Over the years, since the mid-1960s, station entrances were closed for various reasons. Entrances started being closed due to increases in crime in the 1960s; needed labor reductions throughout the 1970s; an increase in crime and the need to reduce costs in the 1980s; and in the 1990s the MTA Board approved guidelines to allocate scarce resources by matching station capacity with ridership, which led to additional station entrance closures. This was followed by additional closures due to a 1991 rape in a passageway; followed by closures due to station renovation projects starting in 1994. In 2017, in anticipation of the L shutdown, the MTA started reopening closed entrances in North Brooklyn to reduce crowding.

A History of Closed Subway Entrances and Street Staircases: A Timeline

1930 – New entrances to the Wall St IRT station are proposed (Change Wall St. Subway Entrances,” The New York Times, 3.18.30)

1930 – Easements and entrances are in demand (“Maps Subway Exits To Ease Congestion,” The New York Times, 8.24.30)

1932 – Thieves force entrances at the 96th St along the 8th Avenue line to close when no change booth agent is present (“Rob Subway Turnstiles,” The New York Times, 11.15.32)

1937 – 830 petitioners ask Mayor La Guardia for an immediate opening of a new entrance at the Nostrand Av station (“New Subway Entrance Asked,” The New York Times, 2.2.37)

1956 – Subway station staircase at northwest corner of 58th Street and 8th Avenue closed; a new staircase planned to open at 28 feet to the north; (“IND To Close Entrance,” The New York Times, 2.26.56)

1957 – Times Square entrance closed (“Kiosk To Subway In Times Square Shut,” The New York Times, 6.6.57)

1963 – Greenwich Savings Bank expands size of the 5 Av-53rd St subway station entrance at 53rd Street and Madison Avenue (“Bank Is Moving Subway Opening,” The New York Times, 11.10.63)

1964 – New Times Square entrance opened (“Times Square Entry To Subway Opens,” The New York Times, 9.19.64)

1965 – 175 stations to have at least one entrance closed from 8 p.m.-4 a.m. to fight crime; Clinton-Washington Avs and Lorimer St J/M mentioned; “If a station runs two city blocks and has entrances at each end, those at one end will be shut.” (“Subways Will Limit Entrances At Night,” The New York Times, 4.28.65)

*The scan cuts off a portion of the article. A link or PDF from the NYT archive would be better.

1965 – 175 stations to have entrance(s) closed overnight, and they’re listed (“List of Subway Entrances,” The New York Times, 5.2.65)

1966 – Times Square entrance reopened after having been closed since 1963 (“Outside, It Was Just One More Subway Entrance,” 8.17.66)

1967 – Times Square arcade closed (“Times Sq. Subway Arcade Shut, Making a Belated End of Stores,” 7.2.67)

1972 – 67 change booths closed part-time since April 1971 to save $1 million, crime not a factor (“67 Change Booths Closed, to Save Funds” The New York Times, 2.28.72)

1972 – Brooklyn Assemblyman notes that Long Island Railroad commuters receive public hearings when there are planned long-term service changes why subway riders do not receive the same treatment (“Court Test Set on Shifts in Subways,” Timothy Lee, 8.20.1972.)

1972 – Brooklyn and Queens residents are upset that changes are made with no public hearing; service alterations to change booths are referenced (“Changes In Transit Angering 2 Boroughs,” The New York Times, 12.31.72)

1974 – Mayor Beame proposed “underground zoning” to build easements into the subway network and plazas adjacent to entrances along the Second Avenue Subway (“Beame Proposes Improvement of Subway Entrances,” Special to The New York Times, The New York Times, 10.1.74)

1975 – Some community members complain that the token booth on the Lorimer Street side of the Lorimer St L being closed is unfair and exposes them to danger by forcing them to go the seedier entrance along Union Avenue (“Shut Subway Gate, Open a Hot Debate” The New York Daily News, 6.24.75)

1977 – The token booth at the northwest corner of Montague and Clinton streets is slated for closing (Brooklyn Heights Press, 1.20.77)

