2/3 Trains - Park Place (Day 10, stop #441)

Out:  This station is basically right next to City Hall Park and City Hall, on the Broadway side.  There are people of all ethnicities, some in suits, some in business casual, and some not dressed for work.  There are some wealthy-looking white people who seem to live around here (i.e. in workout clothes or walking dogs), but in general most of the people on the street likely just work here or are passing through.  The establishments around are mostly quick food spots (i.e. for lunch while at work), banks, or cafes.  The area does not feel particularly residential, and the buildings around are still mostly offices.  I walk over the Church St. from here to get to the E stop at WTC.

In:  Again the layout is one narrow platform with trains in both directions; however, the platform is a bit wider than at Fulton St.  There are new white tiles on the walls, but older mosaic tiles on the top of the wall, in yellow and blue, with a “P”.  The lighting is pretty good, and there are blue metal columns on both sides of the platfrorm.  I use the escalator to exit at Park Place and Broadway.

2/3 Trains - Fulton St. (Day 10, stop #440)

Out:  The area here is still pretty much all office buildings, but they aren’t quite as huge nor is the canyoning effect as significant.  While the people around are still mostly white, there are more people of other races, including black and Hispanic, plus the people on the street are less likely to be wearing suits.  However, many people are still in office attire.  There are some small cafes and restaurants nearby, and a few bars and restaurants heading east on Fulton.  

There are also some luxury condos being built right by the stop.  The downtown branch of the Strand bookstore, a place I always pop in whenever I'm down here, is also nearby.

In:  The layout here is one narrow platform with trains in both directions.  There is a brown and blue-green tile mosaic with the station name, but in a different font than usual; it’s the same color scheme at the top of the wall.  There are green columns on the platform, and the white tiles on the walls look newly renovated.  There is not much on the mezzanine, which above the 2/3 is just a long narrow hallway with confusing transfers to the various other trains at this stop.

2/3 Trains - Wall St. (Day 10, stop #439)

Out:  There are lots of people here in suits and button downs, and almost all are white, East, or South Asian, but there are a few folk of other ethnicities.  There are also some tourists here.  The commercial establishments include a Starbucks and a Chase bank branch, but for the most part there are just huge office skyscrapers, some with an older architecture and others more modern.  

The canyoning effect here, where much of the sunlight is blocked by the tall buildings, is quite significant, especially because the streets are narrow.  

Wall St. itself has restricted traffic, so there aren’t really many cars right by the stop.  This station is just one black from the J/M stop.  I walked up William St. here to get to the Fulton St. stop.

In:  The layout here is one platform, two track with trains in both directions.  The platform is very narrow, but well lit.  There are white tiles on the walls, with a mosaic tile border at the top and a “W” on a burgundy background with green accents.  The tiles are dirty and actually hard to see.  There are blue-grey metal columns by the platform.

2/3 Trains - Clark St. (Day 10, stop #438)

Out:  The station here is actually attached to a small sushi place and deli.  The outside here is clearly Brooklyn Heights.  There are birds chirping in the trees, lots of white people, beautiful houses, and upscale stores.  

The stop is still fairly close to downtown Brooklyn, but there is definitely a more wealthy and safe feeling to the neighborhood.  The streets near the stop are also quite calm and small, and there is not much traffic.

In:  The layout here is one narrow platform with two tracks in each direction.  The station here, the last in Brooklyn going this direction, has rounded walls for a tube-tunnel shape.  There are white square tiles on the walls and mosaic street name, different in style than previous ones, with a blue background and green border.  There are also grey, brown and green tile stripes on the wall, and green metal columns on the platform edge.  The ceiling feels quite low here and there is plenty of peeling paint.  I walk down a short hall to access the exit, which has black floor tiling with red, yellow, and grey shapes embedded; kind of strange.  I am more surprised when I find this station actually has an elevator required to exit! I thought that was a Washington Heights thing.  However, the rides up seems shorter than those uptown in Manhattan, so it’s probably not as deep underground.

