B52 (New York City bus)

The B52 is a bus route that constitutes a public transit line operating in Brooklyn, New York City, running mostly along Fulton Street, Greene Avenue, and Gates Avenue between Downtown Brooklyn and Ridgewood, Queens. The B52 is operated by the MTA New York City Transit Authority. Its precursor was a streetcar line that began operation by 1874, and was known as the Greene and Gates Avenues Line. The route became a bus line in 1941.

b52
Gates Avenues Line
A 2018 XD40 (7717) on the Ridgewood-bound B52 at Downtown Brooklyn-Fulton Mall on Smith Street in November 2022.
Overview
System	MTA Regional Bus Operations
Operator	New York City Transit Authority
Garage	Fresh Pond Depot
Vehicle	Orion VII NG HEV New Flyer Xcelsior XD40
Began service	1874 (streetcar)
Predecessors	Greene and Gates Avenues Line streetcar
Route
Locale	Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Communities served	Ridgewood, Bushwick, Bedford–Stuyvesant, Clinton Hill, Fort Greene, Downtown Brooklyn
Start	Downtown Brooklyn – Cadman Plaza and Tillary Street
Via	Fulton Street, Greene Avenue, Gates Avenue
End	Ridgewood Terminal – Wyckoff Avenue & Palmetto Street
Length	5.7 miles (9.2 km)
Other routes	B26 Halsey/Fulton Streets B38 DeKalb/Lafayette Avenues B54 Myrtle Avenue
Service
Operates	All times
Annual patronage	2,001,803 (2023)
Transfers	Yes
Timetable	B52
Route map ← B49  {{{system_nav}}}  B54 →

Route description

The B52's western terminus is at Cadman Plaza West south of Tillary Street near the Jay Street–MetroTech station in Downtown Brooklyn. From here, eastbound service heads north on Cadman Plaza West, east on Tillary Street and south on Adams Street before heading east on Fulton Street. Service continues along Fulton Street until it turns left onto Greene Avenue. Buses then turn right onto Franklin Avenue, before turning left onto Gates Avenue. Buses continue on Gates Avenue until they make a right at Irving Avenue, after which they turn left onto Palmetto Street before terminating at the Ridgewood Intermodal Terminal at Palmetto Street and Wyckoff Avenue near the Myrtle–Wyckoff Avenues station in Ridgewood.

Westbound service continues north on Palmetto Street and then makes a left onto St. Nicholas Avenue. Service then turns left onto Gates Avenue, and continues via this street until it makes a right onto Classon Avenue. Buses then make a left onto Greene Avenue, and a right onto Fulton Street, which then becomes Joralemon Street. Service then turns right at Court Street, which turns into Cadman Plaza West, and reach the terminal.

History

The Brooklyn City Railroad opened a branch of their Fulton Street Line along Greene Avenue, Franklin Avenue, and Gates Avenue to Broadway by 1874. By 1897, the line was extended northeast along Gates Avenue past Broadway to Myrtle Avenue, and east along Myrtle Avenue on trackage built for the Bushwick Avenue Line to Ridgewood, Queens. Buses were substituted for streetcars on October 5, 1941.

The B52 was rerouted to run two-way on Gates Avenue between Spring 1991 and October 1993 to accommodate the reconstruction of Greene Avenue and Quincy Street, which was subsequently deferred. The B52 returned to running eastbound on Quincy Street and Linden Street and running westbound on Gates Avenue. The local community then requested reinstating two-way service via Gates Avenue because the street was wider, there was less congestion, and because there were greater housing development densities on that street. Brooklyn Community Boards 2, 3 and 4 supported the change, and a public hearing was held on June 16, 1994. The change went into effect in January 1995.

External links

• Media related to B52 (New York City bus) at Wikimedia Commons