BROOKLYN CITY RAILROAD, Sunset Park

by Kevin Walsh

This stolid, 3-story brick building, which takes up the entire block between 2nd and 3rd Avenue and 58th and 59th Street in Sunset Park, now occupied by a variety of small businesses and industries, was once a depot for a lost aspect of NYC transportation.

It was a carbarn, or depot, for the Brooklyn City Railroad, which was first incorporated as a horsecar line in 1853. Later, trolley lines drawn on street rails by overhead electric wires, replaced the dobbins and the BCRR became the largest company operating streetcars in Brooklyn, with lines fanning out to the far reaches of Brooklyn such as East New York and Bushwick, and further into western Queens in Ridgewood, Maspeth and Corona. Cemeteries were common destinations, with lines going to Cypress Hills, Green-Wood, Calvary and Holy Cross Cemeteries.

After the BCRR was acquired by Long Island Traction in 1883, it reorganized into Brooklyn Rapid Transit in 1895, the precursor to Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit. The BMT, which ran subways, trolleys and elevated lines, was created in 1919 and lasted till most transit lines were unified under the NYC aegis in 1940.

While many older trolley barns were demolished or turned into bus depots, this depot, which handled lines on 2nd and 3rd Avenues, was compartmentalized for local use.

8/10/15

9 comments

Andrew Brusgard August 10, 2015 - 1:44 pm

Typo above.

acquired by Long Island Traction in 1983 – should read 1883

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John P. Simonetti August 10, 2015 - 2:47 pm

“After the BCRR was acquired by Long Island Traction in 1983, it reorganized into Brooklyn Rapid Transit in 1895, the precursor to Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit.”

Don’t you mean 1883?

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Jamie August 10, 2015 - 4:28 pm

I think you mean 1883 not 1983…8=)

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ron s August 10, 2015 - 10:50 pm

Some of the building is a community dental clinic for Lutheran Health Care, and a residency training site

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Bill Tweeddale August 11, 2015 - 10:02 am

We used to coast on our bikes down the hill to the Bush Terminal area. Not as much traffic as today, but man, if you ever threw the chain and lost your brake!!

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Mike August 14, 2015 - 2:01 pm

I wonder if the huge steam-powered dynamo that powered the electric trolley line is still in a sub-basement, does anybody know? Big boiler, big coils. The sort of thing it would not be practical to move, too big and heavy to extract and probably was assembled on-site. Therefore, likely to be still down there undisturbed and ignored. The sort of thing I would like to see and photograph, I am interested in what remains of that kind of archaic infrastructure.

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Anonymous February 10, 2019 - 4:06 pm

My 7th cousin 4x removed, Seymour Legrand Husted, was the President of the BCRR. He was born in 1810 and died in 1887. He was worth $8 million on his death, which would be over $160 million in 2019.,

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Bria April 27, 2019 - 12:57 pm

Does anyone know or has seen any old photos of this trolley depot when it was a functioning depot. I have not been able to locate any old photos for this building. Any sites that would have photos?
Thanks

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Brian April 27, 2019 - 1:01 pm

Has anyone ever come across old photos of this depot when it was functioning or near the end of its use in the 1940’s. Seems to be very few old photos of this very large depot. And am I correct that this standing building was built in 1931 according to NYC tax records. Any websites have interior photos of this building when it was a trolley/railroad depot.
Thanks

Reply

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