City releases plan to transform Brooklyn’s Broadway Junction into desirable transit hub
Rendering by WXY Architecture & Urban Design
The city released on Thursday its preliminary vision to revitalize Brooklyn’s third busiest transit station. Council Member Rafael Espinal Jr. and Borough President Eric Adams, along with the city’s Economic Development Corporation, laid out a plan to transform Broadway Junction, which connects six residential neighborhoods via five subway lines and six bus routes, into an accessible, attractive hub. The plan falls under the East New York Neighborhood Plan, a rezoning approved by the city in 2016.
“Broadway Junction is an area that has been overutilized and underinvested in for decades,” Espinal, who represents District 37, said in a press release. “Through the East New York Neighborhood Plan, I made clear to the administration that we must better study the area to identify potential investments and ways to deliver the quality jobs, services, and public spaces our community deserves.”
In 2017, Adams and Espinal launched the Broadway Junction Working Group, made up of three community boards, the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, and local stakeholders. The group, aided by insight from community members and commuters, developed specific recommendations for the revitalization of Broadway Junction.
The transit center has the potential to become a 21st-century hub, serving 100,000 people each weekday and connecting commuters to major employment hubs in the city. But the group found that not only is the station inaccessible for those with disabilities, but a lack of investment has also caused major congestion and crumbling conditions. The group is calling on the MTA to work with the city to improve subway service at Broadway Junction.
The vision for the hub includes creating more attractive and safer streetscapes, community-serving retail space, and drawing an anchor institution, like an educational campus, to the area. Officials are also looking to improve open spaces like Callahan-Kelly Park, as well as consolidating street parking to allow for more active street use.
“As one of our city’s major transit hubs, Broadway Junction has the potential to be a thriving economic engine for the community,” NYCEDC President James Patchett said. “This vision provides a blueprint to improve the station’s accessibility, enhance local amenities, revitalize public spaces, and foster inclusive growth in the surrounding neighborhoods.”
The next step in the process involves a collaboration between the working group and the NYCEDC to develop a strategy to implement their plan while seeking feedback from local residents and stakeholders.
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