1977 – The TA plans to close 92 token booths, including ones at five Downtown Brooklyn-area neighborhoods (“Subway Toll Booths to Close in Downtown Five Local Neighborhoods,” The Phoenix, 1.27.77)

1977 – Brooklyn Borough President Howard Golden successfully lobbies the Transit Authority to refrain from closing the High St-Cadman Plaza subway entrance overnight; 11 stations in Downtown Brooklyn had been planned to close to save funds (“Golden Prevents Closing Of High St. IND Entrance,” The Phoenix, 2.3.77)

1977 – The Montague-Court St IRT and Montague-Clinton St BMT stations each had an entrance slated for closure, but community pressure forestalls the closure (“Heights’ Subway Entrances to Remain Open for the Present,” The Phoenix, 2.10.77)

1977 – An entrance at the 15th St-Prospect Park F/G and Clinton-Washington Avs C station remain scheduled to close (“Nine of 11 Subway Entrances Will Remain Open Pending Study by City Transit,” The Phoenix, 2.17.77)

1977 – Token booths in Brooklyn Heights are slated for closure (“MTA Open Meeting To Set Subway Closings,” Brooklyn Heights Press, 4.21.77)

1977 – In February the TA announced the closing of 92 entrances, but a special TA committee recommends leaving three Brooklyn Heights-area station entrances on the list to remain open (“Special TA Committee Recommends Three Heights Subway Stations Remain Open, The Phoenix, 4.21.77)

1977 – Section 1505(5) of the New York State Public Authorities Law goes into effect on August 11, 1977. The amendment requires the Transit Authority to have a public hearing in advance of partial or full-station closures

1979 – 15 token booths are reopened on December 26, 1978 on a part-time basis(“Transit Authority Reopens Booths,” The Phoenix, 1.4.79)

1980 – More than 200 entrances were closed for all or part of the day during the last years of Mayor John V. Lindsay’s administration (“Police May Shut Some Entrances to City Subways,” 10.6.80)

1980 – In September 1980, transit police chief asked his anti-crime unit commanders to recommend subway entrances for closing; at least one entrance at every major station with three or more entrances is much more crime-prone and should be closed for part of the day.

1981 – Stephen Berger, chairman of the MTA finance committee, recommends closing 50 of the subway system’s 746 change booths to save money — all change booths he recommends are located in “0utlying” areas of Brooklyn and the Bronx (“Close 50 ticket booths: Berger,” The New York Daily News, 3.12.81)

1981 – Bedford Avenue entrances at Nostrand Avenue close

1982 – A subway hearing is scheduled for the planned closure of three subway station entrances: 103 St 6, Atlantic Av D/N/R and Court St R (“Subway Hearing,” The New York Daily News, 10.14.82)

1983 – Boerum Hill, Brooklyn Heights and East Harlem residents fight plan to close entrances at a subway station in each neighborhood (“Fight’s revving up vs. plan to close subway entrances,” 11.17.83)

1983 – Brooklyn Heights residents oppose closing a subway entrance at the Court St station (“BMT exit’s closing not open and shut,” The New York Daily News, 11.23.83)

1986 – Carol Greitzer, a Manhattan City Council member, alleges that MTA has a “secret” plan to close 79 stations and reduce service on 11 routes (“Closing mulled for 79 stations,” Owen Fitzgerald, The New York Daily News, 4.29.86)

1986 – 79 stations along 11 routes may receive service reductions (“Subway Aides To Weight Cuts On 11 Routes,” James Brooks, The New York Times, 4.29.86)

1987 – TA plans to cut token booth hours at 60 booths where fewer than 500 passengers enter over an eight-hour period, triggering a hearing (“TA sets hearing on cut in token booth hours,” Carlos Velez, The New York Daily News, 8.20.87)

1989 – Entrances at 155th Street, Times Square and 49th Street close

1991 – Subway passageway between 34th Street and 42nd Street closed after the rape of a 22-year old female (“Subway Path Boarded Shut After a Rape,” The New York Times, 3.23.91)

1991 – 15 entrances and passageways along the A, D, R and 6 in Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens are closed (“15 More Areas In Subway To Be Closed,” The New York Times, 3.29.91)

