Williamsburg Bridge Plaza Bus Terminal

The Williamsburg Bridge Plaza, sometimes called Washington Plaza[1][2][3][4] or the Williamsburg Bridge Transit Center,[5] is a major bus terminal and former trolley terminal located at the foot of the Williamsburg Bridge in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, one block west of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (I-278). It is situated by the boundaries of Broadway, Havemeyer Street, Roebling Street, and South 5th Street, south of the LaGuardia Playground. It contains five bus lanes, and serves as a terminal for numerous MTA New York City Transit Authority bus routes of Brooklyn and Queens that start and end their runs there.

Not to be confused with the Williamsburg Bridge Trolley Terminal or Essex Street Terminal, the closed trolley terminal on the Manhattan side of the bridge.

Williamsburg Bridge Plaza
New York City bus station
General information
LocationBroadway & Havemeyer Street
Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York
Coordinates40°42′36″N 73°57′38″W
Owned byMetropolitan Transportation Authority
Operated byNew York City Transit Authority
Bus routes7 Brooklyn routes, 2 Queens routes
Bus stands5
Connections New York City Subway:
"J" train"M" train"Z" train​ at Marcy Avenue
Bike transport Williamsburg Bridge
Passengers
daily150,000

This bus terminal is near the Marcy Avenue subway station on the BMT Jamaica Line of the New York City Subway, located at the intersection of Marcy Avenue and Broadway, which is served by the J, M, and Z​ trains.[6]

The bus terminal is one of three plazas at the foot of the bridge that constitute Washington Plaza, along with Continental Army Plaza and LaGuardia Playground across South 5th Street, which are run by the Parks Department.[3][6][7]

Layout

As a streetcar terminal
The terminal circa 1908, when it served streetcars.

The original Washington Plaza trolley terminal occupied both blocks between Broadway to the south and South Fourth Street to the north. The right-of-way of South 5th Street ran through the center of the plaza, occupied entirely by a pair of trolley tracks which fed into the Williamsburg Bridge. These tracks were used by the lines of the New York Railways Company and Third Avenue Railway from Manhattan. Both blocks were occupied by numerous balloon loops, which streetcars used to reverse direction. The plaza was originally open-aired. At some point afterwards, shelters were added for loading and unloading passengers.[1][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]

The plaza served as a hub for Brooklyn surface trolleys, particularly those of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT). This included those from Nostrand Avenue surface line and Reid Avenue Line, among several that went over the bridge to Manhattan.[1][16]

The northern half of the terminal has since been replaced by LaGuardia Playground, named after former New York City mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia.[6][12][16][17][18]

As a bus terminal
See also: List of bus routes in Brooklyn and List of bus routes in Queens

The current bus terminal lies on the southern block of the former trolley terminal, with Broadway to the south and South 5th Street to the north. The terminal consists of five lanes or bays, numbered 1 to 5 from north to south. Lane 6 was rebuilt as a station house with MetroCard Vending Machines, and as of 2015, is out of service. Each bay contains a low-level sidewalk platform with several shelters. Buses enter the terminal from the west, where there is a layover area. Buses can exit the terminal to either Broadway or South 5th Street at the east end of the block.

Current bus routes include:

Lane Route Destination
1 B39 Lower East Side, Manhattan
Delancey Street and Allen Street
B60 Canarsie
Williams Avenue and Flatlands Avenue
2 B24 Greenpoint
Greenpoint Avenue and Manhattan Avenue
Q54 Jamaica, Queens
170th Street and Jamaica Avenue
3 B46
 Kings Plaza Shopping Center
Avenue U and Flatbush Avenue
4 B44
Local
(Late nights only)
 Sheepshead Bay
Nostrand Avenue and Emmons Avenue
B44 SBS
Select Bus Service		 Sheepshead Bay
Knapp Street and Emmons Avenue (full route)
or Avenue U and Nostrand Avenue
5 N/A N/A
Broadway
and
Roebling Street
 Q59 Rego Park, Queens
62nd Road and Queens Boulevard
at 63rd Drive ("E" train​"F" train​"R" train trains)
B32 Long Island City, Queens
44th Drive and 21st Street
at Court Square ("7" train"7" express train​​"E" train​"F" train"F" express train​"G" train​ trains)
B62 Long Island City, Queens
Jackson Avenue and Queens Plaza South
at Queensboro Plaza ("7" train"7" express train​​"N" train​"W" train trains) and Queens Plaza ("E" train​"F" train"F" express train​"R" train trains)
Roebling and
South 8th Streets
 Downtown Brooklyn
Boerum Place and Livingston Street

History
The waiting room at the entrance to the terminal, completed in 2017.

