Станция 45-я улица: История и Модернизация Бруклинской Подземки

New York City Subway station in Brooklyn
As part of negotiations between New York City, the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT), and the Interborough Rapid Transit Company for the expansion of the city's transit network, the line was leased to a subsidiary of the BRT. The agreement, known as Contract 4 of the Dual Contracts, was signed on March 19, 1913. The line's opening was marked with a competition between two trains heading from Chambers Street station in Manhattan to the Coney Island station, one heading via the West End Line and the other via the Sea Beach Line; the latter got to Coney Island first. despite being technically complete, since the stations were being used by a contractor to haul dirt out. The stations opened on September 22, 1915.

On June 27, 1922, the New York State Transit Commission commissioned its engineers to examine platform lengthening plans for 23 stations on the lines of the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT), the successor to the BRT, to accommodate eight car trains. As part of the project, 45th Street's platforms would have been lengthened from to Though the Transit Commission ordered the BMT to lengthen these platforms in September 1923, no further progress was made until February 16, 1925, when the New York City Board of Transportation (NYCBOT) commissioned its engineers to examine platform lengthening plans for this and eleven other stations along the Fourth Avenue Line. It estimated the project would cost $633,000 The NYCBOT received bids for the project on February 25, 1926. The contract was awarded to the Corson Construction Company for $345,021 The extensions opened on August 1, 1927.

The city government took over the BMT's operations on June 1, 1940. In the 1960s, the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) started a project to lengthen station platforms on its lines in Southern Brooklyn to to accommodate 10 car trains. On July 14, 1967, the NYCTA awarded a contract to conduct test borings at eleven stations on the Fourth Avenue Line, including 45th Street, to the W. M. Walsh Corporation for $6,585 in preparation of the construction of platform extensions. The NYCTA issued an invitation for bids on the project to extend the platforms at stations along the Fourth Avenue Line between this station and Bay Ridge–95th Street on May 3, 1968. As part of the renovation project, the station's platforms were extended In addition, the station's elaborate mosaic tile walls were covered over with white cinderblock tiles. The latter change, which was also made to 15 other stations on the BMT Broadway and Fourth Avenue Line, was criticized for being dehumanizing. The NYCTA spokesman stated that the old tiles were in poor condition and that the change was made to improve the appearance of stations and provide uniformity. Furthermore, it did not consider the old mosaics to have "any great artistic merit".

This underground station has four tracks and two side platforms. The R stops here at all times; some rush hour W trains stop here in the peak direction; and the N stops here during late nights, but uses the center express tracks to bypass the station during daytime hours. The station is between to the north and to the south. The platforms are offset as the northbound platform extends further north than the southbound one. Columns run along the entire length of both platforms at regular intervals and are painted dark grey blue. Every other column has the standard black name plate with white text. All are round except for the ones near the staircases to the station's main entrance, which are I beams; this is where the platforms were extended in 1970. Prior to the station's 1970 renovation, it was finished all in white and marble tile, and it had its own color scheme to allow regular passengers to identify the station based only on the color of the marble trimmings.

The station's main entrance is a mezzanine above the platforms and tracks at the north end. It has two staircases to the Manhattan bound platform and one to the Bay Ridge bound one at the extreme south end, a waiting area that allows a free transfer between directions, turnstile bank, token booth, and two staircases to the northern corners of 45th Street and 4th Avenue. The mezzanine contains some of the original mosaic directional and arrow signs. The one by the staircases to the southbound platform says "Down Town trains" while the one by the Manhattan bound platform staircases says "Up Town Trains." The southbound platform formerly had an exit only at the center that led to 46th Street. Evidence of this includes a gated door on the platform wall and adjacent "EXIT" signs. The northwest corner exit was closed after it was accidentally destroyed by nearby construction workers. On May 16, 1979, Community Board 7 held a meeting to determine whether residents wanted the entrance closed. The board's chairman cited crime as a reason to close the entrance. The New York City Transit Authority promised to comply with the wish of the board, and the entrance was closed.