Old hotel marquee collapses above Brooklyn Heights subway station, MTA reroutes 2, 3 trains

A historic hotel marquee above the Clark Street subway station in Brooklyn Heights came crashing down Sunday morning, forcing the MTA to suspend service at the station.

The awning, located at the station’s Henry Street entrance, marked the bygone St. George Hotel. The subway entrance, opened in 1919, was built into the hotel’s lobby, which is now occupied by retailers.

City Department of Buildings officials said the 15-by-20-foot marquee’s steel beams had completely corroded through in several places, and that a similar marquee above the station’s other entrance at Clark Street also showed signs of poor maintenance. Google Street View photos from November show the remaining awning’s sign is missing an “L,” so it reads “Hote St. George.”

Councilmember Lincoln Restler of Brooklyn said the collapse happened at about 7 a.m. Officials said no one was injured, but Restler said he’s received complaints from his constituents about the "grimy" and "abysmal" subway station for years.

The MTA initially only closed the Henry Street entrance to the station and directed riders to its other entrance. Shortly after noon, transit officials said 2 and 3 trains were bypassing the station altogether.

Restler said he toured the station Friday with NYC Transit president Demetrius Chrichlow to highlight its run-down condition.

”I was shocked by the collapse,” said Restler. “We are very lucky that this happened at 7 a.m. on a Sunday, because if it happened at 7 a.m. any other day of the week, we would've in all likelihood encountered serious injuries, if not fatalities.”

The marquee was once a gleaming adornment to the city’s largest hotel. Records show the St. George was built in several sections and dates back to the late 19th century. Newspaper reports show former President Franklin D. Roosevelt held several birthday parties there.

The lobby is the entrance to one of the city’s more unusual subway stations. The platforms at Clark Street are only accessible via a pair of elevators. Riders in wheelchairs are nonetheless unable to use the station because stairs are the only connection between its mezzanine and platforms.

The marquee and entrance are now owned and operated by a private company called Educational Housing Services, according to Restler and MTA officials