Queensboro Plaza

Queensboro Plaza   New York City Subway rapid transit station complex
Upper-level platform
Station statistics
Address	27th Street & Queens Plaza Long Island City, 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>(weekdays until 10:00 p.m., peak direction)      N  (all times)      W  (weekdays until 11:00 p.m.)
Connection	New York City Bus: B61, Q32, Q37, Q60, Q66, Q67, Q69, Q100, Q101, Q102, QM1, QM1A, QM2, QM2A, QM3, QM4, QM10, QM12, QM15, QM16, QM17, QM18, QM21, QM24, X51, X63, X64, X68
Structure	Elevated
Levels	2
Platforms	2 island platforms (one on each of two levels)
Tracks	4 (two on each of two levels)
Other information
Opened	February 1, 1917 (Astoria) November 16, 1916 (Flushing)
Traffic
Passengers (2008)	2.772 million[1][2] ▲ 2.5%
Rank	168 out of 422
Next north	39th Avenue (Astoria local): N  W  Astoria Boulevard (Astoria express): no regular service 33rd Street – Rawson Street (Flushing local): 7  Woodside – 61st Street (Flushing express): <7>
Next south	Lexington Avenue/59th Street (Broadway): N  W  45th Road – Court House Square (Flushing): 7  <7>
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops in station at all times Stops all times except late nights Stops late nights only Stops late nights and weekends only Stops weekdays only Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction Stops all times except weekdays Stops rush hours only Stops rush hours in the peak direction only Station is closed (Details about time periods)

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. It stands over the south (railroad east) side of the roadway, but formerly spanned the whole plaza. It is a double-decked station, with trains running into Queens 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. The station is currently being renovated by NYCTA employees (as opposed to an outside contractor). A computer assisted tower is being installed on the south end. (A traditional tower is already present, but will be renovated with new machinery.)

The station is near the Queens Plaza underground subway station, though the two stations are separate and do not allow free transfers.

History

In the original configuration, the IRT used both sides of the current platforms, and the BMT used now-demolished platforms west (compass north) of the current platforms, also double-decked. The east side of the IRT platforms were used by the Flushing Line, as today; the west 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 platform allowed trains from either side to switch to the other line after leaving the station.

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 1949, the Astoria and Flushing Lines hosted both IRT and BMT service. 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.

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 at the platform depending on which service they wanted. This set-up prevented free transfers between the lines of the two companies. This arrangement had to end when the IRT increased the number of cars for the subway line stopping there. The two companies worked out an agreement in which the revenues collected on those stations were shared.

In 1949, the IRT started using the Flushing Line only, and the Astoria Line platforms were shaved back for through BMT service. New connections were built between the 60th Street Tunnel approach and the west tracks at the east (former IRT) platforms (the Second Avenue Elevated Line had closed in 1942), and the west (former BMT) platforms were closed.

Today the Queensboro Plaza station enjoys the distinction of being the only station in the entire New York Subway system providing cross-platform transfers between A Division and B Division trains.

Popular culture

Queensboro Plaza is featured in a defining moment in the film Beneath the Planet of the Apes. The protagonist astronaut ("Brent") has been sent into the far future. He unknowingly enters the ruins of a subterranean subway 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. The station in the episode is also incorrectly depicted as an underground station, on a Lexington Avenue Local (6) route.

Gallery

From the west

Queensboro Plaza station as seen from BMT Astoria Line

Former and current track configurations

References

External links

• nycsubway.org — IRT Flushing Line: Queensborough Plaza
• BMT-Lines.com — Astoria and Flushing Lines
• Subwaynut.com — Queensboro Plaza
• MTA's Arts For Transit — Queensboro Plaza