Park Row was a major elevated railway

Elevated railway

An elevated railway is a form of rapid transit railway with the tracks built above street level on some form of viaduct or other steel or concrete structure. The railway concerned may be constructed according to the standard gauge, narrow gauge, light rail, monorail or suspension railway system...

 terminal constructed over the New York end of the Brooklyn Bridge

Brooklyn Bridge

The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. Completed in 1883, it connects the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River...

, across from New York City Hall

New York City Hall

New York City Hall is located at the center of City Hall Park in the Civic Center area of Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA, between Broadway, Park Row, and Chambers Street. The building is the oldest City Hall in the United States that still houses its original governmental functions, such as...

 in Manhattan

Manhattan

Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

 that served as the terminal

Terminal Station

Terminal Station is a 1953 film by Italian director Vittorio De Sica. It tells the story of the love affair between an Italian man and an American woman. The film was entered into the 1953 Cannes Film Festival.-Production:...

 for BMT services operating over the Brooklyn Bridge from the BMT Fulton Street Line, BMT Myrtle Avenue Line

BMT Myrtle Avenue Line

The Myrtle Avenue Line, also called the Myrtle Avenue Elevated, is a fully elevated line of the New York City Subway as part of the BMT division. The extant line is the final remnant of one of the original Brooklyn elevated railroads...

 and their feeders. Until the opening of the nearby Williamsburg Bridge

Williamsburg Bridge

The Williamsburg Bridge is a suspension bridge in New York City across the East River connecting the Lower East Side of Manhattan at Delancey Street with the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn at Broadway near the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway...

 to elevated train traffic in 1913, it was the only Manhattan station available for elevated trains from Brooklyn.

Early history (1883-1913)

For the first decade-and-a-half of its existence, it was used exclusively by trains of the New York and Brooklyn Bridge Railway, a cable-hauled line that spanned the length of the bridge between Park Row and another terminal at the Brooklyn end of the bridge.

On June 18, 1898, elevated trains of predecessor companies of the BMT began using the station during off-peak hours, while the cable-hauled shuttle continued to run at rush hours. On January 27, 1908 the shuttle was eliminated and elevated trains began running to Park Row at all times.

At its height, Park Row terminal had four platforms on four tracks in the main part of the terminal, and another three platforms on two tracks beyond (west of) the main train shed. This resulted in very complex scheduling and track shifting, so that most trains discharged their passengers at dedicated exit platforms and then were transferred to tracks on other platforms for loading of outgoing passengers. From the turn of the 20th century until 1913, the following lines were hosted at least part-time at Park Row:

From Fulton Street Line (Kings County Elevated Railway)

• Fulton Street Line
  Kings County Elevated Railway
  The Kings County Elevated Railway Company was a builder and operator of elevated railway lines in Kings County, New York, now coextensive with the borough of Brooklyn in New York City. Its original services were operated with steam locomotives....
  
  
• Brighton Beach Line
  BMT Brighton Line
  The BMT Brighton Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway in Brooklyn, New York City, United States. Local service is provided at all times by the Q train. The Q is joined by the B express train on weekdays...
  
   via Fulton Street Line from Franklin Avenue.

From Myrtle Avenue Line (Brooklyn Union Elevated Railway)

• Myrtle Avenue Line
  BMT Myrtle Avenue Line
  The Myrtle Avenue Line, also called the Myrtle Avenue Elevated, is a fully elevated line of the New York City Subway as part of the BMT division. The extant line is the final remnant of one of the original Brooklyn elevated railroads...
  
  
• Lexington Avenue Line (Brooklyn)
  BMT Lexington Avenue Line
  The Lexington Avenue Elevated was the first standard elevated railway in Brooklyn, New York, operated in its later days by the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company, the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation, and then the City of New York.The original line, as it existed at the end of 1885, traveled...
  
   via Myrtle Avenue Line from Grand Avenue
  Grand Avenue (BMT Myrtle Avenue Line)
  Grand Avenue was a station on the demolished section of the BMT Myrtle Avenue Line. It had two tracks and two side platforms. It closed on November 3, 1969, after a fire on the elevated structure. Until October 13, 1950, at the same intersection, though at a different set of platforms, was the...
  
