NY1
Updated 4:39 PM
Brooklyn LIRR Terminal Opens
By: Roger Clark
After six years of construction, the Long Island Rail Road's new Atlantic Terminal Pavilion opened in Brooklyn Tuesday.
The three-story limestone, granite and glass structure at Flatbush Avenue and Hanson Place, which cost $108 million to build, features new amenities, including a customer waiting area, ticket offices and restrooms.
The existing transit hub connects the LIRR to five bus lines and 10 subway lines – the B, D, M, N, Q, R, 2, 3, 4 and 5 trains. About 57,000 commuters come through the station daily.
"[Whoever uses] it to enter the system, to come through the soaring atrium that we have here, will see natural light brought into our subterranean system," said Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman and CEO Jay Walder.
The station is located in a bustling area that includes the $4.9 billion Atlantic Yards project, with its arena for the Nets basketball team as well as other residential and commercial buildings.
Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz said the new pavilion will attract more people to Brooklyn.
"The beauty of it is now is that folks that live in 'Brooklyn Near East,' also known as Nassau, and 'Brooklyn Far East,' also known as Suffolk, easily they can get right to Brooklyn, get out here on Atlantic Avenue at the LIRR station and within walking distance, they don't have to take cabs, they don't have to take buses, within walking distance of this terminal they'll be able to enjoy all the great amenities of Downtown Brooklyn," he said.
The place already received positive reviews from commuters.
"It looks good. It looks real good, the ceiling and all. It's real nice," said a New Yorker.
"Very different from before. It's open, beautiful, very comfortable," said another.
"I think it's fabulous. They did a great job, they really did, it's great," said a third.
The station's architect is a Brooklyn native who attended nearby Brooklyn Tech High School.
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