The nine lives of the Franklin Avenue Shuttle

On July 23, 1981, the Transit Workers Union released a statement from John E. Lawe, President of Local 100: "The Authority must be stopped on its suicidal path to disaster." ([TWU news release], 1981; Eastern Parkway Coalition records, 2007.016, Box 7, Folder 21; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.)

What was President Lawe railing against? The Metropolitan Transit Authority's (MTA) proposal to close the Franklin Avenue Shuttle. Closing the Franklin Avenue Shuttle would not just have been a major inconvenience for the Central Brooklyn residents who relied on it to connect to the D,Q trains at Prospect Park or the A,C trains at Fulton Street (and later the 2,3,4,5 trains at Botanic Garden), but also a barrier to all Brooklynites accessing the Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Botanic Garden (still free at the time), and Brooklyn Public Library's Central Library.

In fact, a railroad has operated along that corridor since 1878. First, as the Brighton Beach and Coney Island Railroad, which was remarked upon as a "grand success" in the September 13, 1879 Kings County Rural Gazette: "If other roads would only copy, there would be but little cause for complaint as to the comfort of passengers" ("Railroad Notes," page 2). 

By 1903, the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) operated the line, but it stopped always running to Coney Island. In 1927 and 1928, the Kings Highway Chamber of Commerce and the Civic Council of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce advocated for the trains to once again run year-round and all-day to Coney Island, but the BRT said there simply were not enough train cars to go around ("Alderman Cox to Head Group Asking Need," October 16, 1927, page 6, Brooklyn Sunday Star; "Boro Men Hold Transit Parley to Aid Service," August 9, 1928, page 2, Brooklyn Citizen).

Around 1913, there were very preliminary, but still enticing, plans to extend the line up past Fulton Street to Greenpoint and on to Queensboro Plaza (Copp 1988, 22). Alas, these plans never came to fruition, although we do have the G train. For most of the 20th century, the Franklin Avenue Shuttle was an intrepid 5-stop line between Fulton Street and Flatbush Avenue at Prospect Park. As we will see, the Dean Street stop was closed when the line was renovated in the 1990s leaving us with four stops today: Franklin Avenue, Park Place, Botanic Garden, and Prospect Park.

I found two of my new favorite items in Center for Brooklyn History's book collection while doing research for this blog post: two self-published volumes about the Franklin Avenue Shuttle with detailed drawings, descriptions, and histories of the line written by Philip Copp (or Coppola). In 1977, Coppola began drawing the mosaics and interior embellishments of subway stations across New York City. In order to understand who made them, Coppola also researched the architects and artists (for more about Philip Coppola, read this interview in Antiques and the Arts Weekly). The books we have by Coppola on the Franklin Avenue Shuttle were published in 1988 and 1989 and contain incredible drawings and descriptions of the whole shuttle line.

We already know the prominent institutions along the Shuttle line that exist today, but what are some other attractions the Franklin Avenue Shuttle brought riders to in the past? 

The Botanic Garden station, originally called "Consumers' Park," dropped riders off at Consumers' Park Brewing Company at Franklin Avenue and Montgomery Street. Herman Raub, a hotelier and immigrant from Baden, Germany, opened Consumers' Park in 1898. It was not just a brewery, but also a hotel with gardens for guests to enjoy. Coney Island attractions eventually drew crowds further south to the seaside and the brewery stopped operating in 1918. The Consumers' Park stop was then moved up to Eastern Parkway and became the Botanic Garden stop. (Copp 1989, 92)

Ebbets Field is another landmark that was once near the Franklin Avenue Shuttle. In fact, the platforms of the old Consumers' Park station were extended to better serve the stadium that opened in 1913 (Copp, 1989, page 93). Opening day saw 25,000 fans at the stadium ("Baseball is Here; 25,000 See Game at Ebbets Field," April 5, 1913, Brooklyn Eagle, page 1). But, as we all know, the Dodgers did not stay in Brooklyn. In September 1957, the Brooklyn Dodgers played their last game at Ebbets Field and moved to Los Angeles.

Before reprocessing the Eastern Parkway Coalition records (2007.016) a couple of years ago, I had no idea the Franklin Avenue Shuttle had once been in danger of shutting down. The Eastern Parkway Coalition records were kept by Crown Heights community members, Constance and Helmuth Lesold, and date from the 1950s to 2007. These records chronicle the many years of letters to MTA and city officials, Community Board and committee meetings, and flyers gathering the community to protest.

