Broadway Junction Slated For $495 Million Accessibility Upgrade

EAST NEW YORK, NY — A $495 million improvement project will bring accessible subway infrastructure to the famously stair-filled Broadway Junction subway complex in Brooklyn, Mayor Eric Adams announced Tuesday.

The project will bring seven new elevators, new escalators and two public plazas to the complex with connections to the A/C, J/Z, L and Long Island Railroad.

"We are essentially rebuilding the entire station," said Jamie Torres-Springer, President of MTA Construction & Development.

Elevated structures for the J/Z and L lines will also see repairs and a new paint job by August, Torres-Springer said.

Two new public plazas will sit on either side of Van Sinderen Avenue and Fulton Street as a "gateway" to the complex, with a new subway entrance being added to the east side of Van Sinderen Avenue, officials said.

Broadway Junction is one of Brooklyn's busiest transportation hubs, with 100,000 daily users and 2,000 MTA employees, according to Torres-Springer.

Beyond the immediate complex, the city will improve pedestrian infrastructure on Van Sinderen Avenue between Fulton Street and Atlantic Avenue.

Those streets pose a significant barrier to local residents — the sidewalks are torn up, cars speed down major roads and cars park along the sidewalk, said City Council Member Sandy Nurse.

"We actually used to call it the dungeon because it's the darkest area in this district," Nurse said.

The $495 million investment announced Tuesday compliments other city investments in the immediate area, including a $22 million Callahan-Kelly Park reconstruction project, increased affordable housing and bus electrification, officials said.

"This is a bold vision for this neighborhood, this is a neighborhood that deserves it, and it's going to be the anchor of this community," Adams said.

Such improvements will build trust in an area where confidence in local government is "very low," said Borough President Antonio Reynoso.

"Our community really feels that Broadway Junction has been neglected," Nurse said.

Adams agreed Tuesday's investment was a symbolic win for a community overlooked by government.

"I am who I am because of this neighborhood, and I've seen how members of this community have been left behind for too long. Too often government has made promises and then broken them," Adams said.