Queensboro Plaza (New York City Subway)

Queensboro Plaza
New York City Subway rapid transit station
Upper-level platform
Station statistics
Address	27th Street & Queens Plaza Queens, NY 11101
Borough	Queens
Locale	Long Island City
Coordinates	40°45′2.35″N 73°56′25.24″W / 40.7506528°N 73.9403444°W / 40.7506528; -73.9403444Coordinates: 40°45′2.35″N 73°56′25.24″W / 40.7506528°N 73.9403444°W / 40.7506528; -73.9403444
Division	A (IRT), B (BMT)
Line	BMT Astoria Line       IRT Flushing Line
Services	7  (all times) <7> (rush hours until 9:30 p.m., peak direction)       N  (all times)       W  (weekdays only)
Transit connections	NYCT Bus: Q32, B62 MTA Bus: Q39, Q60, Q66, Q67, Q69, Q100, Q101, Q102
Structure	Elevated
Levels	2
Platforms	2 island platforms (1 on each level) cross-platform interchange
Tracks	4 (2 on each level)
Other information
Opened	November 16, 1916 (1916-11-16) (Flushing Line) February 1, 1917 (1917-02-01) (Astoria Line)[1]
Accessibility	Cross-platform wheelchair transfer available
Traffic
Passengers (2015)	3,773,168[2]  0.3%
Rank	136 out of 422
Station succession
Next north	39th Avenue (Astoria local): N  W  Astoria Boulevard (Astoria express): no regular service 33rd Street – Rawson Street (Flushing local): 7  61st Street – Woodside (Flushing express): <7>
Next south	Lexington Avenue / 59th Street (Broadway): N  W  Court Square (Flushing): 7  <7> 57th Street (Second Avenue elevated; demolished)
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times Stops rush hours in the peak direction only Stops weekdays only
Location Show map of New York City Subway Show map of New York City Show map of New York Show map of the US

Queensboro Plaza is an elevated New York City Subway station over Queens Plaza in Long Island City, at the east (Queens) end of the Queensboro Bridge, with Queens Boulevard running east from the plaza. The station is near the Queens Plaza underground subway station, though the two stations are separate and do not allow free transfers. It is served by the:

• 7 and N trains at all times
• W train on weekdays
• <7> train rush hours in the peak direction

Station layout

3F	Northbound	→ ( weekdays) toward Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard (39th Avenue) → (No service: Astoria Boulevard)
	Island platform, doors will open on the left for 7 <7> trains and on the right for N W trains
	Northbound	→ toward Flushing–Main Street (33rd Street–Rawson Street) → → toward Flushing–Main Street (PM rush hours) (Woodside–61st Street) →
2F	Southbound	← toward Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue (Lexington Avenue/59th Street) ← toward Whitehall Street–South Ferry (weekdays) (Lexington Avenue / 59th Street)
	Island platform, doors will open on the left for N W trains and on the right for 7 <7> trains
	Southbound	← ( AM rush hours) toward 34th Street–Hudson Yards (Court Square)
1F	Mezzanine	Fare control, station agents
G	Street Level	Exit/ Entrance

This two-level station has two island platforms (one on each level) and four tracks. It stands over the south (railroad east) side of the roadway, but formerly spanned the whole plaza. Trains running into Queens stop on the upper level and Manhattan-bound trains below. The BMT Astoria Line (which to the south joins with the 60th Street Tunnel Connection and heads through the 60th Street Tunnel to the BMT Broadway Line) uses the two tracks west (compass north) of the platforms and the IRT Flushing Line uses the east two tracks.

The mezzanine is located below the lower level (and formerly connected to the now torn-down BMT platforms to the west); there is a concrete ramp across Queens Plaza North to the second floor of a building. As of 2014, the station is being renovated by NYCTA employees (as opposed to an outside contractor). A computer assisted tower is being installed on the south end, as part of the IRT Flushing Line automation.

History

Former and current track configurations

Double-decked elevated structure at the west end of the station. Structures leading to the now-demolished northern (BMT) platforms can be seen here.

