MTA Subway – 1st Ave

This station is vitally important to the life of all Brooklynites who live on the L line – at least if they want to get to and from Manhattan. It’s also vital to those of us who want to get to locations in Williamsburg and Bushwick; who knew a former casket factory in Bushwick would become a destination?
When I first came to the city in 1980, there was an underpass in this station that connected the 8^th-​Avenue-​bound platform with the Brooklyn-​bound one. Sadly, that has been sealed up, so you must pay attention to the direction of the train, or you’ll have to go a station or three out of your way to transfer to the right train.
This station is very much used and accordingly, the entrances are crowded at peak hours. Within the past few months, crews have been seen taking soil samples, and it’s apparently in preparation for construction of a possible Avenue A entrance to this station. This would be entirely welcome; I, for one, could live with the noise and dust of the construction if that were the payoff.
Until I get a car (read: never) this will probably be my cardinal subway station.