Original subway Construction Planning for a
subway line in New York City dates to 1864. However, development of what would become the
city's first subway line did not start until 1894, when the
New York State Legislature passed the Rapid Transit Act. The Rapid Transit Construction Company, organized by
John B. McDonald and funded by
August Belmont Jr., signed the initial Contract 1 with the Rapid Transit Commission in February 1900, in which it would construct the subway and maintain a 50-year operating lease from the opening of the line. Contract 2, which gave the IRT a 35-year lease, was executed between the commission and the Rapid Transit Construction Company on September 11, 1902. The IRT line in Brooklyn had been proposed as a two-track line under Fulton Street, expanding to three tracks under Flatbush Avenue.
Opening The Joralemon Street Tunnel opened in January 1908 between Lower Manhattan and a temporary terminus at
Borough Hall, the first underground subway station in Brooklyn. The line was to extend three more stops to Atlantic Avenue; this extension was nearly complete by March, except for the Atlantic Avenue station. The extension opened on May 1, 1908; the first train, an express from Manhattan, left
Bowling Green at 1:02 a.m. and entered Atlantic Avenue sixteen minutes later. The extension's opening was marked with a parade and a poem praising Belmont. According to
The New York Times, the extension was "regarded as of the utmost importance" because it connected the IRT with the LIRR for the first time. The extension relieved congestion at the overcrowded Borough Hall station; trains from Atlantic Avenue were already crowded by the time they reached Borough Hall. The Atlantic Avenue station originally had two tracks, with one
island platform and two
side platforms in a
Spanish solution arrangement. Initially, the station was served by express trains along both the West Side (now the
Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line to
Van Cortlandt Park–242nd Street) and East Side (now the
Lenox Avenue Line). Lenox local trains to
145th Street served the station during late nights. The
Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) extended its streetcar lines to the Atlantic Avenue station when the IRT extension opened. To address overcrowding, in 1909, the
New York Public Service Commission proposed lengthening the platforms at stations along the original IRT subway. As part of a modification to the IRT's construction contracts made on January 18, 1910, the company was to lengthen station platforms to accommodate ten-car express and six-car local trains. In addition to $1.5 million (equivalent to $ million in ) spent on platform lengthening, $500,000 (equivalent to $ million in ) was spent on building additional entrances and exits. It was anticipated that these improvements would increase capacity by 25 percent. The island platform at the Atlantic Avenue station on the modern Eastern Parkway Line was extended to the east.
Dual Contracts expansion After the original IRT opened, the city began planning new lines. As early as 1903, Parsons had proposed constructing a four-track extension of the IRT line under Flatbush Avenue, running southeast from Atlantic Avenue to
Grand Army Plaza; from there, two branches would have extended south to
Flatbush and east to
Brownsville. This plan did not progress for a decade due to various disputes over the original subway. this line would have used the outer tracks at the Atlantic Avenue and
Nevins Street stations, then diverged from the original line to cross the Manhattan Bridge.
Fourth Avenue Line The
New York City Board of Estimate approved the construction of the
Fourth Avenue Line, a subway line running under
Fourth Avenue, in early 1908. Contracts for the Fourth Avenue Line were awarded on May 22, 1908, for the section between 43rd Street and the Manhattan Bridge, but the Board of Estimate did not approve them until October 29, 1909, when a taxpayer's lawsuit regarding the city's debt was settled. The Fourth Avenue Line was assigned to the BRT (after 1923, the
Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation or BMT) in the
Dual Contracts, a series of contracts for the construction, rehabilitation, and operation of rapid transit lines in New York City, which were adopted on March 4, 1913. William Bradley built the portion of the line from the intersection of Fulton Street and Ashland Place to the intersection of Fourth Avenue and Sackett Street, including the Pacific Street station. This section passed under the existing IRT subway and required the relocation of a sewer. The South Brooklyn Board of Trade proposed in 1910 to change the Pacific Street station from an express stop to a local stop, as well as changing the
Ninth Street and
DeKalb Avenue stations from local to express stops, but this was not done. By January 1912, the tunnel containing the Pacific Street station had been completed, and contractors were installing station finishes. D. C. Serber received a contract to install the station finish along the northbound local track, as well as various other station finishes, in early June 1915. The station's opening was marked with a competition between two trains heading from
Chambers Street station in Manhattan to the Coney Island station, one heading via the
West End Line and the other via the Sea Beach Line; the latter got to Coney Island first. The tunnel was not opened along with the rest of the Fourth Avenue Line station, since the IRT and BRT could not reach an agreement on splitting maintenance costs.
