Prospect Park  ​​
A northboundR46 Q train arriving
Station statistics
Address	Empire Boulevard & Flatbush Avenue Brooklyn, New York
Borough	Brooklyn
Locale	Flatbush,Prospect Lefferts Gardens,Crown Heights
Coordinates	40°39′41″N73°57′45″W / 40.661507°N 73.962461°W /40.661507; -73.962461
Division	B (BMT)[1]
Line	BMT Brighton Line BMT Franklin Avenue Line
Services	B  (weekday rush hours, middays and early evenings) ​  Q  (all times) ​  S  (all times)
Transit	NYCT Bus:B16,B41,B43,B48
Structure	Open-cut
Platforms	2island platforms cross-platform interchange
Tracks	4 (3 in regular service)
Other information
Opened	July 2, 1878; 147 years ago (1878-07-02)
Rebuilt	current station: 1919; 106 years ago (1919)
Accessible	ADA-accessible
Traffic
2024	2,183,676[2]  1.5%
Rank	153 out of 423[2]
Services Preceding station New York City Subway Following station Seventh Avenue B  ​Q  viaDeKalb Avenue Express Church Avenue B  towardBrighton Beach Local Parkside Avenue Q  towardConey Island–Stillwell Avenue Botanic Garden S  towardFranklin Avenue Franklin Avenue Terminus
Location Show map of New York City Subway Show map of New York City Show map of New York
Track layout Legend toBotanic Garden toSeventh Avenue toParkside Avenue toChurch Avenue Revenue tracks Non-revenue tracks
Street map
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times Stops weekdays during the day

TheProspect Park station is an expressstation on theBMT Brighton Line of theNew York City Subway. It is located in between Lincoln Road, Lefferts Avenue, Empire Boulevard,Ocean Avenue andFlatbush Avenue inFlatbush, Brooklyn, near the border ofCrown Heights.Prospect Lefferts Gardens, which is a subsection of Flatbush, is adjacent to the station. The station, which servesProspect Park andBrooklyn Botanic Garden, is served by theQ train andFranklin Avenue Shuttle at all times and by theB train on weekdays.

This station opened on July 2, 1878 when theBrooklyn, Flatbush and Coney Island Railway established it as the Brighton Line's temporary northern terminus on what was then known as the Willink Entrance to Prospect Park. On August 18, 1878, the line was completed north toBedford Terminal with a connection to theLong Island Rail Road.

In 1918, the station began a rebuilding in order to accommodate the new subway connection to theManhattan Bridge andMontague Street Tunnel. This rebuilding contributed to theMalbone Street wreck on November 1 of that year, when a train of elevated cars derailed on the then-new curve leading to what is now the unused southbound outer track. At least 93 individuals died, making it one of the U.S.'s deadliest train crashes.^[3][4][5]

On August 1, 1920, a tunnel underFlatbush Avenue opened, connecting the Brighton Line to theBroadway subway in Manhattan.^[6][7] At the same time, the line's former track connections to theFulton Street Elevated were severed. Subway trains from Manhattan and elevated trains fromFranklin Avenue served Brighton Line stations, sharing the line toConey Island.^[7][8] To the south of this station, express service operated on the Brighton Line.^[5]

The Prospect Park station was the closest station toEbbets Field, home of theBrooklyn Dodgers until the team moved to Los Angeles after the1957 season. Thestadium was located at Bedford Avenue and Sullivan Place three blocks to the east and one block to the north. That area is now occupied by the Ebbets Field Apartments.

In April 1993, theNew York State Legislature agreed to give the MTA $9.6 billion for capital improvements. Some of the funds would be used to renovate nearly one hundred New York City Subway stations,^[9][10] including Prospect Park.^[11] The MTA conducted a $12 million renovation of the Prospect Park station in the mid-1990s. The first phase of the renovation took place from November 1992 to August 1994; it included restoring the station's tiled friezes and yellow-tile walls, as well as restoring the entrance at Empire Boulevard, adding a decorative gate alluding to theProspect Park Zoo. The second phase included renovating the Lincoln Road entrance.^[12] The renovation was completed in 1996.^[13] In 1999, the MTA leased the space above the Lincoln Road entrance to a nursery school that planned to renovate the space for $600,000.^[14]

This station was the site of an October 15, 2008, NYPD arrest in which it was alleged that the suspect had beensodomized, leading to both criminal action and a lawsuit against theNYPD. All of the officers involved were acquitted and the lawsuit thrown out.^[15] In November 2019, officials installed a bronze memorial plaque at the Prospect Park station's northern exit in commemoration of the Malbone Street Wreck.^[16][17]

