Metropolitan Avenue/Lorimer Street station

Metropolitan Avenue/  Lorimer Street  ​
New York City Subway station complex
Station statistics
Address	Metropolitan Avenue between Lorimer Street & Union Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11211
Borough	Brooklyn
Locale	Williamsburg
Coordinates	40.712752°N 73.951464°W / 40.712752; -73.951464
Division	BMT/IND
Line	BMT Canarsie Line    IND Crosstown Line
Services	G  (all times)​    L  (all times)
Transit	NYCT Bus: B24, B48, Q59
Levels	2
Other information
Opened	July 1, 1948
Accessible	not ADA-accessible; currently undergoing renovations for ADA access
Traffic
2022	3,409,157  38.4%
Rank	76 out of 423
Location
Street map
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times

The Metropolitan Avenue/Lorimer Street station is an underground New York City Subway station complex shared by the BMT Canarsie Line and the IND Crosstown Line. Located in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, the complex is served by the G and L trains at all times.

The BMT Canarsie Line platforms, which are named Lorimer Street, are located above the IND Crosstown Line platforms, which are named Metropolitan Avenue. The Canarsie Line station opened in 1924, and the Crosstown Line station opened in 1937. Free transfers between the stations started in 1948.

Station layout

G	Street level	Entrances/exits
B1	Side platform
	Westbound	← toward Eighth Avenue (Bedford Avenue)
	Eastbound	→ toward Canarsie–Rockaway Parkway (Graham Avenue) →
	Side platform
B2	Mezzanine	Fare control, station agent, MetroCard machines, connection between platforms
B3	Side platform
	Northbound	← toward Court Square (Nassau Avenue)
	Southbound	→ toward Church Avenue (Broadway) →
	Side platform

The L-shaped passageway, located above the Crosstown Line at its northern end and below the Canarsie Line at its western end, also serves as the mezzanine for the Crosstown Line lower level. When viewed from the Crosstown Line mezzanine, the passageway splits up as the right half leads to a ramp for Canarsie-bound trains while the left half leads to a crossunder to Eighth Avenue-bound trains.

Originally, passengers who wished to transfer between the Canarsie and Crosstown lines had to pay a separate fare, because the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (operator of the Canarsie Line) and the Independent Subway System (the Crosstown Line's operator) were competing companies. On July 1, 1948, eight years after the three operators of New York's subways were unified into a single entity, the transfer passageway was reconfigured to be inside fare control, thus permitting free transfers between lines.

In 2019, the MTA announced that this station would become ADA-accessible as part of the agency's 2020–2024 Capital Program. A contract for five elevators at the station (three at Lorimer Street and two at Metropolitan Avenue) was awarded in December 2020.

The 2000 artwork in the transfer passageway and the Crosstown Line mezzanine is called Signs of Life by Jackie Chang. A precinct of the New York City Transit Police is also located on the Crosstown Line mezzanine.

Panoramic view of the mezzanine

Exits

The main entrances at the corner of Metropolitan and Union Avenues lead to the transfer corridor between the lines. The high entry-exit turnstiles in the transfer corridor would be replaced with waist-high "low turnstiles" to accommodate increased passenger flow.

Each platform has a second set of entrances. The BMT platforms have a second set to the eastern corners of Lorimer Street and Metropolitan Avenue at their east ends. The IND platforms have one stair leading to the northwestern corner of Union Avenue and Hope Street and another leading to the northeastern corner of Union Avenue and Powers Street. The exits to Powers and Hope Streets were previously closed in 2000 due to safety concerns, blocked by metal street grates, and used as emergency exits. They were reopened on February 28, 2019 to accommodate the increased volume of passengers transferring between the Crosstown and Canarsie Line stations due to the 14th Street Tunnel shutdown. Originally, only one of these exits was planned to be reopened.

Despite the IND station's name on tiling, there is no longer an open exit to Grand Street. A passage beyond the Hope and Powers Streets exits leads to two more exits that led to both northern corners of Grand Street and Union Avenue. These exits were also closed in 2000 due to safety concerns. While the exit to the northeastern corner is also blocked by a metal sheet grate, the exit to the northwestern corner has been sealed and is inaccessible from street level. The exits to Grand Street were open until the section of the mezzanine that had the exits to Hope Street and Powers Street was closed; this is corroborated by photos of this portion of the mezzanine during its closure, which had signage directing to Grand Street intact, as well as MTA documents outlining the closure of the whole area.

