Grand Army Plaza station

The Grand Army Plaza station is a local station on the IRT Eastern Parkway Line of the New York City Subway. It is located in Park Slope, Brooklyn, underneath Flatbush Avenue at its intersection with Plaza Street West and St. Johns Place, on the northwest side of Grand Army Plaza. It is served by the 2 train at all times, the 3 train at all times except late nights, and the 4 train during late nights.

History

Construction and opening

After the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT)'s original line opened as far as Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, the New York City government began planning new lines. As early as 1903, William Barclay Parsons, chief engineer of the Rapid Transit Commission, had proposed constructing a four-track extension of the IRT line under Flatbush Avenue, running southeast from Atlantic Avenue to Grand Army Plaza. From there, two branches would have extended south to Flatbush and east to Brownsville. This plan did not progress for a decade due to various disputes over the original subway.<ref name="HAER Impact">Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Rp In 1913, New York City, the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT), and the IRT reached an agreement, known as the Dual Contracts, to drastically expand subway service across New York City.<ref name="nyt-1913-03-20">Template:Cite news</ref> As part of the Dual Contracts, two lines under Flatbush Avenue, one each operated by the BRT and IRT, were approved.<ref name="Walker 1918">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp<ref name="nyt-1913-03-20" /> The IRT was authorized to extend its four-track Brooklyn line under Flatbush Avenue and Eastern Parkway,<ref name="nyt-1913-03-20" /> while the BRT would construct a parallel two-track extension of the Brighton Line.<ref name="n125097279">Template:Cite news</ref>

Groundbreaking for the IRT extension took place on May 23, 1914.<ref name="nyt-1914-05-24">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="n127730775">Template:Cite news</ref> The Prospect Park Plaza station, at Grand Army Plaza was to be one of the stations on the IRT extension.<ref name="n127730775" /> The Grand Army Plaza station was built as part of section 1A of the Eastern Parkway Line, stretching between the plaza and St. Mark's Avenue. The Cranford Company received a construction contract for this section in March 1914 after making a low bid of about $2.2 million.<ref name="n127730775" /><ref name="n127731334">Template:Cite news</ref> The project involved digging under Grand Army Plaza, near the Soldiers' and Sailors' Arch.<ref name="n127731493">Template:Cite news</ref>

Service on the IRT Eastern Parkway Line had been extended from Atlantic Avenue to Utica Avenue in August 1920,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> but the Bergen Street, Grand Army Plaza, and Eastern Parkway–Brooklyn Museum stations were not ready to open with the rest of the line.<ref name="EPkwy">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="n127745371">Template:Cite news</ref> The contractor responsible for completing the three stations had gone bankrupt in the middle of the project.<ref name="n127745371" /> The stations opened on October 9, 1920.<ref name="EPkwy" /><ref name=":0"/> The BMT Brighton Line was already in use at the time but used trackage that is now part of the Franklin Avenue Shuttle; the opening of the subway line beneath Flatbush Avenue provided a more direct route to Downtown Brooklyn and, eventually, Manhattan.<ref name="EPkwy" /><ref name=":0">Template:Cite journal</ref> The station was originally known as the Prospect Park Plaza station, but it was renamed in 1926 when the plaza itself was rededicated as Grand Army Plaza.<ref name="nyt-2011-05-08">Template:Cite news</ref>

Later years

The construction of the station and tunnels resulted in the removal of Frederic W. Darlington's 1897 Electric Fountain<ref name="ElectFountain">Template:Cite news</ref> from the center of Grand Army Plaza, which was dug up for the cut-and-cover construction and replaced with a grass oval. Planning for a new fountain, known as the Bailey Fountain, began in 1928,<ref name="n149977622">Template:Cite news; Template:Cite news</ref> and it was completed in 1932.<ref>New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, Grand Army Plaza, accessed April 20, 2007</ref>

During the 1964–1965 fiscal year, the platforms at Grand Army Plaza, along with those at four other stations on the Eastern Parkway Line, were lengthened to Template:Convert to accommodate a ten-car train of Template:Convert IRT cars.<ref name=":02">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="New York City Transit Authority 1964 p. "/> The work was performed by the Arthur A. Johnson Corporation.<ref name="New York City Transit Authority 1964 p. ">Template:Cite book</ref> In April 1993, the New York State Legislature agreed to give the MTA $9.6 billion for capital improvements. Some of the funds would be used to renovate nearly one hundred New York City Subway stations,<ref name="n123677736">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="nyt-1993-04-03">Template:Cite news</ref> including Grand Army Plaza.<ref name="n123677942">Template:Cite news</ref> The renovation was completed in 1996.<ref name=nyt-1996-12-29>Template:Cite news</ref>

In May 2025, a temporary art installation called "Rex's Dino Store" opened inside a vacant storefront at the station. Created by the artists Sarah Cassidy and Akiva Leffert, the installation mimics a bodega with dinosaur-themed products.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In July 2025, the MTA announced that it would install elevators at 12 stations, including the Grand Army Plaza station, as part of its 2025–2029 capital program. The elevators would make the station fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Station layout

Ground	Street level	Exit/entrance
Mezzanine	Mezzanine	Fare control, station agent
Platform level	Northbound local	← Template:Rint toward Template:Stl (Template:Stl) ← Template:Rint toward Template:Stl (Bergen Street) ← Template:Rint toward Template:Stl late nights (Bergen Street)
	Island platform
	Southbound local	Template:0 Template:Rint toward Template:Stl (Template:Stl) → Template:0 Template:Rint (Template:Rint late nights) toward Template:Stl (Eastern Parkway–Brooklyn Museum) →
Express/Brighton Tracks	Northbound express	← Template:RintTemplate:Rint do not stop here
	Brighton Line	← Template:RintTemplate:Rint do not stop here
		Template:0 Template:RintTemplate:Rint do not stop here →
	Southbound express	Template:0 Template:RintTemplate:Rint do not stop here →

A view of the station's platform

At platform level, Grand Army Plaza has a simple island platform layout with two tracks.<ref name="nycs"/><ref name="tracks3">Template:NYCS const</ref> The 2 train stops here at all times,<ref>Template:NYCS const</ref> while the 3 train stops here at all times except late nights.<ref>Template:NYCS const</ref> The 4 train serves the station only during late nights.<ref>Template:NYCS const</ref> The next station to the north is Bergen Street, while the next station to the south is Eastern Parkway–Brooklyn Museum.<ref name="submap">Template:NYCS const</ref> Fixed platform barriers, which are intended to prevent commuters falling to the tracks, are positioned near the platform edges.<ref name=Wassef202507>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=Russo-Lennon202507>Template:Cite web</ref>

Southbound (eastern Brooklyn-bound) trains use track E1 while northbound (Manhattan-bound) trains use track E4. Underneath the platform are four tracks, the center two, A4 (north) and A3 (south) carrying the BMT Brighton Line with tracks E2 and E3 carrying southbound and northbound express IRT Eastern Parkway Line trains on either side of the Brighton Line tracks, respectively.<ref>Brooklyn IRT: Grand Army Plaza</ref><ref>Brooklyn IRT: Map 2, Brooklyn IRT Dual Contracts</ref> These track designations are only displayed on small emergency placards on either end of the platform for use by train and emergency personnel; they are not used in everyday conversation.

The only mosaic in the Grand Army Plaza station is a small "P".<ref name="nyt-2011-05-08" /><ref name="nycs">Grand Army Plaza (Brooklyn IRT) NYCSubway Retrieved July 5, 2009</ref> A permanent art installation in the station's entrances and mezzanine entitled Wings for the IRT: The Irresistible Romance of Travel was created in 1995 by Jane Greengold, who used the station regularly when she lived in Park Slope.<ref name="MTA u371">Template:Cite web</ref> The bronze and terra cotta pieces of art are modeled on the original Interborough Rapid Transit Company logo, and alludes to the Soldiers' and Sailors' Arch in the plaza above with its Winged Victories.<ref name="MTA u371" /><ref name="nyt-1997-04-06">Template:Cite news</ref> The MTA's Arts for Transit program held an opening ceremony for the artwork on June 19, 1997.<ref>MTA Headquarters Press Release, MTA Installs Art In Grand Army Plaza StationTemplate:Dead link, June 19, 1997, accessed April 20, 2007</ref>

Exits

The station has four entrances and exits, all of which are staircases:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

• 2 on the northeast corner of Flatbush Avenue and Plaza Street East
• 1 on the southwest corner of Flatbush Avenue and Plaza Street West
• 1 on the southeast corner of Flatbush Avenue and Plaza Street West

External links

• www.nycsubway.org:
  • Brooklyn IRT: Grand Army Plaza
  • Brooklyn IRT: Map 2, Brooklyn IRT Dual Contracts (includes current and former track configurations, and provisions for future connections)
  • Wings for the IRT, The Irresistible [sic] Romance of Travel Artwork by Jane Greengold (1993)
• MTA's Arts For Transit — Grand Army Plaza (IRT Eastern Parkway Line)