2/3/4/5 Trains - Borough Hall (Day 10, stop #437)

Out:  See photos and description of R Train - Court St.

In:  The station here is dingy with small white tiles.  The layout is one platform, one track; the local train in the other direction is downstairs.  The 4/5 are on also on different levels.  There is a mosaic tile station name in purple and blue with a multicolor background.  The top border has a brown tile stripe as well as a small picture of Boro Hall instead of the usual “B”; kind of a nice touch.  There is a long tunnel to the R train, but I’m surprised to find the only exit from the station is the same.  Therefore, I don’t go outside to take photos.

2/3 Trains - Hoyt St. (Day 10, stop #436)

Out:  The station here exits right onto the Fulton Mall.  This mid-scale shopping district is almost all retail and offices, with very little residential in the area.  Almost everyone is black or Hispanic, but I see a few white and others around.  The stop here is right next to the large stores of Jimmy Jazz, Macy’s, Dr. Jay’s, Foot Locker, and Kay Jewelers.  There are many other smaller stores also selling shoes, clothes, and electronics, which seem to be the emphasis of this stretch here.  There are also lots of people selling a variety of random products off tables on the sidewalk.  Fulton St. here is only for pedestrians and buses, but not typical car traffic.  Interestingly, many of the retail buildings have an interesting pre-war-type architectural style to them.

In:  The layout here is two platform, four track with express bypass.  There are weird brown and red brick walls, maroon station signs, and maroon columns on the platform.  The station here is dimly lit and feels antiquated.  Near the exit there are larger round columns with glossy maroon brick-like tiles.

2/3/4/5 Trains - Nevins St. (Day 10, stop #435)

Out:  This exit is near the intersection of Flatbush, Fulton, and Nevins.  It’s pretty busy here at 5 p.m.  There is a McDonald’s, office buildings, and some apartments; a fairly interesting mix.  There are some big stores but plenty of smaller ones mixed in.  

There are people of all types here: mostly black, but plenty of Hispanic, white, and South Asian.  Again it’s not clear who lives here and who is just passing through.  There are also a decent number of homeless people around. This stop gives a feel for some of the grittiness of downtown Brooklyn.

In:  The layout here is two platform, four track with local and express access.  There are white tile walls and green rounded columns.  The station is kind of dingy, with a very small mezzanine.  There are some line drawings on flat panels near the exit stairs.

2/3/4/5 Trains - Atlantic Ave. (Day 10, stop #434)

Out:  This subway station, along with LIRR tracks, are actually directly attached to a large, mid- to upscale-looking shopping complex.  On Atlantic itself there is lots of traffic and some big box stores as part of the shopping center (P.C. Richards, Target) as well as smaller apartment buildings.  

There are people of many races around, but it’s not clear who lives here or who is just passing through.  The station here is also right next to the Williamsburgh Savings Bank building.  I got an Italian Ice from a cart here to relieve my parched-ness, but unfortunately it only tasted ok and left a metallic aftertaste.

In:  This station is actually quite nice.  There is a Penn Station-style division of tracks, with a four track, three platform layout.  The center platform is for express trains (4/5) in both directions, while the outer two platforms are for the local (2/3) trains only.  There is a large frosted glass wall covering one side of the station, but otherwise there are white tiles on the walls.  There is a maroon mosaic tile station sign, and granite staircases for transfer to other trains.  On the floor there is an inlaid pattern with symbols reminiscent of a Guyanese flag.  I exit via the LIRR tracks, which are directly attached to this set of subway tracks.

2/3 Trains - Bergen St. (Day 10, stop #433)

Out: The station here is right next to Yummy Taco and Bergen Bagels, two of my favorite Park Slope landmarks. There are still many white people around, both a mix of old-school Brooklyn and younger new arrivals. There is still a decent number of black people and some Hispanics as well. The station here is right on Flatbush Ave., which serves as the border between Prospect Heights and Park Slope. Some of the nearby establishments include some upscale restaurants along with more typical downscale mom and pop stores.