The bridge plaza terminal has existed at least since the opening of the Williamsburg Bridge in December 1903, and possibly earlier.[19][20] On November 6, 1904, BRT streetcars began crossing the bridge to Lower Manhattan.[21][22] At this time, many streetcar routes that terminated at Broadway Ferry were re-routed to terminate at Washington Plaza, or to go over the bridge to the Delancey Street terminal in Manhattan.[23] Meanwhile, four Manhattan trolley routes from the New York Railways Company were extended across the bridge to Washington Plaza.[23][24] The Third Avenue Railway also operated streetcars from Manhattan to Washington Plaza.[10][24] In 1919, the plaza was renamed "Washington Plaza".[2] That year, New York Railway cars ceased operating to the plaza from Manhattan, while Third Avenue service continued to operate.[24]

On December 1, 1923, service on the now-Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT) lines over the Williamsburg Bridge ended, due to decreasing profits and a dispute with the city over tolls. BMT service was truncated to Washington Plaza, and bridge service was replaced with municipal shuttle service.[1][22][25][26] To promote the new service, the city constructed a shed on the south side of the plaza.[27] On February 15, 1931, BMT streetcars once again began running to Manhattan, after municipal shuttle service ended. Only the Nostrand, Ralph, Reid, and Tompkins lines resumed traveling over the bridge, while the remaining lines continued to terminate at Washington Plaza.[25][26][28] On January 20, 1932, bridge service from Third Avenue's Grand Street and Post Office Lines was discontinued, due to the northern bridge tracks being deemed unsafe.[29] In Spring 1935, the northern portion of the trolley terminal was converted into LaGuardia Playground. Construction began on April 1, and the playground opened on July 2.[12][17][18]

On December 6, 1948, the last of the streetcar lines to run over the bridge, the "Williamsburg Bridge Local" shuttle between the Manhattan and Brooklyn trolley terminals, was converted into the B39 bus route, which ran between the plaza and Lower Manhattan.[4][30][31][32] By 1951, the New York City Board of Transportation (later succeeded by the New York City Transit Authority) motorized all the trolley routes into bus routes, and established the current bus terminal. The new lines included the B44 route, which replaced the Nostrand Avenue line in 1951.[4][7][20][33][34]

The New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) is planning to renovate this terminal. The project will bring new benches, a sleek, glass-paneled indoor waiting room, public restrooms, and widened sidewalks to the eight bus lines serving in the terminal. The project was unveiled in October 2013, with NYCDOT officials planning to begin construction in spring 2014 and complete the project in summer 2015.[35][36][37]

