Commuters received a welcome update as the Clark Street subway station in Brooklyn reopened on Tuesday morning, much to the relief of 2 and 3 train riders. The station resumed services at 7:28 a.m., following a weekend incident in which a hotel marquee collapsed near the entrance. With trains now stopping at Clark Street again, the normalcy of morning commutes is restored, as confirmed by the MTA.
The subway station closure, which began over the weekend, was the result of a marquee belonging to the historic Hotel St. George tumbling down on Henry Street around 7 a.m. Sunday. Investigations by the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) led to the installation of scaffolding to support the structure and the subsequent reopening of the station. According to a report by ABC7, the MTA announced the closure yesterday after the collapse, directing subway users to consider Borough Hall as an alternative.
No injuries were reported due to the collapse, which has been attributed to the "severe disrepair of the steel beams, which were completely corroded through at multiple locations," as stated in an AMNY article. The DOB concluded that a recent earthquake, while rare, did not seem to play a role in the marquee's failure and subsequently issued two violations to the property owner, St. George Hotel Associates, for failing to maintain the building.
Council Member Lincoln Restler, representing the Brooklyn Heights area, was actively involved in the efforts to expedite the station’s reopening. "As of 6:45 a.m., NYC buildings has approved reopening the Clark Street subway station. The MTA has been at the ready and the subway should be running imminently," Restler told AMNY.
Meanwhile, NYC Transit President Demetrius Crichlow highlighted that there had been ongoing issues with the building, which now serves as dorms operated by Educational Housing Services (EHS). “This building has been, if you speak to many of the customers and the tenants that are in it, there have been issues for a little while that have not been resolved, and so when you look at the fact that there is an open violation for the building, you know, that says that the contract that the owner of the building needs to be more responsive in repairs," Crichlow explained to ABC7.
