We have posted a ton of vintage photographs on this site before, including many from the early days of the subway and stations, but none have ever looked so oddly out-of-place as this one.
When the subway finally came to Bay Ridge, on January 15, 1916, it was greeted with no mere ribbon-cutting. The ceremony around this truly historic event, which forever changed the character of this area, was met with a daylong celebration, including not just a ride on the newly opened line by myriad municipal dignitaries but also a pageant, dancing and a grand feast that lasted into the evening.
At the time, Bay Ridge looked more like a rural or suburban town than its modern day, apartment buildings. The subway entrance sitting there in the sidewalk alongside grassy front lawns is quite the contrast! Here is a Google StreetView of how the same spot looks today:
