59th Street (BMT Fourth Avenue Line)

59 Street  ​ ​
New York City Subway rapid transit station
The uptown platform looking towards 95th Street in Bay Ridge.
Station statistics
Address	59th Street & Fourth Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11220
Borough	Brooklyn
Locale	Sunset Park
Coordinates	40°38′27.88″N 74°1′5.45″W / 40.6410778°N 74.0181806°W / 40.6410778; -74.0181806Coordinates: 40°38′27.88″N 74°1′5.45″W / 40.6410778°N 74.0181806°W / 40.6410778; -74.0181806
Division	B (BMT)
Line	BMT Fourth Avenue Line
Services	N  (all times) ​      R  (all times) ​      W  (limited rush hour service only)
Transit connections	New York City Bus: B9; B37 (on Third Avenue); B63 (on Fifth Avenue)
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2 island platforms cross-platform interchange
Tracks	4
Other information
Opened	June 22, 1915 (103 years ago) (1915-06-22)
Station code	035
Accessible	not ADA-accessible; accessibility planned
Accessibility	Cross-platform wheelchair transfer available
Other entrances/ exits	Fourth Avenue & 60th Street, Fourth Ave & 59th Street
Traffic
Passengers (2016)	4,169,280  0.3%
Rank	122 out of 422
Station succession
Next north	36th Street (express): N  53rd Street (local): N  ​R  ​W
Next south	Eighth Avenue (Sea Beach): N  ​W  Bay Ridge Avenue (Bay Ridge): R
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times except late nights Stops all times Stops late nights only Stops rush hours only Stops rush hours in the peak direction only
Location Show map of New York City Subway Show map of New York City Show map of New York Show map of the US

59th Street is an express station on the BMT Fourth Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at 59th Street and Fourth Avenue in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Sunset Park, it is served by the N and R trains at all times, as well as some W trains during rush hours.

This station opened on June 22, 1915. This is the southernmost four-track express station with two island platforms. The outer local tracks continue along Fourth Avenue to Bay Ridge–95th Street while the center express tracks turn east to become the BMT Sea Beach Line. South of the station are two diamond crossovers, allowing trains to cross from the outer track to the center track or vice versa.

This station was overhauled in the late 1970s.

Elevator access for this station has been proposed for the late 2010s. However, the installation of elevators has been delayed due to a column replacement project above this section of the Fourth Avenue Line. Both the column replacement and the elevator installation require temporary lane closures on Fourth Avenue, a major artery. An elevator contract was supposed to be awarded in November 2016, but has been pushed back to July 2018.

The street-level entrances are at the southern end of the station, with one entrance along either side of Fourth Avenue between 60th and 61st Streets. There are also four exits to Fourth Avenue and 59th Street, with two each to either northern corner, at the north end of the station.

The Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, a major architectural landmark of Brooklyn, is nearby.

Immediately south of the station, one can see tunnel stub headings running straight from the local tracks. They run for about 150 feet and would have been for a line to Staten Island via the Staten Island Tunnel under The Narrows, which was aborted by Mayor Hylan before it was completed. There is a Maintenance of Way shed that was built on the southbound trackway. The northbound trackway is unobstructed, albeit much darker. The northbound trackway ends on a brick wall, with evidence of some sort of space beyond. South of this station, the bridge over the LIRR Bay Ridge Branch has four trackways, with the outer tracks occupying the two western ones. The tracks of the BMT Fourth Avenue Line are under the western half of Fourth Avenue at this point so that two additional tracks could be laid in the future if traffic ever warranted it.