The BMT station previously had two closed exits; they led to the western corners of Lorimer Street and Metropolitan Avenue. They were also closed in 2000 and were repurposed into emergency exits. As a part of the ADA accessibility improvements, the exit to the southwestern corner will be reopened while the exit to the northwestern corner is being demolished to make room for a street elevator at that corner.

The transfer mezzanine also features one closed staircase to the southeastern corner of Metropolitan Avenue and Union Avenue. The staircase was also closed in 2000, but has been completely sealed from both the street level and the mezzanine level.

BMT Canarsie Line platforms

Lorimer Street
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Northbound platform
Station statistics
Division	B (BMT)
Line	BMT Canarsie Line
Services	L  (all times)
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Other information
Opened	June 30, 1924
Accessible	not ADA-accessible; currently undergoing renovations for ADA access
Opposite- direction transfer	Yes
Services Preceding station New York City Subway Following station Bedford Avenue toward Eighth Avenue Graham Avenue toward Canarsie–Rockaway Parkway
Track layout to Bedford Avenue to Graham Avenue
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times

The Lorimer Street station (announced as Metropolitan Avenue-Lorimer Street station) on the BMT Canarsie Line has two tracks and two side platforms. It opened on June 30, 1924, as part of the initial segment of the underground Canarsie Line, a product of the Dual Contracts, stretching from Sixth Avenue in Manhattan to Montrose Avenue. The L stops at the station at all times. The station is between Bedford Avenue to the west and Graham Avenue to the east.

The Lorimer Street entry point has a mezzanine above the station. There is also another entrance at Union Avenue that leads directly to the Manhattan-bound platform. The transfer to the Crosstown Line is toward the Union Avenue (western; railroad northern) end of the station, where passageways descend from each platform to the Union Avenue mezzanine.

Image gallery

• 
  Lorimer Street full-name mosaic
• 
  Lorimer Street "L" mosaic
• 
  Metropolitan Avenue stair

IND Crosstown Line platforms

Metropolitan Avenue
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
View of northbound platform
Station statistics
Division	B (IND)
Line	IND Crosstown Line
Services	G  (all times)
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Other information
Opened	July 1, 1937
Accessible	not ADA-accessible; currently undergoing renovations for ADA access
Opposite- direction transfer	Yes
Former/other names	Metropolitan Avenue–Grand Street
Services Preceding station New York City Subway Following station Nassau Avenue toward Court Square Broadway toward Church Avenue
Track layout to Nassau Avenue to Broadway
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times

The Metropolitan Avenue station (also announced as Metropolitan Avenue-Lorimer Street station) on the IND Crosstown Line opened on July 1, 1937 as part of the extension of the Crosstown Line from Nassau Avenue to Hoyt-Schermerhorn Streets. The station also has two tracks and two side platforms. The G stops at the station at all times. The station is between Nassau Avenue to the north and Broadway to the south.

The station has green tiles. The tiles were part of a color-coded tile system used throughout the IND. The tile colors were designed to facilitate navigation for travelers going away from Lower Manhattan. Because the Crosstown Line does not merge into a line that enters Manhattan at either end, all stations on the line had green tiles. Station tile signage retains the original name of the station: Metropolitan Avenue–Grand Street. Directional tile captions mimicking the style of original IND captions indicate "To Street and Transfer;" the tile captions replaced original captions pointing to Metropolitan Avenue at the north end and Grand Street at the south end. Two staircases from the north end of either platform lead to the mezzanine and transfer passageway to the BMT Canarsie Line.

The mezzanine is full-length, but has been reduced in size. A central portion was closed in the late 1990s and is now occupied by a police facility, employee space, and offices. The south portion was also previously closed and used as storage space, but was reopened on February 28, 2019 in preparation for the 14th Street Tunnel shutdown in April 2019. A previously removed staircase between the southbound platform and the mezzanine was also built.

Image gallery

• 
  Street stair at southeast corner of Metropolitan & Union Avenues
• 
  Closed southern portion of the mezzanine, prior to its reopening
• 
  Reopened south mezzanine
• 
  Artwork by Jackie Chang