According to Constance Lesold in a 2010 oral history: "In those early days when I lived here [Crown Heights], it was a more... somehow it seemed like a more unified neighborhood than it is now, but it was never a unified neighborhood. Crown Heights has always been an extremely diverse neighborhood, which has been both its strength and its weakness. But for the shuttle everybody worked together." (Lesold, Constance, Oral history interview conducted by Alex Kelly, April 07, 2010, Listen to This: Crown Heights Oral History collection, 2010.020.025; Center for Brooklyn History, Brooklyn Public Library.)

The MTA first threatened the Franklin Avenue Shuttle in 1977, citing low ridership and the insurmountable cost to modernize the line. However, a report released that same year concluded that this low ridership data was based on "merely turnstile counts" and did not count riders who used the Shuttle to connect between the major lines it intersected with ([Franklin Avenue Shuttle and 'AA' Service report from Justin N. Feldman], 1977; Eastern Parkway Coalition records, 2007.016, Box 8, Folder 8; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.). 

The MTA decided to keep the shuttle going after outcries from "...a coalition of businessmen in the Bedford Stuyvesant area, the Jewish Hospital and Medical Center on Prospect Place and the principal and PTA of the Clara Barton Vocational High School and the Prospect Heights High School and staff workers of the Bureau of Child Welfare on Bedford Avenue..." representing about 5000 regular passengers ([Amsterdam News article: MTA Bows to Pressure on Franklin Avenue Shuttle], January 22, 1977; Eastern Parkway Coalition records, 2007.016, Box 7, Folder 19; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.)

Despite this reprieve, efforts to close the shuttle continued. In 1981, the MTA again announced they wanted to close the shuttle in November. At a hearing in September 1981, 72 people spoke, among them representatives from institutions along the shuttle line and Brooklyn Borough President Howard Golden. Golden said the budget to fix the Franklin Avenue Shuttle was a drop in the bucket compared to the MTA's larger capital improvement plan and the MTA persisted in only considering turnstile counts in their ridership data ([Daily News article: "They voice opposition to shutting down of Franklin Ave. Shuttle"], September 17, 1981; Eastern Parkway Coalition records, 2007.016, Box 7, Folder 19; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.)

In 1982, the Shuttle was closed for emergency repairs and replaced by shuttle buses. Riders worried the MTA would decide to keep it closed permanently, but it did eventually reopen. In a January 11, 1982 memo from the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee (PCAC) to MTA board members, Philip Weinberg stated "The PCAC is concerned that after many years of deferred maintenance the Transit Authority had allowed sections of the system to deteriorate to a point where rehabilitation becomes costly and then recommends abandonment of service." ([Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee letter to MTA board members], 1982; Eastern Parkway Coalition records, 2007.016, Box 8, Folder 1; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.)

Even the Director of Brooklyn Public Library (BPL), Larry Brandwein, was called out after the MTA, with BPL's involvement, posted subway maps not showing the Franklin Avenue Shuttle: "...how do you expect East New York and Bedford-Stuyvesant residents to reach your Central Branch without the shuttle? Or, should we believe that you would rather they stayed away?" ([Note to Larry Brandwein], circa 1981; Eastern Parkway Coalition records, 2007.016, Box 7, Folder 19; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.)

Community Board 8 adopted a resolution on May 8, 1986 that showed just how serious these proposed transportation reductions were ([Community Board 8], 1986; Eastern Parkway Coalition records, 2007.016, Box 7, Folder 19; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.). (Ruth Goring, from my previous blog post, "Meet Ruth Goring," and her daughter Lois Goring also appear in the Community Board 8 minutes from this time period.)

The members of Brooklyn Community Board 8 are extremely disturbed by the New York City Transit Authority Strategic Planning process that appears to be degenerating into a plan for yet another round of service reductions.

The transit services, both rapid and service, on which the residents of our community must depend, are already woefully inadequate. Any further reductions in these already inadequate services will either trap us in a ghetto, or lead inevitably to increased automobile traffic and van operations through our community.

In his inaugural address in 1994, Brooklyn Borough President Howard Golden mentioned the Franklin Avenue Shuttle Project as one of his priorities ("Golden Takes Oath for Another Term as B. P.", January 27, 1994, page 12, Canarsie Courier). To this end, Golden formed a transit advisory committee that included representatives from community boards across Brooklyn. Constance Lesold credits this committee as being a major factor in saving the Franklin Avenue Shuttle in her 2010 oral history (Oral history interview conducted by Alex Kelly, April 07, 2010, Listen to This: Crown Heights Oral History collection, 2010.020.025; Center for Brooklyn History, Brooklyn Public Library.).