Brighton Line and Eastern Parkway Line extension Two lines under Flatbush Avenue, one each operated by the BRT and IRT, were also approved as part of the Dual Contracts. was to run under Flatbush Avenue and St. Felix Street in Downtown Brooklyn, with a station at Atlantic Avenue. This station would connect not only with the original IRT and the LIRR, but also with the Fourth Avenue Line station at Pacific Street. Groundbreaking for the lines under Flatbush Avenue took place in May 1914, by which point the BRT line was reduced to two tracks. The Cranford Company was contracted to build two sections of the Flatbush Avenue tunnel, extending from
Fulton Street to
Grand Army Plaza, in mid-1914. The IRT's architects filed plans in mid-1915 for the construction of a glass structure on the south side of Atlantic Avenue, just outside the station, which was to contain stores. By 1918, the Atlantic Avenue station had become a bottleneck for IRT service, although the completion of the Dual Contracts was expected to alleviate the station's congestion. The Dual Contracts expansions necessitated that the station be widened to four tracks, so the original island platform was shaved back, allowing the IRT to install two tracks to the inside of the existing tracks. The island platform served
IRT Lexington Avenue Line trains, while the side platforms were to serve trains using the
Clark Street Tunnel and the
IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line, after the original IRT line was split into an "H" system in 1918. To allow this new service pattern, the Rapid Transit Commission allocated $300,000 in May 1918 for the construction of new track connections at the
Times Square,
Borough Hall, and Atlantic Avenue stations. By 1917, new track crossovers had been installed at the IRT's Atlantic Avenue station, and a set of temporary platforms were removed after the two new tracks had been added. The connection between the southern ends of the platforms was removed, and a second underpass at the south end of the station opened in early 1919. The Public Service Commission also gave passengers maps of the revised station and track layout. The LIRR agreed to build a concrete slab beneath its terminal for $250,000, allowing the BRT to build its station underneath. The Degnon Construction Company was hired to build the short section of tunnel under St. Felix Street for $810,265 in March 1916. The Transit Commission began soliciting bids in July 1919 for the installation of station finishes at the Brighton Line's Atlantic Avenue station. Charles H. Brown submitted a low bid of approximately $86,000 for this contract, which was then awarded to P. N. Brown & Co. at that price. By that December, the station was 98 percent completed. Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line trains began operating to the IRT's Atlantic Avenue station after the Clark Street Tunnel opened in 1919. These trains originally terminated on the northbound local track. Express trains began operating on the Eastern Parkway Line when it was extended to
Utica Avenue on August 23, 1920, although all off-peak trains from Manhattan continued to terminate at Atlantic Avenue until early 1921. The BRT Brighton Line's Atlantic Avenue station opened on August 1, 1920, providing direct service between the existing Brighton Line and
Midtown Manhattan.
