The New MTA Subway Map And Yes, Dumbo Is On It

Brooklyn 2010

(2010 MTA Map (Brooklyn detail) – Courtesy of NYTimes)

Brooklyn 1998

(1998 MTA Map (Brooklyn detail) – Courtesy of NYTimes)

The NY Times writes that a new NYC subway map will be unveiled sometime this month. The updated map is getting recolored, simplified, and resized for the first time since 1998. Besides the mutated map of Manhattan (now 30% wider), a peek of downtown area Brooklyn show some notable updates:

  • Dumbo is now clearly labelled on the map
  • Navy Yard makes the new map, but Fulton Ferry and Vinegar Hill are presumably too small for inclusion.
  • Fort Greene and Fort Greene Park has been added on the new map.

In 1998, one year after the first Walentas loft conversion at One Main Street (124 units – btw, remember the 2 bedroom units there that went for $300k range?) were released, so Dumbo was not on any map. A few years later, maps at the York Street and High Street stations included Dumbo (photo) right above the Empire Stores (which technically is in the Fulton Ferry Historic District). Fast forward 12 years later, Dumbo is now a tourist destination and a gentrified neighborhood, which was probably the thinking behind putting Dumbo on the new MTA subway map. For residents and people who work in Dumbo, you know that tourists (that includes people from other boroughs) often ask for directions, with MTA map in tow. So maybe this will help those not familiar with Dumbo find their way to the galleries, arts venues, retail stores, the “New York Digital District”, or wherever in Dumbo they are off to. Or maybe there just simply was space to put ‘Dumbo’ there. Either way, look for the new maps later this month. [UPDATE: New MTA Subway maps can be downloaded at mta.info/maps]

Some of the older subway maps are displayed after the jump.

{2009 Subway Ridership in Dumbo Area Stations, 28Apr2010}

Brooklyn 1979

(1979 MTA Map (Brooklyn detail) – Courtesy of NYTimes)

Brooklyn 1972

(1972 MTA Map (Brooklyn detail) – Courtesy of NYTimes)

Brooklyn 1968

(1968 MTA Map (Brooklyn detail) – Courtesy of NYTimes)

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