As part of the extensive Culver Viaduct rehabilitation project, the MTA has reopened a subway entrance that had been closed for more than four decades. Transit announced today that the long-shuttered entrance underneath the viaduct on the east side of 4th Ave. between 9th and 10th Streets has been reopened, pleasing neighbors who had viewed the conditions under the viaduct as unsafe blight. Pedestrian advocates too are happy with the reopening as straphangers will now no longer have to cross a busy and dangerous 4th Ave.
“During the initial phases of this project, we decided it was the perfect opportunity to reopen the east side station house on 4th Avenue,” NYC Transit President Thomas F. Prendergast said in a statement. “We are grateful to the elected officials whose contributions allowed us to do even more than we had planned at this historic station.”
The project, as I reported last year, was funded through an $800,000 grant from Assembly Representative Joan Millman’s office and $2 million from Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz as well. Both politicians praised the authority for its work. “The opening of the east side entrance to the 4th Avenue-9th Street station is a big win for the community and the first stage of what will be the eventual transformation of Fourth Avenue into a grand ‘Brooklyn Boulevard,’” Markowitz said. “Soon, the area adjacent to this entrance will be filled with retail, and the exterior archways and windows will be opened and restored to their original glory.”
Despite today’s reopening, Transit says it still has to put the finishing touches on the revived entrance and has a ways to go as it completes the station renovation. The doors that open onto 4th Ave. are temporary, and those that open onto 10th St. will remain closed until later this year. The historic arch, covered by billboards on both sides, will be unveiled by the end of the year as well as Transit works to give the station a “lighter, more open look.”
Other improvements to the 4th Ave. area include a fresh coat of paint for the underside of the viaduct, improved lighting above the sidewalks and new retail storefronts for the both the east and west side of the streets. Transit plans to award contracts for those stores in 2013. All told, it’s a welcome improvement to what is an ugly but well-trod block along 4th Ave.
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