References
  1. Linder, Bernard (April 2016). "Municipal Operations of Williamsburg Bridge Trolley Cars". New York Division Bulletin. Electric Railroaders' Association. 59 (4): 3–5. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  2. "Washington Plaza Is Formally Named: E.D. Residents Celebrate and Aldermanic Resolution Is Presented to Riegelmann". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. February 23, 1919. Retrieved October 21, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. Waite, Thomas L. (February 20, 1989). "About-Face for 'Valley Forge' Statue? Maybe". The New York Times. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
  4. Report for the three and one-half years ending June 30, 1949. New York City Board of Transportation. 1949. hdl:2027/mdp.39015023094926.
  5. "Nostrand Ave. Trolley Makes Way for MTA New York City Transit Select Bus Service". mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. October 10, 2013. Retrieved July 2, 2015.
  6. "MTA Neighborhood Maps: neighborhood". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  7. "Williamsburg: More Than Just a Bridge: Community Crossroads". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. April 8, 1951. Retrieved July 22, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. Brooklyn Daily Eagle (1923). "Washington Plaza". Brooklyn Public Library. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  9. Branford Electric Railway Association (September 29, 2008). Brooklyn Streetcars. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4396-2045-8.
  10. Stephen L. Meyers (2005). Manhattan's Lost Streetcars. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 58, 113. ISBN 978-0-7385-3884-6.
  11. Randall Gabrielan (November 1999). Brooklyn: New York in Vintage Postcards. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 85, 88. ISBN 978-0-7385-8786-8. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  12. "CWA to Build Span Play Area: Site at Brooklyn End of Williamsburg Bridge Is to Be Converted". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. March 4, 1935. p. 1. Retrieved October 21, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. "Extensive Improvements on the Williamsburg Bridge to be Ready Soon". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. January 9, 1908. p. 29. Retrieved October 21, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. "Washington Plaza trolley station". New York Transit Museum. February 12, 1940. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  15. "Metropolitan Street Railway - Fourth Avenue and Williamsburg Bridge Line". New York Transit Museum. 1905. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  16. "Busy Brooklyn". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. April 19, 1947. p. 3. Retrieved October 21, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. "LaGuardia Lauds Work of Moses After Bridge Tilf". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. July 2, 1935. p. 1. Retrieved October 21, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. "LaGuardia Lauds Work of Moses After Bridge Tilf". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. July 2, 1935. p. 2. Retrieved October 21, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. Woodruff, Clinto Rogers (March 1905). "Notes on Municipal Government. The Activities of Civic Organizations for Municipal Improvement in the United States: A Symposium". Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 25 (City Life and Progress): 157–199. doi:10.1177/000271620502500211. S2CID 145085237.
  20. "Buses Replacing Nostrand Ave. Trolleys; Horsecars Opened Flatbush Line in 1882". The New York Times. March 31, 1951. Retrieved July 2, 2015.
  21. "Rush On New Bridge: Sunday Crowds Necessitated Extra Cars. Most Patrons Traveled to Brownsville". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. November 7, 1904. p. 2. Retrieved January 19, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. "Through Service on Bridge to End" (PDF). The New York Times. November 22, 1923. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
  23. "How The Cars Will Run Across The New Bridge". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. March 16, 1904. p. 1. Retrieved October 21, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. Kahn, Alan Paul (1973). The Tracks of New York Number 1: Metropolitan Street Railway 1907. Seymour Durst, Electric Railroaders' Association. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  25. "Restores Bridge Service: B.M.T. Abolishes 2-Cent Fare Today on Through Traffic" (PDF). The New York Times. February 15, 1931. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
  26. "Municipal Operation of Williamsburg Bridge Trolley Cars Began 80 Years Ago". New York Division Bulletin. Electric Railroaders Association. 46 (12): 1, 4. December 2003. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
  27. "Whalen Builds Shed As Shelter Station". Brooklyn Standard Union. Fultonhistory.com. December 5, 1923. p. 14. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  28. "Through Trolley Service on Bridge". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. February 15, 1931. p. 16. Retrieved January 19, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. "Bans Trolley Lines on East River Span". The New York Times. January 21, 1932. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  30. "Buses Take Over Williamsburg Run: Trolleys End Bridge Service-Old Underground Station No Longer in Use" (PDF). The New York Times. December 6, 1948. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  31. "Williamsburg Bridge Trolleys Bow to Buses After 44 Years". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. December 5, 1948. p. 5. Retrieved October 21, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  32. "City Buys Buses On No-Bid Basis: Emergency Approval Granted by Board-130 Vehicles to Cost $16,500" (PDF). The New York Times. November 8, 1947. pp. 1, 2. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  33. "Public Notices". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. January 21, 1949. Retrieved July 22, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  34. Rivera, Phelix (August 17, 1953). "Letters to the editor of the Eagle: Pleads for Fare Slash On Williamsburg Bridge". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Retrieved July 22, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  35. Meredith Hoffman (October 10, 2013). "Transit Hub by Williamsburg Bridge to Get New Restroom, Waiting Area". DNAinfo.com. Archived from the original on October 22, 2013. Retrieved November 1, 2013.
  36. Tanay Warerkar (October 11, 2013). "City unveils plans for bus plaza near Williamsburg Bridge". NY Daily News. Retrieved November 1, 2013.
  37. NYCDOT (June 19, 2012). "Nostrand Avenue / Rogers Avenue Select Bus Service" (PDF). nyc.gov. NYCDOT. Retrieved November 1, 2013.
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