1994 – Six entrances are planned for closing at Times Square station complex (“Subway Plan For Times Sq. Reduces Exits,” The New York Times, 4.28.94)

1994 – Residents decry plans to closed entrances on 15th Street to the 14th Street-8th Avenue station complex (“Would 15th Street Be Lost for Lack of a Subway Entrance,” The New York Times, 7.10.94)

1996 – A derelict closed subway station street staircase at the southwest serves as an eyesore for community; Landmarks group provides funds to beautify the area (“Landmarks Group Helps Temple Fight A Subway Eyesore,” The New York Times, 3.24.96)

2001 – New York City Transit Riders Council release report on closed subway entrances recommending reopening (Reopening Closed Subway Entrances Using High Entry/Exit Turnstiles, New York City Transit Riders Council, 2001)

2002 – Closed entrance at 70th Street and Central Park West reopens after a request was made by Assemblyman Richard N. Gottfried on behalf of a constituent (Assembly Member Dick Gottfried Community Update November 2002)

2008 – Two new subway entrances will ease congestion at Columbus Circle station, which averages 69,000 daily riders (2 New Subway Entrances Open at Columbus Circle, The New York Times, 7.17.08)

2008 – Closed entrances at Mosholu Parkway reopen as part of station renovation project

2008 – Park Slope community members call to reopen closed entrance at 4th Av-9th St station (“Slopers want quick fix at 4th Ave,” The Brooklyn Paper, 10.17.08)

2009 – Park Slope and Prospect Heights community members want 7th Av Station to reopen closed entrance (“Park Slope to MTA: Unseal our long-lost subway entrances,” The Brooklyn Paper, 4.16.09)

2009 – People around Hewes (“MTA still has no ‘Hewes’ for station entrances,” The Brooklyn Paper, 8.24.09)

2012 – Closed entrance at the 4th Av-9th St station complex is reopened. (“MTA to reopen Park Slope subway station, ” Joseph Tepper and Erin Durkin, The New York Daily News, 2.23.12)

2012 – NIMBYs fight new subway entrances in the Upper East Side (“Subway Entrances? Not On Our Block,” The New York Times, 2.26.12)

2013 – Passageway at West 8th Street over Surf Avenue to the New York Aquarium removed due to structural issues

2015 – Commuters and community members lament prevalence of closed entrances in Williamsburg and Bushwick (“Williamsburg, Bushwick subway entrances sealed despite ridership spike,” amNewYork, 10.12.15)

2015 – Community members call to reopen closed entrances (“NYC subway station entrances closed despite ridership spike: over one in four,” amNewYork, 11.1.15)

2015 – Commuters complain about closed entrances and the impacts on commutes (No Exit: What Closed Subway Entrances Have to Do with Delays and Crowding,” WNYC, 11.10.15)

2015 – Council Member Mark Levine writes letter to MTA to request them to reopen closed subway entrances (“Pol pushes MTA to reopen subway entrances as boost for business,” Crain’s New York Business, 11.16.15)

2016 – Closed entrances and street staircase are a public safety hazard (“I-Team: Shuttered Subway Exits Pose Dangers as Ridership Surges,” WNBC, 1.9.16)

2016 – Activist calls to reopen closed subway entrances (“Threat of L Train Shutdown Renews Calls for Alternatives,” DNAinfo, 1.22.16)

2016 – Advocates call to reopen closed subway entrances (“Open Shuttered Subway Entrances Before L Train Shutdown, Advocates Urge,” DNAinfo, 2.29.16)

2017 – MTA reopens Flushing Av J/M station closed entrance (“Flushing Ave J Train Entrance Finally Reopens After Decades, But Don’t Expect More From The MTA,” Gothamist, 7.22.17)

2017 – Op-Ed to reopen closed subway entrances (“Why not reopen closed NYC subway station entrances and passageways?,” Metro US, 8.8.17)

2017 – MTA and DOT allude to reopening closed entrances and street staircases at the Broadway Junction A/C/J/L/Z, Hewes St J/M and Lorimer St L-Metropolitan Av G station complexes (Canarsie Tunnel Repairs: Planning Ahead for the Crisis, 12.13.17)