The New Lots Line was built as a part of Contract 3 of the Dual Contracts between New York City and the Interborough Rapid Transit Company, including this station. It was built as an elevated line because the ground in this area is right above the water table, and as a result the construction of a subway would have been prohibitively expensive. This station opened along with the first portion of the line from Utica Avenue on November 22, 1920, with shuttle trains operating over this route. This station ceased to be the line's terminal when the line opened one more stop farther to the east to Pennsylvania Avenue on December 24, 1920, using its southbound platform. The line was completed to New Lots Avenue on October 16, 1922, with a two-car train running on the northbound track. On October 31, 1924, through service to New Lots Avenue was begun. From October 5, 2016, to June 19, 2017, this station and Sutter Avenue–Rutland Road were closed for renovations.
The New Lots Line passes over the Livonia Avenue station on the BMT Canarsie Line directly to the east of this station, but there is no free transfer between the two stations. Passengers originally transferred between the two stations for an additional fare by using an overpass running parallel to the New Lots Line which allows pedestrians on Livonia Avenue to cross over the Long Island Rail Road's open-cut Bay Ridge Branch. In 2015, there were proposals to convert the overpass into a free-transfer passage between the two stations, due to increasing ridership and plans for additional housing in the area. Money was allocated in the 2015–2019 Capital Program to build this transfer. Both stations would also have been upgraded to become compliant with mobility accessibility guidelines under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. However, in the April 2018 revision to the Capital Program, funding for the project, with the exception of funding already used to design the connection, was removed. A free MetroCard-only transfer between the two stations was also provided during weekends and late nights as part of the reconstruction of the 14th Street Tunnel starting in April 2019 and introduced permanently in February 2020. The 2020–2024 Capital Program added back funding for the project, with an allocation of $38.4 million; by January 2020, only $400,000 of that amount had been spent on "pre-design" activities. In February 2020, the MTA awarded a design–build contract to construct the free transfer and associated elevator upgrades.
Station layout
There are two side platforms and three tracks. It is the only station on the line with a center track, which does not have a third rail and thus can only be used by diesel trains or other non-electric equipment. Just west of the station, tracks split from both the northbound and southbound tracks, merging to form the center track; this goes through the station and turns south, crossing the southbound track at grade. The track joins with one from the BMT Canarsie Line and heads to the Linden Shops. Both platforms have beige windscreens and green canopies that run for the entire length. This station is the highest point on the New Lots Line, which rises here to pass over the BMT Canarsie Line. At Junius Street, a block from the station entrance, an overpass running parallel to the New Lots Line allows pedestrians on Livonia Avenue to cross over the Long Island Rail Road's open-cut Bay Ridge Branch. This overpass leads to the main entrance of the Livonia Avenue station on the BMT Canarsie Line. There are proposals to construct a free transfer between the two adjacent subway stations.
Exits
Despite the station name, there are no actual entrances to this station on Junius Street; they were removed many years ago. The two street stairs to the station's only mezzanine are a block away on the south side of Livonia Avenue between Powell and Sackman Streets. The small, elevated mezzanine/station house beneath the tracks has a token booth, turnstile bank, and two staircases to the center of each of the two side platforms.
In popular culture
A scene in the 2010 movieBrooklyn's Finest shows Ethan Hawke's character chasing a man up to the stairs of the Junius Street station. In a scene from the 1992 movieJust Another Girl on the IRT, the main character is seen walking up the stairs, then is later seen on the elevated platform of this station.