In the original configuration, the station had eight tracks and four tracks per each level. Originally, the IRT used both sides of the current platforms, and the BMT used now-demolished platforms north of the current platforms, also double-decked. The south side of the IRT platforms was used by the Flushing Line, as today; the north side was used by Astoria trains, but instead of going through the 60th Street Tunnel, they went over the Queensboro Bridge to the elevated IRT Second Avenue Line. Double crossovers south (lower tracks) and north (upper tracks) of the platforms allowed trains from either side to switch to the other line after leaving the station.^[3]

At the BMT half, the south track served subway trains to Manhattan and the BMT Broadway Line. Trains came from Manhattan on the upper level, continued north to a merge with the lower level, and then returned via the lower level. This configuration was in place by 1924; before that trains reversed direction using a double crossover south of the platforms. Until October 17, 1949, the Astoria and Flushing Lines hosted both IRT and BMT service.^[4] Since the platforms were IRT-size, the BMT used its own elevated cars to provide service on the lines, with a required transfer at Queensboro Plaza. Shuttles from Astoria came in on the west side lower track and then reversed direction to head to Flushing; Flushing trains came in on the upper track and reversed direction towards Astoria.^[3]

During the early period of dual service on the Astoria and Flushing portions, IRT and BMT trains had their own stopping marks on the platforms and the sections of the platforms were separated. Passengers had separate entrances to the platforms depending on which service they wanted. This set-up prevented free transfers between the trains of the two companies. This arrangement had to end when the IRT lengthened trains. The two companies worked out an agreement in which the revenues collected on those stations were shared.

In 1942, the IRT Second Avenue Line closed, and the upper portion of the north side was abandoned.^[3]

Track layout
Legend
to 33 St–Rawson St to 61 St–Woodside to 39 Av to Astoria Blvd Superimposed tracks section (Left tracks below right ones) to Court Sq to Lexington Av–59th St Lower level Upper level Note: Former tracks not shown

On October 17, 1949, the $1,375,000 renovation of the station was completed which allowed the rerouting of trains between Manhattan and Queens. As part of the project, the Astoria Line platforms were shaved back to allow BMT service to operate through to 60th Street, and new connections were built between the 60th Street Tunnel approach and the west tracks at the east (former IRT) platforms, and the west (former BMT) platforms were closed. Once the project was completed, the IRT started using the Flushing Line only and the BMT started using the Astoria Line only. With the station's renovation, it became easier for passengers to transfer between the IRT and BMT lines. Instead of having to climb between the upper and lower level platforms, passengers were able to use cross-platform transfers.^[3][4] There was a crossover just west of the station which allowed the Astoria trains to access the Steinway tunnels. This was removed directly after the joint operation ceased in 1949.^[3]

In 1964, the abandoned northern half of the Queensborough Plaza station was demolished.^[3] One set of crossovers remains on the upper level as the Flushing Line's only connection to the rest of the system.^[5] This connection is used for non-revenue moves, specifically to transfer subway cars to the Coney Island Shops for repairs, or to transfer new cars to the Flushing Line.^[5]

In 1981, the MTA listed the station among the 69 most deteriorated stations in the subway system.^[6]

A poster describing the changes at Queensborough Plaza in 1949

Today, Queensboro Plaza is the only station in the entire system to provide cross-platform interchange between "A" Division (7 <7>) and "B" Division (N W) trains.^[3]

In popular culture

Queensboro Plaza is featured in a defining moment in the film Beneath the Planet of the Apes. The protagonist astronaut ("Brent") unknowingly enters the ruins of an underground station; upon seeing the words "Queensboro Plaza" in tiles, and finding an advertisement for the New York Summer Festival, he realizes that he is indeed on Earth and not another planet, and that New York City has been destroyed in a nuclear war. In reality, Queensboro Plaza is an elevated station and has no tilework.

The station is also featured in the Seinfeld episode entitled "The Cigar Store Indian", as the location of a renowned gyro stall, and again incorrectly depicted as an underground station, on a IRT Lexington Avenue Line 6 train.

The station and nearby MetLife Plaza were a regular CG composite as location shots between scenes in ABC series Ugly Betty.

The station also appears briefly in the season 2 opening sequence of HBO political drama The Newsroom.

The station is also shown in the TV show The King of Queens's theme song, which shows a Redbird 7 train entering the station's upper level.

Gallery

• 
  From the west
• 
  Looking toward the east
• 
  From the southbound BMT Astoria Line
• 
  Flushing-bound R62A train coming around the northbound curve
• 
  Flushing-bound R188 train coming around the northbound curve
• 
  Two trains on the BMT side
• 
  Entrance on the north side of Queens Plaza
• 
  A Q60 bus outside the station

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Queensboro Plaza (New York City Subway).

• BMT-Lines.com — Astoria and Flushing Lines
• The Subway Nut — Queensboro Plaza Pictures
• MTA's Arts For Transit — Queensboro Plaza
• Queens Plaza North entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Queens Plaza South entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Upper level from Google Maps Street View
• Lower level from Google Maps Street View