One form of protest against shutting down the Shuttle was planning the Franklin Avenue Shuttle Garden (now the Union Street Garden) on the roof of the Botanic Garden stop. Constance Lesold explained that situating the garden right over the Shuttle was strategic: "so that should they try to close it, we would immediately have an interested group to rally right there in 5 minutes time" (Lesold, Constance, Oral history interview conducted by Alex Kelly, April 07, 2010, Listen to This: Crown Heights Oral History collection, 2010.020.025; Center for Brooklyn History, Brooklyn Public Library.). 

The garden was initially proposed as a summer youth program in collaboration with the Department of Education. The Eastern Parkway Coalition leased the land from the city in 1979 ([City of New York lease], 1979; Eastern Parkway Coalition records, 2007.016, Box 7, Folder 15; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.) and the Franklin Avenue Shuttle Garden was born. The garden became an early member of New York City's GreenThumb community garden program and volunteers grew vegetables, maintained the space, and held workshops for activities such as tree-planting.

In 1989, tensions between the MTA and the Franklin Avenue Shuttle Garden and Eastern Parkway Coalition came to a head when Transit Police entered the garden on a Saturday, cut down trees, and dug up soil with a bulldozer ([New York Post article:  "A Tree Doesn't Grow in Brooklyn"], January 28, 1989; Eastern Parkway Coalition records, 2007.016, Box 7, Folder 15; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.). Transit Police claimed they had gotten the green light to create a parking lot on the site after the Department of Buildings confirmed it was land owned by the MTA (despite GreenThumb garden signs at both entrances) ([Letter to Steve Dobrow from Helmuth Lesold], March 7, 1989; Eastern Parkway Coalition records, 2007.016, Box 7, Folder 15; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.).

Accidental or calculated, this trashing of community space seemed to represent the MTA's feelings towards the area and the Franklin Avenue Shuttle. A statement from the Eastern Parkway Coalition after the incident said: "The larger question that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board must consider is whether Transit Authority management has shown a disdain for community advice that is being taken as an example by its employees." (Eastern Parkway Coalition records, 2007.016, Box 7, Folder 15; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.)

Finally, in 1997, the MTA agreed to provide $63 million to rebuild the Franklin Avenue Shuttle ("Borough President Outlines Plans for Entry into Next Century," February 27, 1997, page 5, Canarsie Courier) and connect it with the IRT lines (2,3,4,5). The repairs were made and the Shuttle reopened, but we lost the Dean Street Station. 

A 1993 letter from Helmuth Lesold to Lilyan H. Affinito at the MTA derided this decision (Eastern Parkway Coalition records, 2007.016, Box 8, Folder 5; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.): 

Contrary to eleven-year-old allegations, this station has concrete platforms and a fireproof entrance house. Ignore the mathematical errors on the TA sketch, TA staff often doesn't know whether to add or subtract. Just remember that this station is not as near its neighbors as other stations. For example, Beverley and Cortelyou Road stations on the Brighton Line are only one-thousand-fifty feet apart, yet the TA will spend $4-million each to refurbish them. Moreover, crossing Atlantic is a major effort, and Dean Street serves a busy residential, institutional, and commercial area. In short, abandoning the Dean Street station is a serious stab at equality of service.

Fighting against the closure of the Franklin Avenue Shuttle and arguing for needed renovations was an almost 20-year process. In her oral history, Constance Lesold offered advice for people advocating for resources in their own community (Lesold, Constance, Oral history interview conducted by Alex Kelly, April 07, 2010, Listen to This: Crown Heights Oral History collection, 2010.020.025; Center for Brooklyn History, Brooklyn Public Library.): 

They have to be in it for the long-run... They have to develop a variety of ways of dealing with problems. If you just take the shuttle as an example, we didn't just build a garden over the shuttle, we attended all the hearings, the meetings of the MTA and their committees. We picketed, we demonstrated. Don't give away any of your means of fighting back because somebody tells you its out of date. And don't think you'll win just because you got a computer in your house and you got email.

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Other references:

Copp, Philip. The Franklin Avenue El / Incline (Maplewood, NJ: The Four Oceans Press, 1988), TF841.B76 C67 1988. Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.

Copp, Philip. Franklin Avenue incline (or) shuttle (Maplewood, NJ: The Four Oceans Press, 1989), TF841.B76 C67 1989. Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.