THE only elevated section of the Independent Subway, built by the City of New York in the 1930s to compete with the privately-run IRT and BMT systems, ascends on a steep grade here at Luquer and Smith Streets. Two IND elevated stations were built at Smith and 9th Streets (see FNY pages here) and at 4th Avenue, one of the gems of the subway system. in 1940, all three subway systems were united and ran by the city and state by various agencies, the latest of which is the Metropolitan Transit Authority.
The city chose to elevate the IND here as it makes a turn south on 9th Street, one of Park Slope’s major east-west routes. To clear shipping on the Gowanus Canal, it built the highest elevated station in the subways at Smith-9th, which rises a good 88 feet above the street and requires two escalators to board and deboard. In the pages linked above, I described the two stations’ unique designs; Smith/9th is the only station in which tiled IND-style signage appears outdoors.
The elevated structures themselves provide a tantalizing glimpse at what IND elevated would look like had they ever been built. The iron superstructures were clad in concrete. About two decades ago, the concrete was beginning to crack and descend to the street, so the pillars and trestle were wrapped in black canvas until the city effected repairs. Today, the elevated structure appears as it did when brand new in July 1933. Elevated sections had been planned in Queens for the IND Second System, which would have hastened the urbanization of sections of Maspeth and Ridgewood; perhaps just as well that els did not invade those realms (besides the Myrtle El in south Ridgewood). The Second System was abandoned when the USA entered World War II.
Luquer Street is one of Brooklyn’s more unusual street names; many locals pronounce it Lu-QUEER, as if it has an extra “e” and by some maps and guides, it actually once did.
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8/28/24