Prior to 2008, the B61 comprised the entire Crosstown surface route, running between Long Island City, Queens and the south end of Van Brunt Street in Red Hook. In 2008, the route's southern terminus was extended two blocks east to Ostego Street and Beard Street to serve the then-newly-opened IKEA terminal in Red Hook. In January 2010 the route split into the current B61 and B62 routes to improve reliability. Six months later, the new B61 was extended to Prospect Park West to replace the routes Park Slope section and the whole route.