BMT Nassau Street Line

Service

The following services use part or all of the BMT Nassau Street Line. The trunk line's bullets are colored :

History

Planning, construction, and first section

After the original lines of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) opened, the city began planning new lines. Two of these were extensions of that system, to Downtown Brooklyn and Van Cortlandt Park, but the other two – the Centre Street Loop subway (or Brooklyn Loop subway) and Fourth Avenue subway (in Brooklyn) – were separate lines for which construction had not progressed as far. The Centre Street Loop, approved on January 25, 1907 as a four-track line (earlier proposed as two tracks), was to connect the Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, and Williamsburg Bridge via Centre Street, Canal Street, and Delancey Street. An extension south from the Brooklyn Bridge under William Street to Wall Street was also part of the plan, as were several loops towards the Hudson River and a loop connecting the bridges through Brooklyn. Trains coming from Brooklyn via the Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridges would be able to head back to that borough via the Brooklyn Bridge as well as the Montague Street Tunnel at the south end of the Centre Street Loop, and vice versa. All trains would pass through a large central station with four tracks and five platforms at Chambers Street, just north of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Construction contracts for the main line in Manhattan were awarded in early 1907, though the city had not yet selected an operator for the line. The work was divided into five sections: two under Centre Street and three under other streets or buildings. The city began receiving bids for the sections under Centre Street in March 1907. The city received bids for the sections between Centre Street and Bowery (under Kenmare Street), between Bowery and Norfolk Street (under Delancey Street), and between Pearl Street and Park Row (under the Manhattan Municipal Building) that June. The line was assigned to a proposed Tri-borough system in early 1908 and to the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) in the Dual Contracts, adopted on March 4, 1913. Unlike previous subway contracts that the city government had issued, the BRT was responsible only for constructing the Centre Street Loop and installing equipment, not for operating the loop. As a result, although the loop was almost completed by late 1908, there was no operator for the route at the time. Furthermore, the BRT did not originally want to operate the loop.

The BRT began operating through a short piece of subway, coming off the Williamsburg Bridge under Delancey Street to Essex Street, on September 16, 1908. The BRT tunnel under Centre Street was completed by 1910, except for the section under the Municipal Building, which contained the incomplete Chambers Street station. The tunnel remained unused for several years. In March 1913, the Public Service Commission authorized the BRT to lay tracks, install signals, and operate the loop. The Centre Street Loop was opened to Chambers Street on August 4, 1913, with temporary operation at first on the two west tracks. The south tracks on the Manhattan Bridge, also running into Chambers Street, were placed in service on June 22, 1915.

Second section

Construction

Under Contract 4 of the Dual Contracts, the BRT (later reorganized as the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation or BMT) was to operate the Nassau Street Line. The southern portion of the line remained incomplete for several years, and the BRT brought a $30 million suit against the city for not building the line before January 1, 1917. Most of the BMT's Dual Contracts lines were completed by 1924, except for the Nassau Street Line. BMT chairman Gerhard Dahl was persistent at requesting that the city build the line, saying in 1923 that the BMT was willing to operate the line as soon as the city completed it. At the time, the BMT was planning to construct two stations on the Nassau Street Line: one at Fulton Street, where the BMT planned to place the northbound platform above the southbound platform due to the street's narrowness, and the other at the intersection at Broad and Wall Streets, where both platforms would be on the same level. However, mayor John Hylan refused to act during his final two years in office. BOT chairman John H. Delaney believed that the line was unnecessary because both of its planned stations would be extremely close to existing subway stations. Meanwhile, the BMT claimed that the city's failure to complete the line was overburdening other BMT lines. By January 1925, the BMT was asking its passengers to pressure Hylan into approving the remainder of the Nassau Street Line. Work did not commence until after James Walker succeeded Hylan as mayor at the end of 1925.