1920s to 1950s As part of an agreement with the IRT and BRT, the
New York Telephone Company installed payphones at the Atlantic Avenue station in September 1920, making the station one of the first to receive such phones. In 1922, the Rapid Transit Commission awarded a contract to the Wagner Engineering Company for the installation of navigational signs at the Atlantic Avenue station and several other major subway stations. The IRT platforms received blue-and-white signs, while the BRT platforms received red-white-and-green navigational signs. Also in 1922, the New York State Transit Commission commissioned its engineers to examine platform-lengthening plans for 23 stations on the lines of the
Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT), the successor to the BRT, to accommodate eight-car trains. As part of the project, platforms would be lengthened to . Though the Transit Commission ordered the BMT to lengthen these platforms in September 1923, no further progress was made until February 16, 1925, when the
New York City Board of Transportation (BOT) commissioned its engineers to examine platform-lengthening plans for Pacific Street and eleven other stations along the Fourth Avenue Line. It estimated the project would cost $633,000 (). The Brighton Line platform at Atlantic Avenue was also to be lengthened to accommodate eight-car trains. The
New York City Board of Estimate appropriated $362,841 for the lengthening of the platforms at Pacific Street, Atlantic Avenue, and four other stations in January 1926 and awarded the contract to Charles Meads & Company early the next month. The platform extensions at Atlantic Avenue and Pacific Street opened on August 1, 1927. The eastbound IRT local platform at Atlantic Avenue also needed to be lengthened, but, according to witness testimony in 1926, only by about . In February 1928, bids were received by the BOT on a project to remove kiosk subway entrances from the median of Fourth Avenue and to relocate them to the sidewalk to improve safety for transit riders. As part of the project, the station entrances at Pacific Street, along with at 36th Street and 59th Street, would be relocated. In addition, malls between 44th Street and 47th Street would be reduced in width, and the malls from 61st Street to 58th Street, and from 36th Street to Atlantic Avenue would be removed. Mezzanines would be constructed to allow riders to cross Fourth Avenue below street level. Work would be completed within six months. As part of a pilot program, the BMT installed silencers on turnstiles at the Fourth Avenue Line's Pacific Street station in August 1930. The city government took over the BMT's operations on June 1, 1940, and the IRT's operations on June 12, 1940. The BOT announced plans in November 1949 to extend platforms at several IRT stations, including Atlantic Avenue, to accommodate all doors on ten-car trains. Although ten-car trains already operated on the line, the rear car could not open its doors at the station because the platforms were so short. Funding for the platform extensions was included in the city's 1950 capital budget. The
New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) announced plans in 1956 to add
fluorescent lights throughout the IRT portion of the station. In July 1959, the NYCTA announced that it would install fluorescent lighting at the Fourth Avenue Line station and five other stations along the Fourth Avenue Line for between $175,000 and $200,000. Bids on the project were to be advertised on August 7, 1959, and completed by fall 1960.
1960s to 1980s In August 1961, NYCTA chairman Charles Patterson announced a $2.5 million project to reconfigure the tracks between Nevins Street and Atlantic Avenue, reducing the travel time between the two stations by up to one minute. The platforms at the two stations would be extended to accommodate 10-car trains, as opposed to the eight and nine-car trains that they could serve at the time, and the tracks between the two stations would be straightened. During the 1964–1965 fiscal year, the Brighton Line platforms at Atlantic Avenue, along with those at six other stations on the Brighton Line, were lengthened to to accommodate a ten-car train of IND cars, or a nine-car train of BMT cars. Passengers had advocated for the passageway between the stations to be placed within fare control as early as 1949. The transfer between the Brighton Line and Eastern Parkway Line was placed within fare control until November 26, 1967, to alleviate congestion caused by major service changes related to the opening of the
Chrystie Street Connection. On January 16, 1978, the Fourth Avenue Line station was placed within the same fare control area as the two other stations in the complex. This eliminated the need for passengers to pay a second fare to transfer between the Fourth Avenue Line and either the Eastern Parkway Line or the Brighton Line. In addition, the
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) planned to construct a passageway between the LIRR and subway stations at Atlantic Avenue; at the time, an average of 8,000 passengers per day transferred from the LIRR to the subway. A further renovation of the Atlantic Avenue station was funded in 1983 as part of the MTA's capital plan. The renovation was supposed to begin in 1983 but was postponed to 1989 due to various issues such as cost overruns. The complex was planned to be renovated for $26.6 million, but MTA officials diverted funding for the project in December 1989 to cover a budget shortfall. To discourage crime, the MTA also installed CCTV cameras at the Atlantic Avenue IRT station in 1989.
