Livonia Avenue station

The Livonia Avenue station (or Livonia Avenue-Junius Street station) is an elevated station on the BMT Canarsie Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Livonia and Van Sinderen Avenues at the border of Brownsville and East New York, Brooklyn,^[4] it is served by the L train at all times.^[5]

Livonia Avenue
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Ground level entrance
Station statistics
Address	Livonia Avenue & Van Sinderen Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11207
Borough	Brooklyn
Locale	Brownsville, East New York
Coordinates	40°39′49″N 73°54′02″W / 40.663745°N 73.90048°W / 40.663745; -73.90048
Division	B (BMT)^[1]
Line	BMT Canarsie Line
Services	L  (all times)
System transfers	Free out-of-system transfer with MetroCard or OMNY:    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) at Junius Street
Structure	Elevated
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Other information
Opened	July 28, 1906; 117 years ago (1906-07-28)
Accessible	ADA-accessible
Opposite- direction transfer	Yes
Traffic
2019	856,615^[3]  13.9%
Rank	376 out of 424^[3]
Services Preceding station New York City Subway Following station Sutter Avenue toward Eighth Avenue New Lots Avenue toward Canarsie–Rockaway Parkway
Location Show map of New York City Subway Show map of New York City Show map of New York
Track layout Legend to Sutter Avenue Unpowered service track into Linden Shops to New Lots Avenue
Street map
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times

History

This station opened on July 28, 1906.

The station was renovated in 2005-2006 at a cost of $13.83 million.^[6] The 2007 artwork here is called Seasons by Philemona Williamson. It consists of stained glass windows on the platform windscreens depicted events related to the four seasons of meteorology.^[7][8]

Transfer with New Lots Line

The Canarsie Line passes under the IRT New Lots Line at the south end of the station. The IRT's station at Junius Street (served by the 3 train) is one block to the west of the BMT station, and there is a free transfer between the two stations, which can only be accessed by walking outside the stations and using a MetroCard or OMNY. Passengers originally transferred between the two stations for an additional fare by using an overpass running parallel to the New Lots Line which allows pedestrians on Livonia Avenue to cross over the Long Island Rail Road's open-cut Bay Ridge Branch.

In 2015, there were proposals to convert the overpass to a free-transfer passage between the two stations due to increasing ridership and plans for additional housing in the area.^[9] Both stations would also have been upgraded to become compliant with mobility accessibility guidelines under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.^[10] Money was allocated in the 2015–2019 Capital Program to build this transfer. However, in an April 2018 revision to the Capital Program, funding for the project - with the exception of funding already used to design the connection - was removed.^[11] Regardless, a free MetroCard and OMNY transfer between the two stations was provided during weekends and late nights as part of the reconstruction of the 14th Street Tunnel starting in April 2019;^[12][13] it was made permanent in February 2020.^[14]

The 2020–2024 Capital Program added back funding for the accessibility project, with an allocation of $38.4 million;^[15] by January 2020, only $400,000 of that amount had been spent on "pre-design" activities.^[16] In February 2020, the MTA awarded a design–build contract to construct the free transfer and associated elevator upgrades.^[17] By fall 2020, ADA improvements at the Livonia Avenue station were underway.^[18] The Rockaway Parkway-bound platform was temporarily closed for modifications on November 15, 2020 and reopened on March 9, 2021.^[19] The Manhattan-bound platform was temporarily closed for similar modifications on March 29, 2021 and reopened on July 14, 2021.^{[citation needed]} The project to make the station accessible was completed on May 17, 2022, and the new elevators were officially opened in June 2022.^[20][21]

Station layout

Platform level	Side platform
	Westbound	←   toward Eighth Avenue (Sutter Avenue)
	Eastbound	→   toward Canarsie–Rockaway Parkway (New Lots Avenue) →
	Side platform
Mezzanine	Mezzanine	Exit/entrance, MetroCard/OMNY connection to   at Junius Street via pedestrian bridge
Ground	Street level	Exit/entrance via station house   Elevator inside station house at northwest corner of Livonia and Van Sinderen Avenues

 

A New Lots Avenue-bound 3 train of R62s passing above Livonia Avenue after leaving Junius Street

 

Unstaffed entrance on the Canarsie-bound platform

This elevated station has two side platforms and two tracks.^[22] Both platforms have beige windscreens and red canopies in their centers and barb wired fences at either ends. They are all supported by green frames.^[23][24]

