then, due to the crossing of the LIRR's Manhattan Beach Division. A station on the Fulton Street Elevated railroad at Sackman Street opened on July 4, 1889, when the line was extended to Atlantic Avenue.
A two-track, one-half-block elevated connection was built on the east side of Vesta Avenue (now Van Sinderen Avenue) between the Fulton Street and Broadway Lines. This connection, equipped with a third rail to supply electric power, was opened on August 9, 1900, and new service patterns were implemented: during times other than rush hours, Lexington Avenue and Fulton Street trains were through-routed, and travel beyond Manhattan Junction required a transfer. This "East New York Loop" was unpopular, and was soon stopped; the next service to use the tracks was the BMT Canarsie Line to Broadway Ferry (later the 15 train), joined to the Fulton Street Line at Pitkin and Snediker Avenues in 1906.
The name was changed from Manhattan Junction to Broadway Junction in 1913. The Dual Contracts were signed on March 19, 1913, between the City and the Interborough Rapid Transit Company and the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT). As part of the agreement, the BRT, which owned the elevated lines in Brooklyn, agreed to construct bidirectional express tracks on the Fulton and Broadway Elevateds. The Broadway express track was placed into service on December 23, 1916. The current Broadway Elevated station at Eastern Parkway opened on August 5, 1919, replacing the old Manhattan Junction station. The full BMT 14th Street-Canarsie Line was completed on July 14, 1928, with the opening of the segment connecting Broadway Junction with Montrose Avenue.
IND station By 1936, the Independent Subway System's Fulton Street Line had been extended to Rockaway Avenue. At that time, Broadway Junction was an all-Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit (BMT) transfer point. Further eastward extension of the line was delayed by World War II; the Broadway–East New York station opened on December 30, 1946. A direct escalator passageway was constructed between the IND and BMT stations in East New York to allow passengers free transfers. The passageway opened on July 1, 1948. The Fulton Street Elevated was now redundant, and BMT service on the line closed entirely on April 26, 1956, with the eastern portion to Lefferts Boulevard connected to the IND.
The New York City Board of Transportation announced plans in November 1949 to spend $325,000 extending platforms at several IND stations, including Broadway–East New York, to accommodate 11-car, trains. The lengthened trains began running during rush hour on September 8, 1953, with eleven-car trains operating on weekdays. The project cost $400,000 and increased the total carrying capacity of rush-hour trains by 4,000 passengers. The operation of eleven-car trains ended in 1958 because of operational difficulties. The signal blocks, especially in Manhattan, were too short to accommodate the longer trains, and the motormen had a very small margin of error to properly align the train with the platform. It was found that operating ten-car trains allowed for two additional trains per hour to be scheduled.
Complex renovation and later years The entire complex was renovated from 1999 to 2001. The design bid for the project was awarded in May 1996. As part of the project, an abandoned mezzanine and adjacent staircases were removed, a new station booth was built and the public address system was improved. In 2001, as part of the work a piece of artwork made by Al Loving titled Brooklyn, New Morning was installed in the station. This piece of art consists of 75 unique glass panels arranged in a series throughout the complex and a mosaic mural wall that is . This installation was part of MTA Arts & Design's program to install artwork in stations that undergo rehabilitations. Other necessary improvements were also completed as part of the project. For a long time, the stations within the complex went by three different names: the original Eastern Parkway on the BMT Jamaica Line, Broadway Junction on the BMT Canarsie Line, and Broadway–East New York (IND Fulton Street Line). Conformity between the station names was established in 2003.
As part of a project initiated in 2017 in which 200 blocks of land in East New York were rezoned for housing and improvements to area parks and schools were planned, the New York City Economic Development Corporation initiated a study to foster economic growth around Broadway Junction as a transit hub with residential and commercial uses. In 2018, the MTA announced several further improvements to the Broadway Junction station: new elevators for the Fulton Street Line platforms, as well as staircases for the Canarsie Line platforms and Jamaica Line platforms. Plans for the Interborough Express, a light rail line using the Bay Ridge Branch right of way, were announced in 2023. As part of the project, a light rail station at Atlantic Avenue has been proposed next to the existing subway station.
Mayor Eric Adams announced in May 2023 that the MTA would spend $400 million on improvements at the Broadway Junction station, including seven elevators, a new entrance on Van Sinderen Avenue directly to the Canarsie Line platforms, and replacement of all of the complex's escalators. In addition, the city government would spend $95 million to build pedestrian plazas around the station. AtkinsRéalis was hired in June 2024 to design the station's renovation, including accessibility improvements. Work on the project began in 2025, despite concerns from local residents that the project would result in gentrification. The MTA also announced in 2025 that a customer service center would open at the station.For a list of the new stations, see: By 2026, a direct connection between the Fulton Street and Canarsie lines' platforms was planned to be complete that year, and the elevators were being installed.
Station layout 4th floorCrossoverTransfer between platforms3rd floorNorthbound ← toward ()Island platformSeparation at south endIsland platform, not in useSouthbound toward () →Side platformMezzanineConnection between levels2nd floorSouthbound local← toward ( AM rush, other times)← toward Broad Street AM rush ()Island platformPeak-direction express No service (Next station: west, east)Island platformNorthbound local toward () → toward Jamaica Center–Parsons/Archer PM rush () →GroundStreet levelExit/entranceBasementWestbound local← toward ()← toward late nights ()Island platformWestbound express← toward ()Eastbound express toward , , or () →Island platformEastbound local toward () → toward late nights () →
The station complex is composed of three stations: the two elevated stations on the BMT Jamaica and Canarsie Lines, as well as the underground station on the IND Fulton Street Line. The IND station is accessible from the station's ground-level station house, at the east end of the station complex, using staircases down to platform level. The BMT lines are reachable from that same station house via escalators from street level to the upper mezzanine, which is located over the elevated BMT Jamaica Line platforms and at the BMT Canarsie Line's platform level. The two escalators, which were replaced in 2000, are long and steep. A footbridge leads from the upper mezzanine to the BMT Canarsie Line's northbound platform.