The Franklin Avenue/Botanic Garden station is a New York City Subway station complex shared by the IRT Eastern Parkway Line and the BMT Franklin Avenue Line. Located at the intersection of Franklin Avenue and Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, the complex consists of two distinct stations, connected by a passageway within fare control, and is named for its proximity to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The Eastern Parkway Line station is served by the 2 and 4 trains at all times, the 3 train at all times except late nights, and the 5 train on weekdays only. The Franklin Avenue Line station is served by Franklin Avenue Shuttle (S) at all times.

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Franklin Avenue/Botanic Garden  ​​​​
New York City Subway station complex
Entrance to the BMT station
Station statistics
Address	Franklin Avenue & Eastern Parkway Brooklyn, NY
Borough	Brooklyn
Locale	Crown Heights
Coordinates	40.670711°N 73.958545°W / 40.670711; -73.958545
Division	A (IRT), B (BMT)[1]
Line	IRT Eastern Parkway Line BMT Franklin Avenue Line
Services	2  (all times) ​   3  (all except late nights) ​   4  (all times) ​   5  (weekdays only)​    S  (all times)
Transit	NYCT Bus: B45, B48[2]
Levels	2
Other information
Opened	1999
Traffic
2023	3,312,190[3]  15.4%
Rank	98 out of 423[3]
Location Show map of New York City Subway Show map of New York City Show map of New York
Street map
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times except late nights Stops all times Stops late nights only Stops weekdays during the day

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The BMT station has two side platforms and two tracks, while the IRT station has two island platforms and four tracks. The free transfer between the Eastern Parkway and Franklin Avenue shuttle platforms was added in 1999 using a passageway that had existed since October 1928, when the BMT Botanic Garden station opened.^[4]

Quick Facts Botanic Garden, Station statistics ...

Botanic Garden
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Northbound platform
Station statistics
Division	B (BMT)[1]
Line	BMT Franklin Avenue Line
Services	S  (all times)
Structure	Enclosed open-cut
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Other information
Opened	September 30, 1928; 95 years ago (1928-09-30)[21]
Rebuilt	October 18, 1999; 24 years ago (1999-10-18)
Opposite- direction transfer	Yes
Former/other names	Consumers Park
Services Preceding station New York City Subway Following station Park Place toward Franklin Avenue Franklin Avenue Prospect Park Terminus
Track layout Legend O2 to Park Place Bidirectional track to Prospect Park O1 O2
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times

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The Botanic Garden station on the BMT Franklin Avenue Line has two tracks and two side platforms.^[30] The Franklin Avenue Shuttle (S) train stops here at all times. The station is named for the Brooklyn Botanic Garden two blocks away from the station.^[29] The station is between Prospect Park to the south and Park Place to the north. Midway between this station and Park Place, the tracks merge into one.

The station's mezzanine is above the platforms and tracks. Two staircases from each side go up to a waiting area that allows a free transfer between directions; this is needed for passengers transferring between the IRT and Prospect Park-bound trains. Outside of the turnstile bank, there is a token booth and one street stair.

The rebuilt station was built in the open-cut right-of-way to the south of Eastern Parkway, and the half of the station closest to that street was roofed over in the appearance of a subway structure. The station is now located entirely inside the subway structure that was built in 1928. At street level, it features floral wrought iron fencing in recognition of its location near the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (entitled IL7/Square by Millie Burns). At track level, it includes 1920s-era mosaic tiling. To the immediate north of the station, the 1878 railroad tunnel that carries the line under Eastern Parkway has been dramatically lighted. This is the oldest tunnel currently in subway use.^[28]

Quick Facts Station statistics, Division ...

Franklin Avenue–  Medgar Evers College  ​​​
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Northbound platform
Station statistics
Division	A (IRT)[1]
Line	IRT Eastern Parkway Line
Services	2  (all times) ​   3  (all except late nights) ​   4  (all times) ​   5  (weekdays only)
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2 island platforms cross-platform interchange
Tracks	4
Other information
Opened	August 23, 1920; 103 years ago (1920-08-23)
Accessibility	Cross-platform wheelchair transfer available
Opposite- direction transfer	Yes
Former/other names	Franklin Avenue (1920–2020)
Services Preceding station New York City Subway Following station Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center 4  ​5  via 138th Street–Grand Concourse Express Crown Heights–Utica Avenue 4  ​5  Terminus Express President Street–Medgar Evers College 2  ​5  toward Flatbush Avenue–Brooklyn College Eastern Parkway–Brooklyn Museum 2  ​3  ​4  via 135th Street Local Local Nostrand Avenue 2  ​3  ​4  toward New Lots Avenue
Track layout Legend E1 E4 to Eastern Parkway E2 E3 to Atlantic Avenue Express tracks rise from under local tracks D1 to President Street Superimposed tunnels (left tracks over right) D2 to Nostrand Avenue E1 E4 to Utica Avenue E2 E3 Lower level track Upper level track
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times except late nights Stops all times Stops late nights only Stops rush hours only Stops weekdays during the day

