The Smith Street Line was a public transit 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 List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, running mostly along Ninth Street and Smith Street between

Park Slope Park Slope is a neighborhood in northwestern Brooklyn, New York City, within the area once known as South Brooklyn. Park Slope is roughly bounded by Prospect Park and Prospect Park West to the east, Fourth Avenue to the west, Flatbush A ...

and Downtown Brooklyn. Originally a

streetcar line A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

, and later the B75, it is now split between two bus routes: the B57 (Cobble Hill section) and the B61 (Park Slope section). The B67, which supplemented service in Downtown Brooklyn along Jay Street before the elimination of the B75, continues to serve that section of the route. The B61 and B67 are operated by MTA New York City Bus' Jackie Gleason Depot in Sunset Park, and the B57 is dispatched from the Grand Avenue Depot in Maspeth, Queens.

History

The entire line, along Prospect Park West, 9th Street, and Smith Street from the 9th Avenue Depot to downtown Brooklyn and through to Fulton Ferry, was opened in June 1862 by the

Coney Island and Brooklyn Railroad The B68 is a bus route that constitutes a public transit line operating in Brooklyn, New York City. The B68 is operated by the MTA New York City Transit Authority. Its precursor was a streetcar line that began operation in June 1862, and ...

. The

acquired the line at some point, and by 1897 it was through-routed with the Coney Island Avenue Line (leaving the line to the 9th Avenue Depot at Prospect Park Southwest).

Rand McNally Rand McNally is an American technology and publishing company that provides mapping, software and hardware for consumer electronics, commercial transportation and education markets. The company is headquartered in Chicago, with a distribution c ...

, Brooklyn and vicinity, 1897 Atlas of the World Buses were substituted for streetcars on February 11, 1951, and at some point southbound traffic was moved from Smith Street to Court Street, replacing the Court Street Line (which had been part of the Myrtle Avenue Line). In 2010, because of budget cuts, the B75 was eliminated. The neighboring B77, which ran from Red Hook to 5th Avenue via 9th Street, was also eliminated. The Cobble Hill Section (Court and Smith Streets) was replaced by an extended B57, while the Park Slope (9th Street) section was replaced by an extended B61, which also absorbed the B77, providing a one-seat ride from Park Slope to Red Hook, and the Columbia Street Waterfront. The B67 continues to serve the Downtown Brooklyn section to Jay Street and Sands Street.

In popular culture

In the 2000 film

Requiem for a Dream ''Requiem for a Dream'' is a 2000 American psychological drama film directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher McDonald and Marlon Wayans. It is based on the 1978 novel of the same na ...

, two characters are seen hugging at a B75 bus stop.

References

{{Brooklyn bus routes Streetcar lines in Brooklyn B075 B075