There is a small police precinct building right outside the stop, as well as plenty of small apartment buildings in brick as well as some row houses. There actually aren’t any brownstones in the immediate vicinity of the station, even though I know there are plenty in the surrounding blocks.

In: The visible layout here is one platform, one track with a separating wall in white tile. The walls are pretty dirty and light is ok. The platform is pretty narrow for the most part, except next to the booth area which is on the same level. There is a blue mosaic tile station sign with a sea green border; there is the same color scheme for the tile stripe and “B” at the top of the wall.

2/3 Trains - Grand Army Plaza (Day 10, stop #432)

Out:  At this stop, coming in from outer Brooklyn, it is clear that gentrification has begun!  At the train entrance there are three young women all talking on their Sidekicks while wearing big sunglasses; kind of funny, really.  There are big, leafy islands near the plaza itself.  The buildings are mostly apartment building in brick.  

There are now plenty of white people around, but still a good number of black people as well.  There are not too many stores right by the plaza, but a few more near the stop; the actual plaza is a couple minute walk east of the stop itself.  I only get close enough to zoom in and get a shot of the small statues on the top of the arch in the middle of Grand Army Plaza (see photo).

In:  The layout here is one platform, two tracks for trains in both directions.  The platform is quite wide and the lighting is good.  The white tiles here look recently renovated, and there are yellow metal columns at the edge and middle of the platform.  On the top of the wall there is a small mosaic strip in grey and yellow, and there are small light blue accent tiles on the wall.  The mezzanine is reasonably sized with embedded artwork of a winged figure and trumpet.

2/3 Trains - Eastern Parkway-Brooklyn Museum (Day 10, stop #431)

Out: The exit to the station here is right by the Brooklyn Museum here (see photo below). There are lots of white people visiting the museum, including some tourists. There are some kids skating outside (see photo above), despite signs explicitly prohibiting it.

Across the street from the museum there are some Tudor-style apartment buildings and one extremely large, pre-war apartment block overlooking the museum and into Prospect Park. The area still looks mostly black and relatively nice for this part of Brooklyn. There are not too many stores or commercial places around.

In: The station is again in good shape, with shiny white tiles and a mosaic station sign with a blue background and green, yellow, and burgundy borders. The top of the wall is similar with a green tile stripe and “M” on a blue background. There are green columns by the edge of the platform. The lighting is bright, too. There’s a two platform, two track setup; I can’t see the express tracks from here. On the mezzanine there is some well-done artwork depicting historical figures and museum-y pieces on a tile mosaic background.

3 Train - Nostrand Ave. (Day 10, stop #423)

Out:  The area by the stop here is open and residential-feeling.  There is an old Kings County Savings Bank building (see photo) and some other interesting and impressive old buildings on Eastern.  

This includes an old theater converted into a church.  There are nice apartment buildings in red brick along Eastern, and both the main drag and the side streets have some commercial places.  There’s a Big Apple Fried Chicken right next to the Crown Fried Chicken, as well as discount stores and pharmacies.  The residential buildings are mostly low-slung apartment buildings and row houses in brick here, but I also see some well-maintained brownstones. It appears that the neighborhood is back to being all African-American/West Indian.  The area certainly looks much nicer than the stops farther out on the 3.

In:  This station is a little more run-down than Kingston.  There is a mosaic tile border with “N” in burgundy, green, and blue.  The layout here is still two level, each with one platform and two tracks with express bypass. There are white tiles on the wall by the platform, but the tunnel side is just black.  There is a small booth area attached to the upper level, and no real mezzanine.  There is a yellow mosaic tile stripe on part of the wall and green metal columns by the platform edge.

