History
This nomenclature has been complicated by the differing systems and cultures of the former private companies that operated parts of the system, by the need for non-ambiguous names in a city where there are stations with the same name on different lines in different locations and even different Boroughs, and by changing perceptions of the best way to communicate information to a diverse public.
Up until 1940, there were three major operators of New York subway and elevated lines, the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT), the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) and the Independent Subway System (ISS or ICOS before 1940, now IND).
Service labels have always been assigned based on their outer line (Brooklyn on the BMT, Bronx on the IRT and IND) and then by the Manhattan trunk if necessary to distinguish multiple services on the same line.
Read more about this topic: New York City Subway Nomenclature
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—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)