The Chrystie Street Connection is a major connecting line of the New York City Subway System, and is one of the few connections between lines of the BMT and IND divisions. As a road, Chrystie Street extends northward to become Manhattan's Second Avenue, and the Chrystie Street Connection is the only part of the long-planned Second Avenue Line ever to be completed and opened to service of any kind.

Extent and service

The line, opened on November 26, 1967, connects the former IND Sixth Avenue Line east of Broadway-Lafayette Street with the Williamsburg Bridge (via the BMT Nassau Street Line) and the Manhattan Bridge. It was the first actual integration of BMT and IND lines since all major lines were brought under New York City municipal ownership in 1940. Prior to that the nearest integration of the two previous systems was the operation of BMT trains over part of the IND Queens Boulevard Line via the 60th Street Tunnel Connection in 1955. In that case, however, BMT trains operated on the IND by trackage rights, using BMT equipment and crews.

Manhattan Bridge connection

The two tracks that run the full length of the connection begin as a continuation of the IND Sixth Avenue Line express tracks east of Broadway-Lafayette Street . These tracks include the line's only station, Grand Street , and connect to the two northern tracks over the Manhattan Bridge. The Sixth Avenue Line express tracks used to continue east to a bit east of Second Avenue , and were planned to extend into Brooklyn and beyond as part of the IND Second System. The two tracks on the north side of the Manhattan Bridge formerly carried trains to the BMT Broadway Line; in their place the two southern tracks, formerly connecting to the BMT Nassau Street Line (as part of the Nassau Street Loop), now carry the Broadway Line service. The connection to the Nassau Street Line has been cut at the Manhattan Bridge end, and is used for storage from the Nassau Street end. The opening of the Chrystie Street Connection to the Manhattan Bridge allowed the integration of four major lines of the combined system. The BB service of the IND was through-routed with the T West End Line service of the BMT as the B, and the D service of the IND was through-routed with the Q Brighton Beach Line service of the BMT.

Williamsburg Bridge connection

The two tracks that connect to the Williamsburg Bridge split from the Sixth Avenue Line local tracks east of Broadway-Lafayette Street and feed into the Nassau Street Line west of Essex Street . The main purpose of this portion of the connector was to allow trains originating in northern and eastern Brooklyn and southern and eastern Queens to operate into Midtown Manhattan via the IND Sixth Avenue Line, rather than having to turn south along Nassau Street. This service did not prove popular, and only operated from July 1, 1968 to August 29, 1976, when it was cut as part of an ongoing rethrenchment of service during New York City's fiscal crisis. The only service on these tracks was labeled KK and later K.

Service changes

Two service changes happened with the opening of the connection. The first was on Sunday, November 26, 1967, when the Manhattan Bridge connection opened. The second was on Monday, July 1, 1968, when the Williamsburg Bridge connection opened. Additionally, for the 1967 opening, every service in the system was labeled with a letter or number and a color.

Manhattan Bridge connection opening

The opening of the Manhattan Bridge connection on November 26, 1967 was concurrent with the opening of the new express tracks on the IND Sixth Avenue Line between West Fourth Street-Washington Square and 34th Street-Herald Square , providing more capacity for the extra trains on the IND via the connection. The following service changes were made:

• The rush-hour only BB, which had gone between Washington Heights-168th Street and 34th Street at Sixth Avenue, is relabeled the B and is extended via the new IND Sixth Avenue Line express tracks and the Chrystie Street Connection, and then express on the BMT Fourth Avenue Line and local on the BMT West End Line to end at Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue. This latter segment replaces the T (express via bridge) and TT (local via tunnel), leaving only the TT West End Shuttle from the BMT Fourth Avenue Line to Coney Island during late evenings, late nights and all day Sunday. B service is added during middays, early evenings, and the same time Saturdays, but only south of West Fourth Street-Washington Square .
• The Q (BMT Brighton Line express) is absorbed by a rerouted D, which uses the IND Sixth Avenue Line local tracks (except rush hours, when it runs express) and heads down the connection onto the BMT Brighton Line to Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue (running express in Brooklyn from morning rush hours through early evenings). Formerly the Q had run local in Brooklyn (except during morning rush hours and early evenings) and express on the BMT Broadway Line in Manhattan, ending at 57th Street ; the Q ran only weekdays until the middle of the evening. The D had used the IND Sixth Avenue Line and IND Culver line to Coney Island; this was replaced by the F (see below).
• The EE is added, running weekday rush hours, middays and early evenings, as a local train between Forest Hills-71st Avenue and Whitehall Street via the 60th Street Tunnel Connection onto the BMT Broadway Line in Manhattan. This replaces the RR, which had used that connection during the same times (and run to 57th Street in Manhattan other times), and is rerouted to Astoria-Ditmars Boulevard full time. The QT and QB had served Astoria from the BMT Brighton Line; the QT is partly replaced with the QJ (see below) and the QB is truncated to 57th Street for rush hour-only service. The D (see above) takes care of the Brighton Line.
• The F is extended from Broadway-Lafayette Street (morning rush hour to early evening) and 34th Street at Sixth Avenue (other times) into Brooklyn to Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue along the IND Culver Line (freed up by the D). It continues to run express east of Forest Hills-71st Avenue only during rush hours.
• The QJ is added as a rerouting of the old QT combined with an extension of the old J Jamaica Express, entering Manhattan via the tunnel and extending via the BMT Jamaica Line to 168th Street . Its hours remain the same, running from morning rush hours through early evening. It continues to run express in western Brooklyn and skip-stop in morning rush hours only in eastern Brooklyn.
• The RJ service is added as an extension of former RR special service, continuing local along the BMT Jamaica Line to 168th Street . It runs only during rush hours.
• The NX is added for a "super-express" from Brighton Beach through Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue and along the BMT Sea Beach Line to 57th Street in Manhattan.
• A free transfer is established between the IRT Eastern Parkway Line's Atlantic Avenue station and the same-named station on the BMT Brighton Line.

