45 Street (R) - The SubwayNut

45 Street is a typical two side platform local station on the BMT 4th Avenue Subway Line. The station got the awful 1960s cinderblock renovation that covered all of the original trim line along the station's platforms. There are the standard light-grey blocks with darker-grey 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 only. This is a small mezzanine area that is accessed from a single staircase at the extreme northern end of the Bay Ridge-bound platform, and two staircases from the Manhattan-bound platform nearly at it's northern end. The platforms are offset slightly from each other, the Manhattan-bound platform goes a bit farther north and the Brooklyn-bound platform at bit farther south (by less than a train car length). On the mezzanine there is some evidence of the original mosaic trim and directional arrow mosaics. One says Up Town Trains (for the Bay Ridge-bound platform) and the other Down Town Trains (for the Manhattan-bound) platform. This mezzanine has four streetstairs in total, two to both the NE and NW corners of 4th Avenue and 45th Street. These exits are painted green have the 1950s and '60s angular square designs and also have unique posts with Subway written on white glass and designed to be illuminated by a florescent lights at night. The stickers that used to cover up the N (hasn't stopped at the station except during late nigths since 2002) that have fallen off many of the entrances

There is a closed exit to 46 Street (all the local stops south of here still have this High Exit Turnstile exit open) towards the middle of the Bay Ridge-bound platform. Evidence of it is by a door in the walls, and more importantly that south of the sign all the painted text on the platform columns simply say exit, while in between this closed exit and the main one arrows say 45 St next to them and painted over arrows formerly said 46 St. This once led to an intermediate mezzanine where the high exit turnstile is and a now slabbed over streetstair at the SW corner of 46 Street and 4 Avenue. Both platforms also have columns along their platform lengths, all are painted blue and are round for most of the platform's length except towards the southern end where the platform was extended to accommodate ten-car trains and those are the standard I-bean ones. These columns all have 45 Street signs on them.
Photos 1-21: June 5, 2009; 22-34: October 1, 2012

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A 45 Street platform sign, text and an arrow for the only exit to 45 St painted beneath it.

Passengers approach the single staircase up to street level at the extreme northern end of the Bay Ridge-bound platform at 45 Street after getting off a rush hour R train.

Peeling paint on a column at 45 Street, probably a column sign used to be afflixed here.

A standard 45 Street column sign.

Approaching the single staircase up to street level from the Bay Ridge-bound platform at 45 Street.

The small mezzanine area with its turnstiles and a newsstand at 45 Street.

A mosaic sign for Up Town trains above a modern To 95 Street R sign at 45 Street.

An old, blank terra-cotta sign above a door that probably led to a now closed restroom on the small mezzanine at 45 Street.

A Down Town Trains mosaic above a modern Manhattan & Queens R sign on the mezzanine at 45 Street.

The passageway that leads to the two staircases down to the Manhattan-bound platfrom at 45 Street.

Another view of the small mezzanine area with its turnstiles at 45 Street.

Looking down the single staircase to the Bay Ridge-bound platform at 45 Street.

A view down the Bay Ridge-bound side platform at 45 Street.

Another view down the Bay Ridge-bound side platform at 45 Street with its blue columns

A bare grey column at 45 Street, the text that formerly pointed towards the exit to 46 St has been painted over.

Looking across the four track subway to the Manhattan-bound platform at 45 Street.

Another view down the Bay Ridge-bound platform at 45 St.

A gated door where a high exit turnstile to 46 Street used to leave the Bay Ridge-bound platform from.

A close up of partially painted over text for the now closed exit to 46 St.

Another view towards the closed exit to 46 Street.

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