The Bushwick Avenue Line or Bushwick Line was a

public transit Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typic ...

line in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, running mostly along Bushwick Avenue and

Myrtle Avenue Myrtle Avenue is a street that runs from Duffield Street in Downtown Brooklyn to Jamaica Avenue in Richmond Hill, Queens, in New York City, United States. Route description Queens Myrtle Avenue has been a major thoroughfare since the early ...

between Williamsburg and

Ridgewood, Queens Ridgewood is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It borders the neighborhoods of Maspeth, Middle Village and Glendale, as well as the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Bushwick and East Williamsburg. Historically, the neighborhood st ...

History

The Bushwick Railroad opened the line from the

Grand Street Ferry The Grand Street Ferry was a ferry route connecting Manhattan and Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City, joining Grand Street (Manhattan) and Grand Street (Brooklyn) across the East River The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New Y ...

east to their stables on Bushwick Avenue in late May or early June 1868. The line began at the company's office at the intersection of Grand Street and Kent Avenue, and proceeded south on Kent Avenue (

Brooklyn City Rail Road The Brooklyn City Railroad (BCRR) was the oldest and one of the largest operators of streetcars (horsecars and later trolleys) in the City of Brooklyn, New York, continuing in that role when Brooklyn became a borough of New York City in 1898. In ...

's Greenpoint Line), east on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

( Broadway Railroad's Broadway Line trackage), north on Bedford Avenue, east on South Fourth Street and Meserole Street, and southeast on Bushwick Avenue. The line was soon extended southeast on Bushwick Avenue and east on

to Myrtle Avenue Park (near Cypress Avenue) in

. A branch to the Greenpoint Ferry, through which cars were operated between this ferry and Ridgewood, was opened on September 18, 1875. This branch split at Graham Avenue, turning north along the

's Graham Avenue Line. At the end of that line, it turned west on several blocks of new trackage on Driggs Avenue before reaching the Brooklyn Crosstown Railroad's Crosstown Line in Manhattan Avenue. There it turned north through Manhattan Avenue to Greenpoint Avenue, turning west there onto new trackage to reach the ferry. An extension was planned south to the

Prospect Park and Coney Island Railroad The Culver Line, Gravesend Avenue Line, or McDonald Avenue Line was a surface public transit line in Brooklyn, New York City, United States, running along McDonald Avenue and built by the Prospect Park and Coney Island Railroad. Most of its main l ...

depot via Graham Avenue, Tompkins Avenue, Brooklyn Avenue, Prospect Place, and Vanderbilt Avenue. This was built somewhat differently as the

Tompkins Avenue Line The Graham Avenue Line and Tompkins Avenue Line were two public transit lines in Brooklyn, New York City with the Graham Avenue Line running mainly along Graham Avenue and Manhattan Avenue and the Tompkins Avenue Line running mainly along Tompk ...

the next year. The

extended its Myrtle Avenue Line east from its former terminus at Broadway to Bushwick Avenue and thence over the Bushwick Railroad's line to Myrtle Avenue Park in August 1879. The BCRR leased the Bushwick Railroad on July 27, 1888. On October 18, 1888, the court ruled that the BCRR had no right to operate over the Brooklyn Crosstown Railroad trackage on Manhattan Avenue, gained through an 1875 agreement between the Bushwick and Crosstown Railroads. The Crosstown owned the Greenpoint and Calvary Cemetery Railroad, which included the Calvary Cemetery Line from Greenpoint Ferry to Calvary Cemetery. The BCRR leased the Crosstown in mid-1889, but did not restore the Bushwick Avenue branch to the ferry. Eventually, the Graham Avenue Line was extended over the trackage on Driggs Avenue, and the Greenpoint Avenue trackage to the Greenpoint Ferry became part of several lines, including the

Lorimer Street Line The B48 bus route constitutes a public transit line in Brooklyn, New York City, running along Lorimer Street, Franklin Avenue, and Classon Avenue between Flatbush and Greenpoint. Originally the Lorimer Street streetcar line, it is now a bus rou ...

, Union Avenue Line, and Calvary Cemetery Line. At some point, westbound traffic to the

Williamsburg Bridge The Williamsburg Bridge is a suspension bridge in New York City across the East River connecting the Lower East Side of Manhattan at Delancey Street with the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn at Broadway near the Brooklyn-Queens Expressw ...

was rerouted to use the Wilson Avenue Line (Johnson Avenue and

) to the crossing of Johnson and Bushwick Avenues, and eastbound Wilson Avenue cars were moved to the Bushwick Avenue Line. Streetcars were discontinued on September 1, 1947.

References

{{Brooklyn surface Streetcar lines in Brooklyn Streetcar lines in Queens, New York