Division B (BMT) Structure Underground Borough Brooklyn Locale Sunset Park | Line BMT Fourth Avenue Line Platforms 2 side platforms Opened 22 June 1915 Tracks 4 | |
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Services N (late nights)
R (all times) Transit connections New York City Bus: B11, B63 (on Fifth Avenue) Address Brooklyn, NY 11220, United States Similar Prospect Avenue, 25th Street, 45th Street, Union Street, 36th Street | ||
53rd Street is a local station on the BMT Fourth Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at 53rd Street and Fourth Avenue in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, it is served by the R train at all times and the N train during late nights only.
Contents
Station layout
This underground station, opened on June 22, 1915, has four tracks and two side platforms. The two center tracks are used by N trains during daytime hours.
This station was overhauled in the late 1970s. The Transit Authority repaired the station's structure and appearance, particularly the staircases and platform edges. The overhaul also replaced the original wall tiles, signs, and incandescent lighting with cinderblock tiles (colored gray with yellow indentation), black and white signs, and fluorescent lights.
On the platforms, street signs and arrows leading to the station's exits are painted black on the wall tiles. Columns run along the entire length of both platforms and are painted yellow. Every other column has a "53 Street" sign on it in black with white text. All are rounded except for the ones near the two staircases to the station's main entrance, which was where the platforms were extended.
Under the 2015–2019 MTA Capital Plan, the station, along with thirty other New York City Subway stations, will undergo a complete overhaul and would be entirely closed for up to 6 months. Updates would include cellular service, Wi-Fi, charging stations, improved signage, and improved station lighting. From January to May 2016, Grimshaw Architects worked on a design for the station's renovation, with Arup Group acting as a consultant. The award for Package 1 of the renovations, which will cover renovations at the Prospect Avenue, 53rd Street, and Bay Ridge Avenue stations on the BMT Fourth Avenue Line, was awarded on November 30, 2016. The station will be closed from March 2017 to November 2017 for these renovations.
Exits
The station's main entrance has two staircases to each platform and one to each northern corner of Fourth Avenue and 53rd Street. The mezzanine allows transfer between directions and contains some of the original mosaic directional and arrow signs. The one by the staircases to the southbound platform says "Ft. Hamilton & Coney Island" while the one by the Manhattan-bound platform staircases says "Down Town Trains."
The southbound platform has an exit-only near the north end. A single platform-level turnstile leads to a small landing before a three-flight staircase goes up to 52nd Street and Fourth Avenue. The landing area contains the original 1915 trim band with a single "53" tiled on it.