3 Train - Kingston Ave. (Day 10, stop #422)

Out: The exit to the station is again in the middle of Eastern Parkway. I’m surprised to suddenly find tons of Orthodox Jews and signs in Yiddish outside the station, reminding me that I’m back in Crown Heights, done with my tours of East New York and Brownsville.

There are also a good number of black people as well, and perhaps a couple of Gentiles. On one corner here there is a very large, modern building in silver and glass, which I find out is the Jewish Children’s Museum (see photos), and across from it is a synagogue with kids and adults outside.

I definitely had no idea this was all the way out here. There are also many well-maintained apartment buildings and some lower-slung brick buildings around. There are some attractive town houses with bay windows, too. Eastern Parkway has some impressive larger buildings as well, and the trees again offer a nice feeling to the stop. Definitely a good architectural mix here. There isn’t too much commercial stuff right here, but there seems to be more about a block off of Eastern parkway.

In: The station here is now back underground. There are white tiled walls, a tile mosaic border on the top in blue, green, and yellow with a “K” inlaid. There are also a few “Kingston Ave” signs in tile mosaic on the walls in the same color scheme. This station is two level, like Utica Ave., with the lower level (Manhattan-bound) having one platform and two tracks, with express bypass. The tunnel-side is only painted black with no tiling. There are yellow metal columns by the platform, and the lighting is a little dim.

3 Train - Sutter Ave.-Rutland Ave. (Day 10, stop #421)

Out:  The neighborhood here seems a little less rough, which is a pleasant surprise.  There is more commercial activity around as well as more people on the street.  There are still some old industrial-type buildings around, along with brick row houses and brick tenements.  There are some buildings that are two-story but with commercial outlets on the ground floor.  Some of the establishments here include a pizza place, a McDonald’s, and a nail place, as well as African hair braiding and a Crown Fried Chicken and Royal Fried Chicken right next to each other.  The stores look to be a bit higher quality than others in the farther out stops.  There is definitely some West Indian presence here, and the neighborhood is still predominantly black with a few Hispanic people.

In:  Again, there is tons of peeling paint here.  Perhaps it is the worst-looking station I’ve seen thus far in my travels (but it seems that the 3 train keeps throwing up surprising extensions to the limits of crappiness).  Super ugly.

3 Train - Saratoga Ave. (Day 10, stop #420)

Out: There is a mix here of low brick attached houses with plastic awnings as well as some red brick tenements. The neighborhood still looks lower-income and predominantly black. Some of the businesses around include the “Brownsville Discount Store” at the corner, as well as a nearby deli and Crown Fried Chicken along with other mom & pop type stores (i.e. T-Shirt printing). There are some trees in a small park about a block away. There aren’t too many people on the street, but there are some adults riding around on bikes. I also see some little kids walking around on their own, which I’m not sure is a good thing (i.e. it’s safe enough for them to be doing that) or a bad thing (i.e. their parents don’t know what their kids are doing).

In: Impressively, this station is even worse condition than Rockaway Ave. The station house is also pretty bad (like the other stations), but also has an annoying and circuitous exit path. The only redeeming value of this station is an old school “To Street” sign on the stairs down, but it’s probably only there because they forgot to remove it.

3 Train - Rockaway Ave. (Day 10, stop #419)

Out:  This neighborhood still looks pretty rough, but not quite as bad as Junius.  There is the “Brownsville Gourmet Deli, the “Sam Korf Pharmacy”, and “Kingston Kuts” in a small shopping strip right outside the stop.  There is also some other commercial stuff around, including a Popeye’s, liquor store, and a few delis.  This stop is again right next to some large projects.  There is a building that looks like a school, with a weed-infested empty lot behind it.  There are some older-looking factories or warehouses as well, but they look disused and in disrepair at this point.  Surprisingly, though, there is some new construction going up here.  There is a cop here plus the neighborhood looks kind of dangerous, so I don’t take out the camera.

