Bedford Avenue station

Bedford Avenue
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Station platform
Station statistics
Address	Bedford Avenue & North Seventh Street Brooklyn, New York
Borough	Brooklyn
Locale	Williamsburg
Coordinates	40°43′04″N 73°57′27″W / 40.71772°N 73.95756°W / 40.71772; -73.95756
Division	B (BMT)[1]
Line	BMT Canarsie Line
Services	L  (all times)
Transit	NYCT Bus: B62 NYC Ferry: East River Route (at North Williamsburg Landing)
Structure	Underground
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2
Other information
Opened	June 30, 1924; 100 years ago (1924-06-30)
Accessible	ADA-accessible
Opposite- direction transfer	Yes
Traffic
2023	8,399,477[2]  15.8%
Rank	23 out of 423[2]
Services Preceding station New York City Subway Following station First Avenue toward Eighth Avenue Lorimer Street toward Canarsie–Rockaway Parkway
Location Show map of New York City Subway Show map of New York City Show map of New York
Track layout Legend to First Avenue to Lorimer Street
Street map
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times

The Bedford Avenue station is a station on the BMT Canarsie Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Bedford Avenue and North Seventh Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, it is served by the L train at all times. With an annual total of 9,388,289 passengers for 2015, Bedford Avenue is the busiest subway station in Brooklyn outside of Downtown Brooklyn, as well as the busiest station in Brooklyn served by one subway service.^[3]

Bedford Avenue opened on June 30, 1924, as part of the initial segment of the underground Canarsie Line that originally stretched from Sixth Avenue station in Manhattan to Montrose Avenue station,^[4] built by the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT) under the Dual Contracts.^[4][5][6]

As part of the wide scope in the rebuilding of the Canarsie Tubes that were damaged during Hurricane Sandy, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority started renovating the station in 2017.^[7] At the Bedford Avenue end of the station, two new street-level stairways were built, platform stair capacity was increased, the mezzanine was expanded, turnstiles were added, and new elevators were installed and opened on August 6, 2020.^[8][9]: 3 At the Driggs Avenue end, two new street-level stairways were added, the mezzanine area was redesigned with additional turnstiles installed, and a new platform stairway was built.^{[9]: 3 [10][11]} Substantial completion was projected for November 2020,^[12] and MTA officials formally dedicated the new elevators and entrances that October.^[13][14]

New York City councilmember Lincoln Restler founded a volunteer group, the Friends of MTA Station Group, in early 2023 to advocate for improvements to the Bedford Avenue station and four other subway stations in Brooklyn.^[15][16] In 2023, a short barrier was installed at the center of the platforms to reduce the probability of passengers being pushed into the tracks.^[17]

G	Street level	Exit/entrance
M	Mezzanine	Fare control, station agent Elevator on northeast corner of Bedford Avenue and North 7th Street
P Platform level	Westbound	← toward Eighth Avenue (First Avenue)
	Island platform
	Eastbound	→ toward Canarsie–Rockaway Parkway (Lorimer Street) →

At platform level, Bedford Avenue utilizes a simple island platform setup with two tracks.^[18] The track normally used by southbound trains to Canarsie is labeled Q1, and the track normally used by northbound trains to Manhattan is labeled Q2. The Q- prefix denotes that the track is on the Canarsie Line, but this is only used by MTA officials and not by the general public.

The Bedford Avenue station's walls have a brown-and-green mosaic pattern with geometric shapes and embellished "B" ornamentation.^[18]

There are two mezzanines above the platform: one at Bedford Avenue on the west and one at Driggs Avenue on the east. Two stairs and an elevator rise from the west end of the platform to the Bedford Avenue mezzanine, while a stair from the east end of the platform rises to the Driggs Avenue mezzanine.^[9]: 3

There are two sets of entrance and exit points. The western set comprises four street stairs: two stairs each to the southeastern and northeastern corners of Bedford Avenue and North 7th Street. It also comprises a 24-hour booth and an elevator to the northeastern corner of the intersection. The eastern exits are two stairs each to the southeastern and northeastern corners of North 7th Street and Driggs Avenue.^{[9]: 1, 3 [19]}

Some of these staircases are original to the station, while others were built as part of the 2019 expansion. The entrances built as part of the expansion are similar to those at Enhanced Station Initiative stations in other parts of the subway system,^[9]: 1 with next-train countdown clocks and neighborhood wayfinding maps at the exterior of the entrance.^[20] The new entrances contain a mural by Marcel Dzama entitled No Less Than Everything Comes Together, which depicts a sun and moon rising over fanciful figures.^[21]

Bedford Avenue has experienced a surge in ridership along with the recent gentrification of Williamsburg. In the 1970s, the station had a fairly low annual ridership of 1.2 million, amounting to an average of 3,000 entries during weekdays.^[22] In 2000, there were 3.783 million boardings recorded at the station,^[23] but after the neighborhood was re-zoned in 2005, the MTA noted even higher ridership. By 2007, ridership had increased over 50%, to 5.776 million annual passengers.^[24] In 2008, Bedford Avenue was used by more than 6 million people, making it the 53rd most-used subway station in New York City and one of the busiest in Brooklyn.^[25] In 2023, 8,399,477 riders used this station.^[3]

Between 1998 and 2011, passenger numbers on the L increased three times as much as ridership on the subway system as a whole. As a result, by 2011, many Manhattan-bound L trains were running at their full capacity of 1,160 riders per train by the time they reached the Bedford Avenue station.^[26] In 2010, Bedford Avenue surpassed seven million entries for the first time in its history, receiving press for its particularly high weekend passenger volume.^[27] Crowding has become such an issue that politicians have called upon the MTA to "create a schedule that is more reflective of ridership patterns."^[28]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bedford Avenue (BMT Canarsie Line).

• nycsubway.org – BMT Canarsie Line: Bedford Avenue
• Station Reporter – L Train
• The Subway Nut - Bedford Avenue Pictures
• Bedford Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Driggs Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Platform from Google Maps Street View