Gotta love when the City spurs gentrification! Not...
Seriously though, just like the South Bronx and The Bronx in general, the city didn't care one iota about infrastructure or what areas looked like until real estate interests and developers turned their predatory eyes upon these working class enclaves.
Now?
Let the games begin...
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Interesting idea. The area could become an major center of the borough.
Imagine the improved connectivity to the area if we built the Triboro RX too.
We do need to do more to make sure our neighbors are not displaced.
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None of the proposals brought forth by Eric Adams and Rafael Espinal deal with the problems both inside and outside the Broadway Junction station. On the inside: transferring from the A/C line to the L/J/Z lines requires going up and down a ridiculous amount of stairs, and there are no elevators to help customers who either can't make the trek or simply don't want to. On the outside: you're in a part of Brooklyn where the people care more about crime, poverty, and housing than having amenities like restaurants, movie theaters, and recreation. These will provide few jobs relative to the population while everyone else gets shut out.
Considering what the end result of rezoning in Manhattan under Bloomberg has been and what it surely will become in East New York and East Harlem under De Blasio, I don't trust any efforts by city planners to make Broadway Junction and the surrounding area more attractive. It surely won't be done with the concerns of longtime residents in mind.
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I wonder what the number of riders who use the LIRR at this station is. Also for the next stop westbound, Nostrand Avenue.
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When I was growing up on Fulton street, living next to the el in the 50's and early 60's, Broadway Junction was the Gateway to the Universe. My mother and I would transfer from the Jamaica line ("J") to get into Manhattan and all its delights. It's about time this area had some decent delights of its own. The community deserves it.
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Development is a good thing until it drives out residents as Real Estate rises.
as soon as Starbucks and Trader Joes arrive the hipsters will follow, and the residents pushed out. If it stays as is the residents lose, spruce it up with Development and the Residents lose again... Same old story.
5
I use this train station a few times/month, and despite the police presence in the station, right outside it feels unsafe after dark. It would be great if they can preserve the affordability of the area but also address the safety/crime issues.
3
It's incredible that an entire article can be written about Broadway Junction in which the word "elevator" does not appear once - and the fact that the third busiest station in Brooklyn is not an accessible station goes unmentioned. I transfer at Broadway Junction several times every week, usually with a stroller in tow; carrying it up and down multiple sets of stairs (including an extremely tall set of stairs when the escalators are being serviced) has taken its toll on my back. And I am speaking as an able-bodied thirty year old - many disabled New Yorkers do not even have the option of using this crucial transfer hub. Hopefully Broadway Junction's lacking accessibility will be the first thing addressed in any renovation plans; an elevator will be a far more important addition than any of the swanky gentrification-signifiers the quoted elected officials swoon for in this article.
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Agree! So many people don;t understand the difficulties faced byt anyone with a disability or burdened with a stroller, etc.. One just needs to look at a subway map and search for the tiny wheelchair symbols to see how few and far between they are. We New Yorkers would rather have functioning infrastructure than fancy icing on the cake.
5
Go to Staten Island
A map would be helpful.
8
Well, this was a surprise! Broadway Junction is a mess. I'm so glad that the city will try to improve the area.
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Make sure to push out the residents who live there now, when the area is redeveloped for the 21st century. On the other hand...
1
I want the best for this neighborhood, but I worry that "development" will bring nothing but a Planet Fitness, a Walgreens, an Applebee's and a Starbucks.
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As uninviting as it may seem, it's worth a trip just to see it. Even better at night after a snowfall. The best architectural display of any model train under any Christmas tree.
mario
5
Amazing photos.
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I was a kid in Ozone Park in the 1950s living near the A train stop of Boyd Ave. a few stops away from this junction.
I remember traveling there to switch to either the BMT or the L train with my parents or older siblings.
It felt like the biggest RR junction in the world to me, trains in every which direction, above and below ground.
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