Ground	Street level	Exit/entrance
Mezzanine		Fare control, station agent, waiting area Entrance ramp on Lincoln Road between Flatbush Avenue and Ocean Avenue; elevators after fare control
Platform level	Northbound Franklin Ave. Line	← towardFranklin Avenue(Botanic Garden) ← termination track →
	Separation at north end Island platform
	Northbound Brighton Line	← weekdays towardBedford Park Boulevard or145th Street(Seventh Avenue) ← toward96th Street(Seventh Avenue)
	Southbound Brighton Line	← weekdays towardBrighton Beach(Church Avenue) → ← towardConey Island–Stillwell Avenue(Parkside Avenue) →
	Separation at north end Island platform
	Southbound Franklin Ave. Line	← No regular service

This open cut station has four tracks and twoisland platforms.^[18] Both platforms have red canopies with green frames and support columns that run for the either length. Every other column has the standard black station name plate in white lettering.

The station is served by theQ train and theFranklin Avenue Shuttle at all times, and by theB train only on weekdays during the day.^[19] The center express tracks are used by B and Q trains. The northbound local track is used to originate and terminate the shuttle, as the station is its southern terminus. The southbound local track is only used for train storage or construction reroutes.^[18] The next stop to the north isSeventh Avenue for B and Q trains andBotanic Garden for the shuttle. The next stop to the south isParkside Avenue for local Q trains andChurch Avenue for express B trains.^[19]

At the north end of the station, B and Q trains ramp down into a tunnel under Flatbush Avenue, running parallel to theIRT Eastern Parkway Line before merging with theBMT Fourth Avenue Line atDeKalb Avenue while the shuttle curves to the northeast and becomes an open cut route after a short tunnel towardsFranklin Avenue.^[18] The platforms are split into two sections at this end separated by a beige concrete wall.

At the south end of the station, there are crossovers and switches as the Brighton Line becomes a four-track corridor toOcean Parkway. B trains stay on the express track and run toBrighton Beach; Q trains switch to the local track and run toConey Island–Stillwell Avenue.^[18]

The 1994 artwork here is calledBrighton Clay Re-Leaf by Susan Tunick. It features ceramic tiles in both station entrances/exits that depict leaves to symbolizeProspect Park. This artwork is also atParkside Avenue.^[20]

The station has two entrances/exits. The full-time one is at the extreme south end. A single double-wide staircase andADA-accessible elevators go up from each platform to a beige ground level station house that is on the north side of the Lincoln Road overpass above the platforms between Ocean and Flatbush Avenues. Each platformelevator is connected to the station house by a glass-enclosed passageway above their respective platforms.^[21] There is a bank ofturnstiles, a waiting area that allows a free transfer between directions and a token booth inside the station house.^[22] Additionally, there is a private preschool immediately adjacent to the station house entrance.

The station's other entrance/exit at the north end is un-staffed. Two staircases from each platform at the tunnel portal go up to a waiting area, where a bank of turnstiles and one exit-only turnstile lead to amezzanine that had its part-time token booth removed in 2010. Outsidefare control, a single staircase goes up to a small plaza with an ornate fence between two buildings on the west side of Flatbush Avenue between Ocean and Lefferts Avenues.^[22] Diagonally across the intersection from the exit is the southwest entrance of theBrooklyn Botanic Garden.^[23] Aninscribed bronze plaque to the Malbone Street Wreck, installed in 2019,^[16] is located on the wall outside the northern exit.^[24][25]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toProspect Park (BMT Brighton Line).

• nycsubway.org –BMT Brighton Line: Prospect Park
• nycsubway.org —Brighton Clay Re-Leaf Artwork by Susan Tunick (1994)
• Station Reporter —B Train
• Station Reporter —Q Train
• Station Reporter —Franklin Shuttle
• The Subway Nut —Prospect Park Pictures
• MTA's Arts For Transit —Prospect Park (BMT Brighton Line)
• Lincoln Road entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Flatbush Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Platforms from Google Maps Street View

• Accessible New York City Subway stations
• BMT Brighton Line stations
• BMT Franklin Avenue Shuttle stations
• New York City Subway stations in Brooklyn
• New York City Subway terminals
• Railway stations in the United States opened in 1878
• New York City Subway transfer stations
• Flatbush, Brooklyn
• Prospect Park (Brooklyn)
• 1878 establishments in New York (state)

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