File:Bleecker St. transfer opening 2012-09-26 5.jpg

English: MTA Chairman & CEO Joseph J. Lhota and New York City Transit President Thomas F. Prendergast were joined by elected officials on Sept. 25, 2012, to open the new transfer between the Bleecker St 6 Station uptown platform and the Broadway-Lafayette Street BDFM Station. In addition, the installation of five elevators now makes the station complex fully accessible to disabled customers in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The project also included the rehabilitation of the Bleecker Street 6 Station, including a new control area, new platforms, improved lighting and upgraded communication systems. Customers now have the added amenity of an escalator, funded in part by NYS Assembly Member Deborah Glick, which takes customers directly from the uptown BDFM platform to the Bleecker Street 6 uptown platform. As part of the rehabilitation, new artwork was incorporated into the design of the new transfer point.

A major new artwork by Leo Villareal entitled Hive (Bleecker Street) has been installed at the station, seen on the ceiling in this photo. Commissioned by MTA Arts for Transit and Urban Design, the LED sculpture takes the form of a honeycomb, dramatically filling an architectural space in the shape of an ellipse above the stairs that marks the new transfer point connecting the IRT and IND subway lines. The enormous ceiling, hovering overhead, becomes a type of illuminated diagram as vivid colors, outlining each hexagonal honeycomb shape, move across the sculpture. Villareal created an unprecedented art experience for transit riders who use the station, in its use of technology and LEDs.