The long-shuttered S. Portland Ave. entrance to the Fulton St. stop on the G train in Fort Greene is expected to reopen to the public next month, transit officials said. Residents who pushed for the reopening said the new access will increase ridership on the beleaguered line and bring business into the neighborhood.

"It's great; it makes the G train more accessible and more convenient to more people," said Phillip Kellogg, chairman of the Fort Greene Association.

The entrance leads to the Queens-bound platform of the G train at that stop. The reopening means straphangers using that platform won't have to walk two blocks underground and through a tunnel that stinks of urine to get to an exit, residents said.

"It's a pain to get to the G train," said Marcia King, of the current entrance.

But, "I hope I will feel safe," said King, who lives nearby. "If there is [a] surveillance [camera], I will."

Residents said the entrance - which was never manned by a token-booth clerk - was closed because of high crime in the area in the 1980s and early 90s.

Crime in the local police precinct has dropped 68% since 1993, NYPD statistics show. Transportation officials said it was not immediately clear why the entrance was sealed.

Officials said the exit will reopen because of a flood of requests from community members.

"It's reopening in response to the community," said Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman Mark Groce.

Fort Greene Association members got 350 residents to sign letters this spring petitioning the MTA to open the exit.

Neighborhood leaders said they hoped the reopening will increase ridership on the train - which could in turn lead to better service on the subway line.

The train runs from Smith St. in Brooklyn to 71st Ave. in Queens.

Community leaders hope the new entrance will draw people from outside the neighborhood to local restaurants and the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

They also see it as a quick connection for themselves to restaurants and shops on Smith St.

Still, some residents had reservations about the reopening.

"The best thing they ever did was close it," said Joel Murray, who has worked at a deli on the same corner as the shuttered entrance since 1968.

"It was smelly; guys were sleeping [in the entrance]," Murray said, adding, "This is the fastest, easiest way for muggers to escape."

Copyright 2005 New York Daily News. All rights reserved.

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