Bay Ridge Av
Bay Ridge Avenue is a typical two side platform station towards the southern terminus of the currently two tracked BMT 4th Avenue Subway Line. The station got the awful 1970s cinderblock renovation that covered all of the original trim line along the station's platforms. There are the standard grey blocks with little bright blue indentation areas where the station's name signs are and text painted onto the walls that mostly say exit and an arrow pointing towards the station's main exit, a small mezzanine area south of center of the platform. This mezzanine still has white tiled walls for some of it; with an original non-descript trim line above it. This mezzanine has a single staircase out to the NW and NE corners Bay Ridge and 4 Avenues. There is a secondary High Exit only turnstile exit towards the southern end of the uptown, Bay Ridge-bound platform. In the little area before the long, double floor staircase up to the street, the original 1915 trim band is visible (the only place it is, along the platforms), with B.R. tiled within it. This exit leads to a streetstair up to the NE corner of 68 Street and 4 Avenue. Only the 95 Street-bound platform has columns along it, all are painted blue and are round for most of the platform's length except towards the ends where the platform was extended to accommodate ten-car trains and those are the standard I-bean ones. These columns all have round Bay Ridge Av signs on them.
2017 Sexy Station Cosmetic Renovation: The station was closed from April 29 through October 31, 2017 under the Cuomo's Sexy (Enhanced) Station Initiative. This installed new black tiling over the orange indentation areas but kept the overall cinderblock wall look. The platform columns were painted a midnight blue color. New lighting was installed throughout the station along with Backlit subway maps (that include USB ports for phone changing) and strip maps above some platform signs.
In the fare control areas, all remnants of the 1917's mosaic trimline have been covered over. There is now a mixture of black walls, covering the new LCD screen areas for service change notices and around the MVMs and token booth, and blue tiling around the staircases up to the street. The former Exit Only turnstile up to 68 Street has been replaced by two regular turnstiles with the streetstair at street level now labeled as an entrance (R To 95 Street). At street level all 3 entrance staircases are now black with new black pylons with a green light on top with an LCD screen for a Walk New York neighborhood map. Only the entrance staircase at te SW corners have received an illuminated canopy, covering the street stair, while the other 3 streetstairs still have their steps left exposed to the elements.
Photos 1-16: June 9, 2009; 17-31: September 25, 2023;
Arts For Transit at Bay Ridge Avenue
Strata, 2017,
Hand glazed ceramic and glass mosaic
By Katy Fischer