The city government agreed to build the Nassau Street Line in May 1927, after the BMT sued the city for $30 million. At the time, the city wanted to take over the BMT's lines but could not do so until all Dual Contracts lines were completed. The BOT received bids for the construction of the line that July, but it rejected every bid the next month because of concerns over the lowest bidder's ability to complete the work. That September, contractors again submitted bids to the BOT; some bidders offered to build the entire line, while others only offered to construct the segments of the line to the north or south of Liberty Street. The BOT awarded construction contracts for the line's construction two months later. The Marcus Contracting Company was hired to build the portion north of Liberty Street, including the Fulton Street station, for $4.7 million, while Moranti and Raymond were hired to build the portion to the south for $5.7 million. The New York City Board of Estimate approved the contracts in January 1928, allowing the builders to construct the line using the cut-and-cover method, despite merchants' requests that the line be constructed using tunnelling shields.

The line was constructed 20 feet below the active IRT Lexington Avenue Line, next to buildings along the narrow Nassau Street, and the project encountered difficulties such as quicksand. When the construction contracts were awarded, work had been projected to be completed in 39 months. By early 1929, sixty percent of the work had been finished. Nassau Street is only 34 ft wide, and the subway floor was only 20 ft below building foundations. As a result, 89 buildings had to be underpinned to ensure that they would stay on their foundations. Construction had to be done 20 feet below the active IRT Lexington Avenue Line. An area filled with quicksand with water, which used to belong to a spring, was found between John Street and Broad Street. Construction was done at night so as to not disturb workers in the Financial District. The project was 80 percent complete by April 1930, and Charles Meads & Co. was awarded a $252,000 contract to install the Fulton Street station's finishes the next month. The plans for that station had been changed so that the southbound platform was above the northbound platform. The total construction cost was $10.072 million for 0.9 mi of new tunnels, or 2,068 $/ft, which was three times the normal cost of construction at the time.

Opening of loop

The Nassau Street Loop opened at 3 p.m. on May 29, 1931, when Mayor Jimmy Walker took the controls of a train of D-type Triplex cars from Chambers Street to Broad Street. This completed what was known as the Nassau Street Loop. The loop ran from the line's previous terminus at Chambers Street, running through the Fulton Street and Broad Street stations before merging with the Montague Street Tunnel to Brooklyn. The completion of the line relieved congestion on several BMT lines to southern Brooklyn, which previously had to operate to Midtown Manhattan using the Broadway Line. When the line was completed, Culver Line trains began operating on the loop; previously, elevated Culver Line trains from Coney Island ran only as far as Ninth Avenue, where transfers were made to West End subway trains. The new line provided an additional ten percent capacity compared with existing service through DeKalb Avenue. Service on the Jamaica Line was extended to operate to this station. The station at Wall Street was named "Broad Street" to distinguish it from the already-open Wall Street stations on the Lexington Avenue Line and Seventh Avenue Line.

Plans for the Chambers Street area changed several times during construction, always including a never-completed connection to the Brooklyn Bridge tracks. By 1910, only the west two tracks were to rise onto the bridge, and the east two were to continue south to the Montague Street Tunnel. As actually built for the 1931 opening south of Chambers Street, the two outer tracks ran south to the tunnel, while the two inner tracks continued several blocks in a lower level stub tunnel to allow trains to reverse direction.

Service changes and modifications

A major change to the Nassau Street Line occurred on November 27, 1967, when the extensive Chrystie Street reroutes resulted in the discontinuation of service over the south tracks of the Manhattan Bridge into Chambers Street, as those tracks were now directly connected to the upper level (Broadway) Canal Street station. This ended all "loop" service, which had most recently seen rush hour "specials" on both the Brighton and 4th Avenue lines operating via both the Manhattan Bridge and Montague Street tunnel in single directions.

As part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's 2000–2004 Capital Program, the reconfiguration of the Nassau Street Line between Canal Street and Essex Street took place. As part of the plan, Jamaica-bound trains were rerouted along the southbound inner track, and the former northbound platforms at Canal Street and Bowery were closed. The northbound inner track was removed; the northbound outer track was retained for non-revenue moves. Work on the project started in 2001. This change took effect on September 20, 2004. The reconfiguration provided additional operational flexibility by providing a third through track (previously the center two tracks stub-ended at Canal Street), which was equipped with reverse signaling. The consolidation of the Bowery and Canal Street stations was intended to enhance customer security while consolidating passengers onto what used to be the southbound platforms. The project was completed in May 2005, seven months behind its scheduled completion. The project cost $36 million.