Williamsburg Bridge connection opening

The following changes happened on July 1, 1968, coincident with the opening of the 57th Street station at Sixth Avenue:

• The KK starts running between the new 57th Street station at Sixth Avenue and 168th Street in Jamaica, the only service to use the new connection. It ran only during rush hours, running skip-stop with the QJ on the BMT Jamaica Line east of Broadway Junction and local west into Manhattan. In Brooklyn the KK (rush hours) and QJ (other times) replace the JJ, which stops running. The KK serves "A" stops on the skip-stop portion of the BMT Jamaica Line, and the QJ serves "B" stops. This skip-stop pattern, which had operated only in morning rush hours, is extended into afternoon rush hours, but still runs only in the peak direction.
• The B is extended in non-rush hours from its former terminus at West Fourth Street-Washington Square to the new 57th Street station, using the local tracks of the IND Sixth Avenue Line. Rush hour trains continue on the normal route to Washington Heights-168th Street via the express tracks (and the local tracks of the IND Eighth Avenue Line). The TT shuttle on the BMT West End Line in late evenings, late nights and all day Sunday, is discontinued and replaced by additional B service.
• The D starts skipping 14th Street and 23rd Street via the express tracks of the IND Sixth Avenue Line. It had formerly done this only in rush hours.
• The M (which runs only during rush hours) is extended from Chambers Street to Broad Street due to the additional capacity caused by the JJ being rerouted to become the KK.
• A free transfer is added between 42nd Street on the IND Sixth Avenue Line and Fifth Avenue-Bryant Park on the IRT Flushing Line from 05:00 to 20:00 weekdays. A passageway connecting the stations directly is planned for automatic transfers (and has since been built).

The following minor changes were made on August 18, 1968:

• The D is truncated to Brighton Beach when it runs express on the BMT Brighton Line (morning rush hours through early evenings). The QB (rush-hour peak direction only) and QJ (which runs morning rush hours through early evenings) are extended from Brighton Beach to Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue.
• The F goes express on the IND Culver Line in rush hours north of Church Avenue . Some peak direction rush hour trains are truncated to Kings Highway ; the rest switch to express north of Kings Highway. The GG is extended to Church Avenue during rush hours to provide the removed local service. (undone January 18, 1976)

Later changes

The new services began to unravel, as commuters complained about the various routings. Many of the new extensions like the NX and RJ quickly disappeared (April 12, 1968 and June 28, 1968, respectively[1]). The KK (since renamed the K) was discontinued in 1976, ending service via the Williamsburg Bridge connection. Manhattan Bridge reconstruction began in 1986, at times making the Chrystie Street Connection useless for through trains.

Nowadays the connection is used by the B and D services, both of which run into the Bronx along the IND Concourse Line, one local and the other express through Manhattan, and both of which head south towards Coney Island.

Station listing

References

• NYCsubway.org - Historical Maps
• Line by Line History
• Subway Route Changes Put in Effect, New York Times November 26, 1967 page 59
• BMT-IND Changes Bewilder Many, New York Times November 27, 1967 page 1
• Skip-Stop Subway Begins Run Today, New York Times July 1, 1968 page 25
• Rapid Transit Service Changes, TA brochure, 1968
• Subways to Trim Service in Rush Hours on Jan. 18, New York Times December 18, 1975 page 1
• Transit Agency Drops 215 Runs, New York Times August 31, 1976 page 42