Ocean Parkway station

The Ocean Parkway station is an express station on the New York City Subway's BMT Brighton Line. It is located at Brighton Beach Avenue and Ocean Parkway in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. The station is served by the Q train at all times.
==History==
When the Ocean Parkway station opened on April 22, 1917, it was served only by a single-track shuttle that ran to Brighton Beach, which was the southern terminal for all trains on the Brighton Line.
When the West Eighth Street–New York Aquarium station opened in 1919, all four tracks were extended west to serve the two-level station. The local tracks remained at the same elevation and connected to the lower level (which was also served by the IND Culver Line) while the express tracks rose up and connected to the upper level. As a result, all Brighton Line service was extended to Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue.
A reconfiguration in 1954 resulted in the discontinuation of Brighton Line service on the lower level of West Eighth Street, as well as express service at Ocean Parkway. West of this station, the local tracks merge into the express tracks, which continue to serve the upper level of West Eighth Street. The structures connecting the Brighton Line to the lower level, which the Culver Line continues to serve, remain intact, but are trackless.
The station was closed in August 2002 in conjunction with the reconstruction of the Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue terminal. Service was restored on May 23, 2004.
==Station layout==
thumb|right|250px|Northern stair
PPlatform level	Northbound local 	← toward ()
PPlatform level	Island platform 	Island platform
PPlatform level	Northbound express	No regular service
PPlatform level	Southbound express	No regular service
PPlatform level	Island platform 	Island platform
PPlatform level	Northbound local 	toward () →
M 	Mezzanine 	Fare control, station agent, MetroCard machines
G 	Street level 	Entrances/exits
This elevated station has two curved island platforms and four tracks with the center express tracks not normally used. It is built on a decorated masonry viaduct to keep with Ocean Parkway's status as a city parkway. Both platforms have red canopies with black frames and support columns along their entire length except for a section at their east (railroad north) end.
The station is geographically the closest Brighton Line station to the Brighton and Coney Island beaches, with the beachfront located roughly away from the station.
The 1996 artwork here is called Coney Island Reliefs by Deborah Masters. It was installed in 2009 and consists of 128 reliefs on the station's concrete structure.
Between this station and Brighton Beach, two layup tracks begin at bumper blocks adjacent to the platforms and run between the local and express tracks, making this section the only six-track elevated structure in the subway system. The two tracks merge with either adjacent track on approach to Brighton Beach.
===Exits===
This station has two entrances/exits, both of which are elevated station houses beneath the tracks and platforms.
* The full-time one is at the east end. A single staircase from each platform goes down to a waiting area/crossunder, where a turnstile bank provides entrance/exit from the station. Outside fare control, there is a token booth and two staircases going down to each eastern corner of Brighton Beach Avenue and Ocean Parkway.
* The other station house at the west end also has one staircase from each platform, a waiting area/crossunder, and two staircases facing in opposite directions and going down to the northwest corner of Brighton Beach Avenue and Ocean Parkway. However, it is un-staffed, containing two High Entry/Exit Turnstiles.
== Gallery ==
File:BMT Brighton Line - North of Ocean Parkway Station.webm|Looking eastward, toward Brighton Beach station
File:BMT Brighton Line Ocean Parkway Station platform.jpg|From northbound platform, looking toward Coney Island
File:BMT Brighton Line - Ocean Parkway, Manhattan Bound platform.jpg|From northbound platform, looking eastward
File:Ocean Parkway day vc.jpg|Driver cab's view, made during the Brighton train parade
File:Ocean Parkway exit vc.jpg|One of the station entrances
== References ==
== External links ==
* 
* Station Reporter — Q Train
* The Subway Nut — Ocean Parkway Pictures
* Brighton Beach Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View
* West Brighton Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View
* Platforms from Google Maps Street View
Category:BMT Brighton Line stations
Category:Railway and subway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in New York City
Category:New York City Subway stations in Brooklyn
Category:New York City Subway stations located aboveground
Category:Railway stations in the United States opened in 1917
Category:1917 establishments in New York City
Category:Brighton Beach
Category:National Register of Historic Places in Brooklyn