The DeKalb Avenue station is an interchange station on the BMT Brighton Line and BMT Fourth Avenue Line of the New York City Subway, located at the intersection of DeKalb and Flatbush Avenues in Downtown Brooklyn. It is served by the Q and R trains at all times, the B train on weekdays, and the D and N trains during late nights. During rush hours only, a few W train trips also serve this station.

The station has six tracks and two island platforms. The two innermost tracks are used by Fourth Avenue express trains, which skip the station, while the four outer tracks are used by Brighton Line and Fourth Avenue local trains. The track configuration has been arranged several times. The current configuration dates from a 1956–1961 reconstruction project to straighten the platforms and eliminate a level junction north of the station, which had caused a switching bottleneck. Other plans, such as connections to the BMT Fulton Street Line and IRT Eastern Parkway Line, were considered at times.

History

Construction and opening The New York City Board of Estimate approved the construction of the Fourth Avenue Line, a subway line running under Fourth Avenue, in early 1908. The line would run over the Manhattan Bridge to Manhattan at its northern end. Contracts for the Fourth Avenue Line were awarded on May 22, 1908, for the section between 43rd Street and the Manhattan Bridge, but the Board of Estimate did not approve them until October 29, 1909, when a taxpayer's lawsuit regarding the city's debt was settled. Groundbreaking for the first section of the subway, between DeKalb Avenue and 43rd Street (ending at 36th Street), took place on November 13, 1909, at DeKalb Avenue and Flatbush Avenue, after the plans and surveys for the line were completed. The Fourth Avenue Line was assigned to the BRT (after 1923, the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation or BMT) in the Dual Contracts, adopted on March 4, 1913. William Bradley built the portion of the line from the intersection of Flatbush Avenue Extension and Willoughby Street to the intersection of Fulton Street and Ashland Place, including the DeKalb Avenue station.

The DeKalb Avenue station was originally intended only as a local station on the Fourth Avenue Line. After the Montague Street Tunnel was approved, the planned station was changed to an express station that could serve trains from both the Manhattan Bridge and the Montague Street Tunnel (there would still be two bypass tracks for Fourth Avenue express trains using the bridge). In November 1914, the New York Public Service Commission began requesting bids for the installation of station finishes at the DeKalb Avenue station. The commission also requested bids for the addition of crossovers, allowing trains from the tunnel or the bridge to stop at DeKalb Avenue. The Public Service Commission awarded the contract for the modifications to Samuel Beskin. To accommodate these crossovers, contractors had to cut into partition walls that had already been built.

The DeKalb Avenue station opened on June 22, 1915, as part of an extension of the subway to Coney Island, which included the Fourth Avenue Line north of 59th Street as well as the entire Sea Beach Line. The station's opening was marked with a competition between two trains heading from Chambers Street station in Manhattan to the Coney Island station, one heading via the West End Line and the other via the Sea Beach Line; the latter got to Coney Island first. As a local station, the DeKalb Avenue station was originally long.

Also as part of the Dual Contracts, an extension of the Brighton Line was approved. The extension was to run under St. Felix Street in Downtown Brooklyn, splitting off the Fourth Avenue Line south of the DeKalb Avenue station. It would then run under Flatbush Avenue south of Atlantic Avenue, sharing a tunnel with the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT)'s Eastern Parkway Line. The Brighton Line extension opened on August 1, 1920, serving the DeKalb Avenue station with the Fourth Avenue Line and providing direct service between the existing Brighton Line and Midtown Manhattan. Afterward, the DeKalb Avenue station was referred to as "the heart of the BMT", as it is a major transfer point between BMT services with lines splitting north and south of the station.

1920s to 1950s

In 1922, the New York State Transit Commission directed its engineers to prepare plans for lengthening the platforms at 23 stations on the BMT's lines to accommodate eight-car trains. As part of the project, platforms would be lengthened to . Though the Transit Commission ordered the BMT to lengthen these platforms in September 1923, no further progress was made until February 16, 1925, when the New York City Board of Transportation (BOT) commissioned its engineers to examine platform-lengthening plans for DeKalb Avenue and eleven other stations along the Fourth Avenue Line. It estimated the project would cost $633,000 (). The New York City Board of Estimate appropriated $362,841 for the lengthening of the platforms at DeKalb Avenue and five other stations in January 1926 and awarded the contract to Charles Meads & Company early the next month. As part of the project, the original signal tower at the end of the platform was demolished to make way for the platform extension, and a new signal tower was built to control traffic on the Manhattan Bridge and Montague Street Tunnel. The platform extension at DeKalb Avenue opened on August 1, 1927.

The Dime Savings Bank, which had its headquarters at 9 DeKalb Avenue just above the station, opened a branch on the station's mezzanine level in August 1956. The opening of the bank branch followed several months of negotiations. The bank had wanted to open a corridor from the station directly into its building, but this was not possible because of the presence of various underground conduits, pipes, and emergency exits, so the bank decided instead to rent space in the station.