  
• Fifth Avenue Line via Myrtle Avenue Line from Navy Street
  Navy Street (BMT Myrtle Avenue Line)
  Navy Street was a station on the demolished BMT Myrtle Avenue Line. It had 2 tracks and 1 island platform. It was closed on November 3, 1969, after a fire on the structure. The next stop to the north was Vanderbilt Avenue. The next stop to the south was Bridge–Jay Streets.-References:**...
  
  
• Culver Line via Myrtle Avenue Line and Fifth Avenue Line from 36th Street and 5th Avenue, Brooklyn via 9th Avenue lower level.
• West End Line
  BMT West End Line
  The BMT West End Line is a line of the New York City Subway, serving the Brooklyn, communities of Borough Park, New Utrecht, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach and Coney Island. The D train operates on the line at all times, providing service to Manhattan and the Bronx via the IND Sixth Avenue Line...
  
   via Myrtle Avenue Line and Fifth Avenue Line from 36th Street and 5th Avenue, Brooklyn via 9th Avenue upper level.
• Third Avenue-Bay Ridge Line via Myrtle Avenue Line and Fifth Avenue Line from 36th Street and 5th Avenue, Brooklyn (cars often attached to end of Culver trains during non-rush hours)
• Sea Beach Line
  BMT Sea Beach Line
  The BMT Sea Beach Line is a rapid transit line of the BMT division of the New York City Subway, connecting the BMT Fourth Avenue Line subway at 59th Street via a four-track wide open cut to Coney Island in Brooklyn...
  
   via Myrtle Avenue Line, Fifth Avenue Line, and West End Line from Bath Junction (cars often attached to end of West End trains during slack times)

Gradual decline (1913-1940)

As new bridges and new subways took the pressure off the Brooklyn Bridge services, ridership at Park Row gradually declined.

Services withdrawn from terminal

• October 27, 1913: Last day of Sea Beach elevated service, in preparation for the new grade-separated line that began to use the Fourth Avenue subway on June 22, 1915
• June 23, 1916: West End trains began using the Fourth Avenue subway exclusively
• August 1, 1920: Brighton Beach trains began using a new connection to the BMT Broadway Line
  BMT Broadway Line
  The BMT Broadway Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway in Manhattan, New York City, United States. , it is served by three services, all colored yellow: the on the express tracks and the on the local tracks...
  
   subway, severing its connection with the Fulton Street Line
• May 30, 1931: Some Culver trains were rerouted to the Fourth Avenue subway and the BMT Nassau Street Line
  BMT Nassau Street Line
  The BMT Nassau Street Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway system in Manhattan. It is served by the and trains which are colored brown on maps and signage...
  
   when the latter line opened
• 1936: Park Row was reconfigured to two tracks total (the two southern main shed tracks) in recognition of its declining use and to simplify operations
• May 31, 1940: In preparation for New York City
  New York City
  New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
  
   takeover of the BMT system, the Fifth Avenue and Bay Ridge lines and services were abandoned, which also ended remaining Culver elevated service via those lines. The main line of the Fulton Street line was abandoned at the same time and, on June 1, a new service, Fulton-Lex, was introduced, bringing trains from the surviving outer portion of the Fulton Street Line to Park Row over the Broadway, Lexington and Myrtle Avenue Lines.

Final operations (1940-1950)

• March 5, 1944, all remaining elevated lines stopped using Park Row, and the Myrtle Avenue, Lexington Avenue, and Fulton-Lex services were cut back to the Bridge Street station in downtown Brooklyn.

Brooklyn Bridge streetcars were shifted to the elevated tracks and used them until 1950, when all transit was removed from the bridge. The streetcars did not use the Park Row terminal, but continued to use the trolley loops beneath the train shed, which was torn down.

Footnotes

Cudahy, Brian (2002). How We Got to Coney Island: The Development of Mass Transportation in Brooklyn and Kings County. Fordham University Press.