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The Franklin Avenue–Medgar Evers College station (originally Franklin Avenue station) is an underground express station on the IRT Eastern Parkway Line that has four tracks with two island platforms.^[30] The 2 and 4 stop here at all times; the 3 stops here at all times except late nights, and the 5 stops here only on weekdays during the day. The 2 and 3 always run local, and the 5 always runs express. The 4 runs express during the day and local at night. The next stop to the west (railroad north) is Eastern Parkway–Brooklyn Museum for local trains and Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center for express trains. The next stop to the east (railroad south) is President Street–Medgar Evers College for 2 and 5 trains, Nostrand Avenue for local 3, limited reverse-peak direction rush hour 2, and nighttime 4 trains, and Crown Heights–Utica Avenue for express daytime 4 and limited rush hour 5 trains.^[31]

Both platforms have yellow i-beam columns on both sides at regular intervals with every other one having the standard black station name plate in white lettering. The platform walls have their original Dual Contracts trim line with "F" tablets for "Franklin" at regular intervals. At the extreme west (railroad north) end, the platforms were extended in the 1950s to accommodate the current standard IRT train length of 510 feet. The walls here have a blue trim line with "FRANKLIN AVE" in white sans serif lettering on two lines.

The station's main entrance is a mezzanine above the platforms and tracks at their center. Two staircases from each platform go up to a waiting area that allows a free transfer between directions. Outside of the turnstile bank, there is a token booth and four street stairs to either eastern corners of Franklin Avenue and Eastern Parkway.

The transfer to the Franklin Avenue Shuttle is at the west end of the station. A single staircase from each platform goes up to a mezzanine, where a passageway leads to the north end of the Franklin Avenue-bound platform. A crossover is required to reach the Prospect Park-bound platform.

The station has been adopted by Clara Barton High School as part of New York City Transit's Adopt-A-Station program.

Franklin Avenue, along with the President Street station on the IRT Nostrand Avenue Line, are the two closest stations to the City University of New York's Medgar Evers College. In 2019, a bill to add the college's name to both stations' names was passed in the New York state legislature and signed into law.^[32] The name of the Franklin Avenue station was officially changed to Franklin Avenue–Medgar Evers College on October 1, 2020, both to reflect the station's proximity to the college and to honor the college's namesake, civil rights figure Medgar Evers.^[33][34]

East (railroad south) of the Eastern Parkway Line station is Nostrand Avenue Junction, also known as Rogers Junction, where 2 and 5 trains diverge to the IRT Nostrand Avenue Line, while 3 and 4 trains as well as limited rush hour 2 and 5 trains continue on Eastern Parkway. From west to east between the station and the junction, the northbound local track descends to a lower level directly below the southbound local track. Then, the northbound express track, which is still on the upper level at this point, descends to the lower level directly below the southbound express track, creating a dual level two-over-two track layout.^[30][35]

At the junction, a switch on the upper level allows southbound 5 express trains to change to the local track, and a corresponding switch on the lower level allows 5 trains on the northbound local track to change to the express track. Directly to the east, all of the mainline tracks shift slightly to the north, and the Nostrand Avenue Line splits from the local tracks and head south. There is a closed tower at the south end of the southbound platform.^[30][35]

This junction is a severe traffic bottleneck, primarily during rush hours, and rebuilding it would require massive construction including the tearing up of Eastern Parkway.^[36] The reconstruction of the junction in order to alleviate train congestion has been suggested several times. The plan was first unveiled in the 1967 Transportation Studies for Southeast Brooklyn, and subsequently in 1968 as part of the Program for Action. The MTA's Engineering Department Planning Division considered such a project again in 1972. In 1993, as part of the 1992–1996 Capital Program, the MTA studied seven alternatives for rebuilding the junction. The 1993 study suggested the further scrutiny of two proposals: "Alternative 4", which would simply add a switch on each level east of the Nostrand Avenue Line split, and "Alternative 6", which would reconstruct the junction entirely.^[37]