Just south of this station is a spur branching off towards the Linden Shops & Yard. Another spur branches off of the IRT New Lots Line, which crosses over Livonia Avenue, and connects with track from the Canarsie Line before entering the yard. These spurs and the yard have no third rail and are used by New York City Transit diesel locomotives going to and from the facility.^[22]

Exits

The station's main entrance/exit is a ground-level station house directly underneath the platforms on the north side of the T-intersection of Van Sinderen and Livonia Avenues. It has a turnstile bank, token booth, and one staircase to each platform at the center.^[25][26] The Canarsie-bound platform has a secondary exit leading directly to the pedestrian bridge that contains two HEET turnstiles, an emergency gate, and a small staircase.^[25][27]

Right next to the station house is a pedestrian bridge that spans west above the adjacent and parallel Bay Ridge Branch of the Long Island Rail Road and leads to Junius Street, where the entrance to a station of the same name on the IRT New Lots Line is less than a block away.

References

1. "Glossary". (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. "Facts and Figures: Annual Subway Ridership 2014–2019". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
3. "Facts and Figures: Annual Subway Ridership 2014–2019". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
4. "Neighborhood Map Brownsville Ocean Hill East New York Remsen Village" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2015. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
5. "L Subway Timetable, Effective December 4, 2022". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
6. (PDF) (Report). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2006. p. 46. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 24, 2019. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
7. "www.nycsubway.org: Artwork: Seasons (Philemona Williamson)". www.nycsubway.org. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
8. "MTA - Arts & Design | NYCT Permanent Art". mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
9. Eisinger, Dale W.; Rivoli, Dan (July 6, 2015). "Brooklyn official wants transfer at 2 nearby subway stations in East New York". Daily News (New York). Retrieved October 25, 2015.
10. "MTA Capital Program 2015-2019: Renew. Enhance. Expand" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. October 28, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
11. Martinez, Jose (May 2, 2019). "Free Subway Transfers Prove One 'L' of an Idea in Brooklyn". The City. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
12. Hogan, Gwynne; Tcholakian, Danielle (July 25, 2016). . DNAinfo New York. Archived from the original on August 21, 2016. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
13. Fitzsimmons, Emma G. (July 25, 2016). "L Train Will Shut Down From Manhattan to Brooklyn in '19 for 18 Months". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
14. "Service information for L, M, G, 7, M14 SBS and free transfers". April 26, 2020. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
15. "MTA Capital Program 2020-2024" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. September 20, 2019. p. 187. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
16. Guse, Clayton. "MTA to finally connect two Brooklyn subway stations where riders were double-charged for a century". nydailynews.com. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
17. "New York City Transit and Bus Committee Meeting February 2020". mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. February 24, 2020. pp. 179–181. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
18. "Capital Program Oversight Committee Meeting June 2020". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. June 24, 2020. p. 36. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
19. "Manhattan-bound L trains will skip Livonia av".
20. Mocker, Greg (June 3, 2022). "First fully accessible subway station opens in Brooklyn neighborhood". PIX11. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
21. Quinn, Anna (June 3, 2022). "SEE: Brownsville Gets Its 1st Accessible Subway Station At Livonia Ave". Brownsville-East New York, NY Patch. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
22. Dougherty, Peter (2006) [2002]. Tracks of the New York City Subway 2006 (3rd ed.). Dougherty. OCLC 49777633 – via Google Books.
23. Cox, Jeremiah (May 29, 2007). "Looking across to the now fully windscreened portion of the Manhattan-bound platform at Livonia Avenue". subwaynut.com. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
24. Cox, Jeremiah (May 29, 2016). "The ends of the renovated platforms at Livonia Avenue now have wire mesh, tall fences". subwaynut.com. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
25. "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Brownsville" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2015. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
26. Cox, Jeremiah (January 1, 2005). "Looking down one of the two staircases to the station house at street level at Livonia Avenue". subwaynut.com. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
27. Cox, Jeremiah (May 29, 2007). "The two High Entrance Gates to the Canarsie-bound platform at Livonia Avenue from the bridge over to the 3 train". subwaynut.com. Retrieved December 29, 2016.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Livonia Avenue (BMT Canarsie Line).

• nycsubway.org – BMT Canarsie Line: Livonia Avenue
• Station Reporter —
• The Subway Nut — Livonia Avenue Pictures
• MTA's Arts For Transit —
• Livonia Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Platforms from Google Maps Street View