1990s to present The MTA requested funding for the station's renovation as part of its 1990–1994 capital program. In April 1993, the
New York State Legislature agreed to give the MTA $9.6 billion for capital improvements. Some of the funds would be used to renovate nearly one hundred New York City Subway stations, including all three stations at Atlantic Avenue–Pacific Street. About $49 million in funding was allotted to the Atlantic Avenue station's renovation, but, by mid-1993, the city indicated that it might not be able to provide these funds. In 1994, the administration of mayor
Rudy Giuliani proposed delaying the station's renovation; the project was indefinitely deferred later the same year. as part of the MTA's
plan to make dozens of "key stations" accessible to passengers with disabilities. By 1993, the elevator installations had been postponed to 2002 due to a lack of money. At the time, the subway station and adjacent LIRR terminal saw 50 million passengers per year, and a major mixed-use development was being planned for the area above the station. A pair of Palestinians
plotted to bomb the station in 1997, but police thwarted the attack.
Renovation On January 21, 1997, work began on a 42-month project to widen Flatbush Avenue from six to eight lanes near Hanson Place and Atlantic Avenue and to waterproof and repair the roof of the IRT station. The MTA announced the same month that it would award an $11 million design contract for the renovation the following month. At the time, the project was to cost $147 million. A joint venture of de Domenico + Partners and
Parsons Brinckerhoff was hired to design the project, which included a new LIRR entrance, a new lower mezzanine below the IRT station, and ventilation improvements. The MTA approved plans in March 1998 to renovate the Atlantic Avenue–Pacific Street subway station and the adjoining LIRR terminal, as well as build the
Atlantic Terminal shopping mall above the station. Work on the stations' renovation began in 2000, and work on the shopping mall commenced the next year. When the renovation began, workers dug two temporary holes, through which they installed supports measuring long to carry the weight of the street above. The supports allowed workers to excavate the entire site at once and reduced construction time by one year. The installation of these supports required extensive pile testing because this technique had never been used on the New York City Subway system. The station house was also temporarily relocated for restoration, then moved back to its original site. To approximate the original look of the station house, contractors ordered bricks from Minnesota for $4 apiece. Additionally, eight elevators were installed throughout the station complex When the elevators were completed, disabled riders could only enter one car of IRT express trains because part of that platform was too narrow. The entire IRT express platform became accessible in 2007 after the MTA spent $360,000 to relocate two stair railings. It was one of the few such renames in the system; following this renaming, the MTA considered selling the naming rights of other subway stations. A new entrance through the station, the Atlantic Terminal Pavilion, opened in 2010. As part of a pilot program, digital announcement boards, train countdown clocks, and improved intercom systems were installed in the station the same year. In advance of Barclays Center's opening, the station was renamed Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center in May 2012. A new entrance serving the arena, which includes stairs, escalators, and an elevator, opened in September 2012 at a cost of $76 million. The new entrance, originally budgeted at $29 million, required digging a hole measuring deep and wide. The implementation of these fare gates was delayed; the MTA's chief accessibility officer indicated in February 2023 that the new fare gates would be installed at the Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center and stations shortly afterward. The MTA announced in late 2022 that it would open customer service centers at 15 stations; the centers would provide services such as travel information and
OMNY farecards. The first six customer service centers, including one at the Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center station, were to open in early 2023. The Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center station's customer service center opened in February 2023. In April 2025, the MTA announced plans to install taller fare gates with glass panels at 20 stations, including the Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center station, The fare gates would be manufactured by
Cubic Transportation Systems,
Conduent,
Scheidt & Bachmann, and STraffic as part of a pilot program to reduce fare evasion. ==Station layout==