Track reconfiguration

The station has been reconfigured a number of times. Originally, the extreme outside tracks in each direction hosted the Fourth Avenue Line local tracks and the next pair hosted the Brighton Line. The middle tracks, which bypassed the station, hosted the Fourth Avenue express tracks. A group of level crossovers at the northern end of the station allowed all tracks access to both sides of the Manhattan Bridge and to the Montague Street Tunnel. The Fourth Avenue local tracks led straight onto the Manhattan Bridge west of the station, while the Brighton line tracks led straight to the Montague Street Tunnel, so the crossovers allowed trains from both lines to switch between the bridge and the tunnel.

The city government took over the BMT's operations on June 1, 1940. By then, the original track layout caused many train delays on the Fourth Avenue and Brighton lines. In 1952, the junction was earmarked for "top priority" reconstruction. On November 30, 1955, the New York City Transit Authority sent a recommendation to the Board of Estimate for the approval of a $13,152,831 contract to eliminate the bottleneck. The elimination of the bottleneck was the first step in a larger plan to improve transit service between Brooklyn and Manhattan. The Citizens Budget Commission recommended that the appropriation be canceled, but three other civic groups opposed the elimination of the funding.

During the reconstruction of the junction that started in 1956 and was completed by April 1961, the Brighton Line tracks were connected to the DeKalb Avenue station's outermost tracks. A diamond crossover north of the station had caused frequent bottlenecks, but was removed during the realignment and replaced with two flying junctions. All switches immediately north of the station were eliminated. The junction towards the Manhattan Bridge was rebuilt. To make room for a new flying junction, the Myrtle Avenue station was closed. That station's northbound platform remains visible from passing trains, but the southbound platform was demolished to accommodate the new flying junction that replaced the diamond crossover. Platforms were also doubled in length to accommodate ten-car trains of cars.DeKalb Av Escalators It was estimated that the reconstruction of the junction increased the junction's train capacity by 25%.

The Chrystie Street Connection project was also tied to this improvement, as it resulted in more trains using the bridge, as well as connecting trains to the Independent Subway System (IND)'s Sixth Avenue Line (and thus, to IND lines to the Bronx and Queens)."Construction of New IND Tunnel for 6th Ave. Line Begins Today", New York Times April 19, 1961; page 41 Over the years, as more of the business community migrated to Midtown Manhattan, the slower tunnel route via Lower Manhattan became less popular. When the Chrystie Street Connection opened in 1967, the station became a transfer point for trains to and from the IND Sixth Avenue Line.

Station overhauls

After the 1961 reconstruction, some adjustments were made to the station. The original platform extensions were closed and replaced by straight extensions to the north in 1960. The abandoned portions can be seen from the open platforms and trains. In the mid-1960s, the station platforms were extended northward at least to accommodate for a train. It also added new '60s modern look tiling.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced in late 1978 that it would modernize the DeKalb Avenue station. The improvements included new finishes on the walls and floors; acoustical, signage, and lighting improvements; replacement of old mechanical equipment; and new handrails. In spite of the renovation, the MTA listed the station among the 69 most deteriorated stations in the subway system in 1981.

In the early 2000s, architect Lee Harris Pomeroy designed a renovation of the DeKalb Avenue station. The plans included adding elevators for ADA accessibility, as well as restoring the original station tiles and mosaics. The latest major overhaul was in 2004–2006. The station was repaired and became an ADA-accessible station. The MTA repaired the staircases, retiled the walls, added new tiles to the floors, upgraded the station's lights and public address system, installed ADA yellow safety treads along the platform edge and replaced the trackbeds for all trains entering or bypassing the station. It also installed elevators on both platforms, as well as elevators to the street level.

Station layout GroundStreet levelExit/entranceMezzanineFare control, station agent, OMNY machinesPlatform levelNorthbound local via Bridge← weekdays toward or ()← toward ()← toward late nights (Grand Street)← toward (select weekday trips) (Canal Street) (No service: )Island platform Northbound local via Tunnel← toward ( late nights) ()← toward Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard late nights (Jay Street–MetroTech)← toward Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard (select weekday trips) (Jay Street–MetroTech)Northbound express via Bridge← do not stop hereSouthbound express via Bridge do not stop here →Southbound local via Tunnel toward (/Fourth) → toward via Sea Beach late nights (Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center/Fourth) → toward (select weekday trips) (Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center/Fourth) →Island platform Southbound local via Bridge weekdays toward (/Brighton) → toward Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue via Brighton (Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center/Brighton) → toward Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue via West End late nights (Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center/Fourth) → toward Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue via Sea Beach (select weekday trips) (Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center/Fourth) →