Weekend service terminated at Canal Street between September 30, 1990, and January 1994. Weekend service terminated at Chambers Street until June 2015; during that time, Broad Street and the J/Z platforms at Fulton Street were two of the few New York City Subway stations that lacked full-time service. On June 14, 2015, weekend J service was extended back to Broad Street; this was proposed in July 2014 to improve weekend service between Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn.

In 2024, as part of a program to upgrade the signaling of the New York City Subway, the MTA proposed installing communications-based train control (CBTC) on the Nassau Street Line as part of its 2025–2029 Capital Program.

Station listing

References

References

1. {{NYCS const. riderref. weekday
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3. {{NYCS const. serviceguide
4. (January 26, 1907). "Subway Loop Approved; Will Have Four Tracks". The New York Times.
5. (January 26, 1907). "Subway Loop Assured: Four-track Bridge Link Estimate Board Approves--cost, $5,000,000--ready in 2 1-2 Years". New-York Tribune.
6. Stevenson, Frederick Boyd. (July 13, 1913). "Colonel Williams' View of Centre Street Loop". Brooklyn Daily Eagle.
7. (1916). "Comptroller's Monthly Report".
8. (March 23, 1907). "Expect Many Bidders".
9. (March 13, 1907). "Bids for Subway Loop".
10. (June 13, 1907). "Bids for Manhattan Subway Loop Opened". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle.
11. James Blaine Walker, [https://archive.org/details/fiftyyearsrapid00walkgoog Fifty Years of Rapid Transit, 1864–1917], published 1918, pp. 203–239
12. Engineering News, [http://www.nycsubway.org/articles/triboro.html A New Subway Line for New York City], Volume 63, No. 10, March 10, 1910
13. (October 15, 1908). "Centre Street Subway Loop and Manhattan Bridge Nearing Completion With No Traffic Arrangements in Sight".
14. (April 7, 1909). "Bridge Subway Loop a Trying Problem; Part of the Tube Still Far from Completion, and Its Operation Unsettled". The New York Times.
15. (September 17, 1908). "Mayor Runs a Train Over New Bridge". The New York Times.
16. (April 13, 1910). "Asks for Subway Loop: B. R. T. Would Bring "L" Trains Close to Brooklyn Bridge P. S. C. Considering Offer Company Says Bridge Crush Would Be Relieved and Transit Improved". New-York Tribune.
17. (April 13, 1910). "Subway Bridge Loop Nearing Completion; Only That Part Under the New Municipal Building Yet to be Built.". The New York Times.
18. (March 29, 1913). "To Open Centre St. Loop; B.R.T. Authorized to Begin Operations -- May Be Ready by July 1.". The New York Times.
19. (March 29, 1913). "Subway Construction". The Wall Street Journal.
20. (August 5, 1913). "Passenger Killed On Loop's First Day; Printer, Impatient at Delay in New Bridge Subway, Tries to Walk the Track.". The New York Times.
21. (August 5, 1913). "Brooklyn Crowds Jam New $13,000,000 Loop: One-fourth of Old Bridge Traffic Diverted at Night, but Crush is Terrific". New-York Tribune.
22. Public Service Commission For the First District, [http://www.nycsubway.org/articles/newsubways1.html New Subways For New York: The Dual System of Rapid Transit, Chapter 1]
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26. (March 3, 1923). "Nassau St. Subway Plan Nearly Ready; Southern End Completed, but Northern Section Involves a More Difficult Problem.". The New York Times.
27. Young, James C.. (June 12, 1927). "Nassau Loop Builders Face a Difficult Task; The Half-Mile of Subway in the Heart of New York's Financial District Raises Construction Problems Never Before Encountered". The New York Times.
28. (May 20, 1925). "B.M.T. Plans Work to Cost $2,000,000; Directors Approve Program of Improvements to Be Made This Year.". The New York Times.
29. (April 6, 1925). "B.M.T. Asks Public to Make Hylan Act; Offers $15,000,000; Starts Campaign to Force Construction of the Nassau Street Subway". The New York Times.
