High Street station (IND Eighth Avenue Line)

The High Street station was part of a three-stop extension of the IND Eighth Avenue Line from Chambers Street in Lower Manhattan to Jay Street–Borough Hall in Downtown Brooklyn. Due to the station's proximity to the Cranberry Street Tunnel under the East River, instead of typical cut-and-cover (or open-cut) construction methods, the station site was constructed below the street (the tunnel is below the surface at its lowest point) using mining techniques. The station was built between the eastern ends of the cast-iron river tubes reinforced with cement, leading to its tubular design. The extension opened to Jay Street on February 1, 1933, but the High Street station remained closed for an additional five months. The trains ran through the station without stopping, because the escalators to the street had not been completed due to lack of funding. That month, the contract for four escalators in the station was awarded to Otis Elevator Company. The station opened on June 24, 1933. The station was located below the sites of the Sands Street terminal for BMT elevated trains, some of which traveled over the Brooklyn Bridge. The BMT station closed in 1944 and was replaced by Cadman Plaza. Old Fulton Street (now Cadman Plaza West) and Cranberry Street was also the site of the printing shop where Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass was first published in 1855. The area is now the site of the Whitman Close Apartments. In the 1970s, the escalators at the eastern end of the station to Adams Street were replaced. New York City councilmember Lincoln Restler founded a volunteer group, the Friends of MTA Station Group, in early 2023 to advocate for improvements to the High Street station and four other subway stations in Brooklyn. In 2024, Skanska was hired to replace 21 escalators across the New York City Subway system for $146 million, including one escalator at the High Street station. ==Station layout==

This underground station has two tracks and one island platform. The station is between in Manhattan to the west (railroad north) and to the east (railroad south). It is the northernmost Brooklyn station on the line; west of the station, the line enters the Cranberry Street Tunnel and passes under the East River into Manhattan. East of the station, the line curves south onto Jay Street A power station for the line is located on the west side of Jay Street just north of Concord Street. Exits There are exits at both ends to the full length mezzanine High Street is not directly accessible from the station, as the short one-block street is interrupted by a parking lot. in Brooklyn Heights, a few hundred feet south of Cadman Plaza West's intersection with Middagh Street. This was the original exit to the station. Adams Street was widened from 100 feet (30 m) to 160 feet (49 m) in the 1950s to accommodate new ramps to the Brooklyn Bridge, and now carries the secondary name "Brooklyn Bridge Boulevard". The current exit staircases lead to ether side of Adams Street, acting as a pedestrian underpass. ==Ridership==

In 2017, the station had 2,983,672 boardings, making it the 171st most used station in the 425-station system. This amounted to an average of 9,215 passengers per weekday. In 2014, the station had an average of 8,870 daily weekday boardings, up from 5,410 daily boardings in 2005; this represented a 64 percent ridership increase over nine years. The station is the 26th busiest of all stations served by the A and C trains. ==References==