In:  This station here is again similar to Van Siclen, and the layout is back to two platform, two track.  There is tons of peeling paint which reveals hints of a burgundy and blue color scheme in some previous incarnation of this stop.

3 Train - Junius St. (Day 10, stop #418)

Out: This area definitely looks pretty unattractive; at the bottom of the stairs there is a bunch of broken glass. There are no businesses around, just big housing projects right by the stop with lots of guys hanging out outside, along with an enormous empty lot filled with weeds. Across the lot, about a block away, there are some small attached brick houses. The area still looks mostly black with some Hispanic.

In: On the approach to the station, the train passes an interesting turn-off where it looks like the 3 train could potentially access the L track (and vice-versa); interesting, I wonder if that was ever put into use. The inside of the station is similar to Van Siclen, except for that the layout has now changed to two platform, three track with the middle track bypass bypass (the middle track came from the turnoff down to the L, so it doesn’t seem like it’s actually express).

3 Train - Pennsylvania Ave. (Day 10, stop #417)

Out:  The street here is pretty wide, with four lanes of traffic on Pennsylvania Ave. (which, appropriately, is one block from New Jersey Ave.).  However, while there are lots of cars over here, there aren’t too many people.  The residential buildings are brick tenements and attached houses, some of which on the side streets are covered in siding.  There are also a couple of delis and a Crown Fried Chicken.  The neighborhood looks mostly black with some Hispanic, and still feels pretty rough.  Nearby there is a small playground and a big red school about a block away.  There are a bunch of rowdy teenagers roaming around and yelling.  I get back on the train pretty quickly and don’t risk taking out my camera.

In:  The station here is again similar to Van Siclen, but with a fresher coat of paint on the walls of the platform.  Otherwise, though, it still feels pretty decrepit.

3 Train - Van Siclen Ave. (Day 10, stop #416)

Out: The neighborhood here is very residential but definitely kind of rough around the edges. There are lots of short row houses in red/yellow brick, and not too much commercial activity. The streets are pretty empty, too; this stop is not particularly exciting. There are also some empty lots, a couple delis, and a seafood restaurant with Jamaican and American food. The neighborhood looks primarily black with some Hispanic, but there aren’t too many people around so it’s hard to tell. For some reason I’m getting a bit of an ominous feeling here, so I get back on the train quickly.

In: The layout here is two platform, two track (i.e. no express, only local). The station is elevated with white ridged panels covering about ¾ of the platform length with only a short railing at the ends. There is lots of peeling paint and the station is in pretty crappy condition. The platform looks like it’s buckling a bit in some places. There are no columns next to the platform, but the green arches supporting the roof from the wall also have peeling paint. The station house is pretty small and looks old, but at least the paint is a little fresher.

3 Train - New Lots Ave. (Day 10, stop #415)

Out:  Outside the stop here there are many low-slung row houses in OK condition.  There’s a cheap Chinese place, a nail salon, and a fish market, some of the typical lower- to middle-income establishments.  

There is also an interesting graffiti memorial to someone Panamanian.  Ethnically the neighborhood seems mixed between black and Hispanic.  Surprisingly, the elevated tracks continue onward to the east even though this is the last stop; maybe there are some abandoned stations in that direction, or just the train yards.  There aren’t a ton of people around here, andeven though there are a few stores it’s not such a busy commercial strip.  There are also some single family homes with ugly stone façade work and plastic-looking awnings.

In:  I took one photo on the approach to the station, as I’m the only one in the car here at the end of the 3 line and I won’t arouse any suspicions.  

The layout in the station is a one track, two platform setup, and the stop is elevated above the streets.  There is lots of peeling paints on the metal roof supports.  It probably was burgundy at one point in time.  The station house is also in poor condition.  There are no walls on the side of the platform, and I can see over to a newer housing development about half a block away, as well as other construction projects.  These indicate a potential sign of investment in the neighborhood, but none of it seems tied to gentrification.