become a major traffic artery. The demolition of the line was expected to save $781,000 annually. Patronage on the line had decreased to 7,337 daily passengers, and the fare booths on the line were closed between 9 P.M. and 5. A.M., requiring conductors to collect fares onboard. The last Lexington Avenue train ran at 21:00 on October 13, 1950, with a small celebration, 65 years after the line opened. Transportation Commissioner G. Joseph Minetti joked that "if we had this many passengers riding regularly we wouldn't have to shut it down." Demolition began on November 1. Former riders of the Lexington Avenue Line were encouraged to use bus service along Gates and DeKalb Avenues or to use the IND Crosstown Line subway. Service patterns The original service pattern was a single line from Fulton Ferry to East New York. On April 27, 1889, all Lexington Avenue trains began using the Myrtle Avenue elevated to Sands Street at the Brooklyn Bridge, while the old portion above Park Avenue, Hudson Avenue, and other streets to Fulton Ferry became part of the outer Myrtle Avenue service. The Park Avenue structure was last used on December 8, 1889, but Myrtle Avenue trains continued to use the line on Hudson Avenue to Fulton Ferry. All Lexington Avenue trains served Sands Street after 1889, but Myrtle Avenue trains began alternating between Fulton Ferry and Sands Street on April 10, 1899, in order to avoid the transferring of Myrtle Avenue passengers to trains bound for the bridge. Lexington Avenue trains were extended from Sands Street over the Brooklyn Bridge to Park Row in June 1898. This pattern remained until the line to Fulton Ferry closed on April 11, 1904. From 1904 until the abandonment of service on October 13, 1950, the Lexington Avenue service pattern (labeled 12 after 1924) was relatively simple. Trains began at either Park Row in Lower Manhattan or Sands Street in Downtown Brooklyn, and ran along the Broadway elevated at least to East New York and sometimes to Jamaica. Station listing Original line from Fulton Ferry Beginning on April 27, 1889, all Lexington Avenue trains used the Myrtle Avenue elevated west of Myrtle Avenue station, and this line was only used by Myrtle Avenue trains. Later line from the Brooklyn Bridge Lexington Avenue trains were moved to this route on April 27, 1889, joining the old route just west of Myrtle Avenue station.