The Dual Contracts, which called for the expansion of the New York City Subway system, were formalized in early 1913.
[8][9] On December 9, 1924, the New York City Board of Transportation (BOT) gave preliminary approval for the construction of the IND Eighth Avenue Line.
[14] In July 1927, New York City comptroller Charles W. Berry proposed extending the Canarsie Line to Eighth Avenue, and adding a transfer to the proposed IND station there, as part of a 16-point plan to reduce congestion in the New York City Subway system.
[15][16] Members of the 14th Street Association even proposed extending the line further west, under the Hudson River to New Jersey.
[21] The extension was the final portion of the Canarsie Line that the BMT was required to build as part of the Dual Contracts.
The BOT hoped that the extension would help relieve congestion at the Canal Street station in lower Manhattan.
[23][24] During the extension's construction, in November 1929, a section of temporary sidewalk collapsed into an excavation for the subway tunnel, injuring four people.
[27] Construction was halted temporarily the same month when D. C. Serber, the contractor in charge of building the extension, found itself unable to pay a salary to 300 workers.
[31][32] Local civic groups believed the opening of the Canarsie Line extension would lead to increased business on 14th Street, which already carried more passengers than other major crosstown corridors in Manhattan.
[46] In April 1993, the New York State Legislature agreed to give the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) $9.6 billion for capital improvements.
In May 1994, a supplemental agreement worth $203,435 was reached to allow the consultant to design the New York City Transit training facility to be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
As part of the project's design, multiple options were considered to improve the station, including the construction of a free transfer zone between the Eighth Avenue and Canarsie Lines.
[51]: C-55, C-56 Citing security concerns, the MTA proposed closing an entrance at 15th Street as part of the renovation, but this prompted complaints from local residents.
Community members also advocated for the closure of an exit-only staircase at Eighth Avenue and 15th Street, citing concerns about crime and drug use.
[52][56] A reporter for the New York Daily News wrote in June 1999: "The station recently featured hanging wires, closed passageways, a blasting jackhammer, areas blocked by plastic fencing and plywood walls.
The 14th Street station on the Eighth Avenue Line runs north–south and consists of a mezzanine and two island platforms.
[73] During the late 1990s, some of the individual pieces were put on public display at Grand Army Plaza[74][75] and in Battery Park City.
It is called Parallel Motion, and it shows images of moving bodies in the mezzanine drawn by brushstrokes using Chinese calligraphy.
[71]: 7 [81] The northernmost one has an unstaffed bank of turnstiles, two staircases going up to the northwest corner of 16th Street and Eighth Avenue, and one going up to each eastern side of the intersection.
A passageway leads to the front entrance of 111 Eighth Avenue (the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey building now occupied by Google) at the southwest corner.
On either side, at the center of the mezzanine, a set of full-height turnstiles lead to staircases going up to either northern corner of 15th Street and Eighth Avenue.
[81] This area also provides access to a signal training school for New York City Transit employees.
The Eighth Avenue station is the western (railroad north) terminal of the BMT Canarsie Line and has two tracks and one island platform.
There are double crossovers east of the Eighth Avenue station, allowing terminating trains to access either track.
[65]: 59–60 The station was originally decorated in a more IND style than the rest of the Canarsie Line, which was built by the BMT.