30. (May 28, 1927). "City Will Build Nassau St. Tube; Forced to Yield; Link for the B.M.T., Less Than a Mile in Length, Will Cost $13,000,000". The New York Times.
31. Moscow, Warren. (August 21, 1927). "Nassau Street Subway Again Proves Nuisance As Board Rejects Bids". The Brooklyn Citizen.
32. (September 25, 1927). "$9,986,997 Low Bid for Nassau Subway; Board Tabulates Figures of 17 Contractors in Second Competition for the Work". The New York Times.
33. (August 21, 1927). "All Bids Rejected on Nassau Subway; Transportation Board Orders New Figures -- Delays Start of Work Three Months.". The New York Times.
34. (November 24, 1927). "Awards Contracts for Nassau St. Links; Board Lets Out Work on Two Subway Sections for $10,458,034". The New York Times.
35. (November 23, 1927). "Board Awards Nassau Street Tube Contracts". The Standard Union.
36. (January 27, 1928). "Approves Open Cut for Nassau St. Link; Estimate Board Overrules the Pleas for Tunnel Method of Subway Construction". The New York Times.
37. (May 10, 1931). "Nassau St. Subway To Open On May 30; Its Construction an Engineering Feat Because Many Buildings Had to Be Underpinned. Cost $10,072,000 To Build It Will Link B.M.T.'s Centre Street Loop With Tunnel Under East River. 14th St. Extension Ready Connection With Eighth Avenue Line Will Go Into Operation on the Same Day.". The New York Times.
38. (January 20, 1929). "Engineers Study Nassau St. Loop; 200 Spend 3 Hours in Subway of B.M.T. System Watching All Phases of Work". The New York Times.
39. (April 20, 1930). "New B.M.T. Link is 80% Complete; Nassau-Broad St. Tracks to Be Finished by Autumn, Transit Board Says". The New York Times.
40. (May 25, 1930). "Station of 3 Levels for Nassau St. Tube; Transit Board Reveals Plans for Fulton St. Stop, Requiring Structure 40 Feet Wide.". The New York Times.
41. (May 25, 1930). "Nassau Street Subway to Link Several Routes: Fulton St. Station of New B. M. T. Extension Will Be Busy Transfer Junction $252,192 Contract 'Let Connection With the I. R. T. West Side Line Planned Something Novel in Subway Station". New York Herald Tribune.
42. (May 29, 1931). "Mayor Inspects New Nassau St. Subway Today: City Officials To Be Guests of B.M.T. in Tour of Links That Open Tomorrow". New York Herald Tribune.
43. (January 1, 1993). "A History of the New York City Subway System". J. Schmidt, R. Giglio, and K. Lang.
44. (May 30, 1931). "Mayor Drives Train In New Subway Link; The Mayor Becomes A Motorman.". The New York Times.
45. (May 30, 1931). "Walker Operates First Train in Nassau St. Loop: Tests Out Whistle Before Sudden Stop for Which Instructor Takes Blame New B. M. T. System Link Other Officials at Opening of $10,000,000 Subway Nassau Street Subway Is Formally Opened". New York Herald Tribune.
46. Derrick, Peter. (April 1, 2002). "Tunneling to the Future: The Story of the Great Subway Expansion That Saved New York". NYU Press.
47. (May 10, 1931). "Nassau-Broad Subway Route Opens May 30: 14th St. Link of B. M. T. Line From 6th to 8th Aves. Also To Be Finished Then Both Cost $13,630,313 City Labored Three Years on Engineering Projects". New York Herald Tribune.
48. (May 21, 1931). "Nassau St. Service Outlined By B.M.T.; Loop to Be Used for Direct Connection From Brooklyn and Jamaica to Manhattan". The New York Times.
49. Joseph Brennan, [http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/abandoned/chambers.html Abandoned Stations: Chambers St closed platforms], accessed March 22, 2007
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60. Andres, Czarinna. (September 18, 2024). "MTA Unveils $68.4 Billion Capital Plan to Modernize NYC Transit – but Funding Questions Amid Congestion Pricing Pause Remain".
61. Burkett, N.J.. (September 18, 2024). "MTA Proposes Five-Year Capital Plan Wish List Including Replacing All Subway Cars".
62. (September 17, 1908). "MAYOR RUNS a TRAIN OVER NEW BRIDGE; Brooklyn Celebrates Opening of the Service with Red Fire and Oratory. GOVERNor's FATHER SPEAKS Refers to His Son as the "Convict" at Albany and Thinks He May Have to "Serve Two Years More."". The New York Times.