Order on Court Street!
The Court Street R station is looking clean and fresh after the Metropolitan Transportation Authority wrapped up renovations at the end of 2023 as part of the agency’s Re-NEW-vation Program.
During planned service outages throughout the year, MTA crews scrubbed and repaired the more than century-old station’s walls, lights, and platforms.
“The millions of New Yorkers who rely on our subway system to get where they need to go each day deserve the cleanest stations in the best possible conditions,” said state Sen. Andrew Gounardes, in a statement. “I appreciate the MTA’s work in making that happen for all who use the Court St Station, and I look forward to enjoying the fruits of their labor myself.”
According to the MTA, New York City Transit workers scraped, primed, and repainted the entire station, and cleaned and replaced several sections of aging wall tiles. Old light fixtures were replaced with new, brighter LED lights; and workers repaired and repaved cracked concrete on the platforms and the mezzanine.
The agency also replaced outdated signs inside the station and replaced them with clearer signage, and even scrubbed out the classic green and white globes at the street-level entrance. As severe storms have flooded many Brooklyn subway stations over the past few years, the MTA cleared and inspected drains to help prevent future backups. Even the MTA employee facilities at the station got a little love in the form of a fresh coat of paint and new lighting.
“Constituents have come together as part of our MTA Station Group initiative to share feedback and suggest solutions for their neighborhood subway stations, including the Court Street Station,” said Council Member Lincoln Restler in a statement. “I’m grateful to the MTA for working alongside our office to improve conditions and make these upgrades that will improve safety and the rider experience.”
Last year, Restler launched a “Friends of the MTA” volunteer initiative in northern Brooklyn, recruiting locals to help take responsibility for the busiest and most-complained about subway stations in his district — including the Borough Hall/Court Street station. Those volunteers conduct regular walk-throughs, gather feedback from riders, and meet with MTA officials to discuss their findings and the agency’s plans to address issues at each station.
According to the MTA’s most recent ridership statistics, of 472 subway stations across the city, Borough Hall/Court Street was the 28th-busiest, with an average of 17,000 straphangers passing through each weekday. Though the station was not counted among the worst in the system, a number of Yelp reviewers complained that the station was dark and “creepy” before the renovation.
In 2023, the MTA pledged to renovate at least 50 stations through the Re-NEW-vation Program. According to NYCT President Richard Davey, the agency surpassed that goal — Court Street was the 53rd and final station to be transformed in 2023.
“I’m proud of all the hard work NYCT employees put in to bring the Re-NEW-vation Program to 53 stations across the system in 2023,” Davey said in a statement. “That’s 53 stations whose customers are experiencing cleaner, brighter, and better stations, which is part of our ongoing mission for faster, cleaner, safer service.”
Court Street also received a pair of new elevators earlier this year, which replaced the aging elevators that had served the station for more than 5o years.
