B57 (New York City Bus)

The **B57** bus constitutes a bus route in Brooklyn and Queens. The route mainly runs on Flushing Avenue, Smith Street in the eastbound direction, and Court Street westbound.

## Route description

The B57 begins at IKEA Terminal in Red Hook. It then continues along streets, mainly Lorraine Street. It then turns right at Clinton Street, right again at Mill Street, and left at Smith Street. WIP

## History

### Streetcar route

The Brooklyn City Railroad opened the line, as the Flushing Avenue Line, in July 1854 as a branch of the Fulton Street Line continuing east along Flushing Avenue to Throop Avenue with an extension to Division Avenue (present-day Broadway) in April 1855. It was later extended north along Graham Avenue to North Second Street (present-day Metropolitan Avenue) in 1867 and to Van Cott Avenue (present-day Driggs Avenue) in October 1872.

On April 27, 1890, Brooklyn City opened new trackage on Flushing Avenue from Graham Avenue east to Metropolitan Avenue, with the service operating on it becoming the new Flushing Avenue Line, and the old Flushing Avenue Line being renamed the Flushing and Graham Avenues Line and afterwards, the Graham Avenue Line. The Graham Avenue Line was later extended north along existing trackage on Driggs Avenue and Manhattan Avenue to Hunters Point.

### Bus service

See also: B75 (New York City bus)

The Flushing Avenue Line streetcar ran until November 21, 1948. The Court Street Line streetcar ran until July 17, 1949. The Smith Street Line streetcar ran until February 11, 1951.

The Flushing Avenue Line streetcar was replaced by trolleybuses on November 14, 1949. On September 1, 1954, the terminus was changed from Browne Place & Grand Avenue, Maspeth, to Flushing Avenue and 61st Street. On September 21, 1955, the western terminus was changed from Pearl and High Streets to Kent and Flushing Avenues. On February 13, 1957, the western terminus was then switched back from Kent and Flushing Avenues to Flushing Avenue and Navy Street. On January 27, 1960, the western terminus was then changed from Flushing Avenue and Navy Street back to Pearl and High Streets. Finally, on July 27, 1960, trolleybuses were replaced by diesel buses.

The Court Street Line streetcar was replaced with buses on July 17, 1949, numbered the **B66**. On March 8, 1954, a public hearing on the route's proposed discontinuation was held. The route was discontinued on May 1, 1954, when Court Street was converted to a one-way street. It would then be replicated by the B75 route.

In September 1996, B57 service was slated to be extended west to the center of Downtown Brooklyn at Smith Street at Livingston Street via Jay Street from its previous terminal at Sands Street and Jay Street. The extension was intended to encourage ridership growth by providing direct access to Downtown Brooklyn, to provide transfers to other routes and to create a common terminal with the B51, B57 and B65. In addition, the B57's route path was revised to loop around the Farragut House, running along York Street between Navy Street and Gold Street, to make up for the loss of the B61, which was rerouted. Service was extended to Fulton Mall on March 30, 1997.

It was extended along the Smith/Court Street sections of the B75 in 2010. It was also extended to Red Hook in January 2013 from Smith-9th Streets subway station.

The B57 and B61 buses were rerouted via Mill Street in January 26, 2014. This change was to increase speeds and reliability.

In December 2019, the MTA released a draft redesign of the Queens bus network. The redesign included a "high density" route called the QT4, which would have run from Jackson Heights, Queens, to Downtown Brooklyn. The redesign was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City in 2020, and the original draft plan was dropped due to negative feedback. A revised plan was released in March 2022. As part of the new plan, the B57 bus would be truncated to Boerum Place and Livingston Street in Downtown Brooklyn, and extended to the Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue/74th Street station.

## References

1. ↑ nycsubway.org - Brooklyn Trackless Trolleys
2. ↑ [1]