Flushing–Main Street (LIRR station)

Flushing–Main Street
View from Eastbound Platform "B" to Port Washington
Location	Main Street & 41st Avenue Flushing, New York
Coordinates	40°45′29″N 73°49′52″W / 40.757989°N 73.831086°W / 40.757989; -73.831086Coordinates: 40°45′29″N 73°49′52″W / 40.757989°N 73.831086°W / 40.757989; -73.831086
Owned by	Long Island Rail Road
Line(s)	Port Washington Branch
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Connections	New York City Subway:   trains at Flushing–Main Street NYCT Bus: Q12, Q13, Q15, Q16, Q17, Q19, Q20A/Q20B, Q26, Q27, Q28, Q44 SBS, Q48, Q50, Q58 MTA Bus: Q25, Q34, Q65, Q66 NICE Bus: n20G
Construction
Parking	Yes (metered)
Other information
Fare zone	3
History
Opened	June 26, 1854 (NY&F)[1]
Rebuilt	1865, 1870, 1913, 1958
Electrified	October 22, 1912 750 V (DC) third rail
Previous names	Flushing (1853-1870)
Traffic
Passengers (2006)	2,136[2]
Services
Preceding station   LIRR   Following station Mets–Willets Point (Game days and USTA matches only) toward Penn Station Port Washington Branch Murray Hill toward Port Washington Woodside toward Penn Station

Flushing–Main Street is a station on the Port Washington Branch of the Long Island Rail Road, serving the neighborhood of Flushing, Queens. The station is part of CityTicket, and is in Zone 3. The station is located at Main Street and 41st Avenue, off Kissena Boulevard and is 9.5 miles (15.3 km) from Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan and 10.4 miles (16.73 km) southwest of Port Washington. Parking is provided at a municipal lot on 41st Avenue.

History

The Flushing–Main Street station was originally built in December 1853 as "Flushing" station by the New York and Flushing Railroad, but not opened until June 26, 1854. Flushing would serve as the terminus of the NY&F until October 30, 1864 when a subsidiary known as the North Shore Railroad extended it out to Great Neck, and it was burned in order to prepare for a second station that was built between January and February 1865. In 1868, the station and the rest of the line were acquired by the Flushing and North Side Railroad, which razed the station again in 1870 and built a third station between October and November 1870. The station was renamed after both Flushing and Main Street, in order to distinguish itself from the former Flushing Bridge Street station that ran along the F&NS's Whitestone Branch, which was later abandoned by the LIRR in 1932.

Throughout the mid-1870s, the station and the rest of the line was merged with the Central Railroad of Long Island to form the Flushing, North Shore and Central Railroad, and finally became part of the Port Washington Branch of the Long Island Rail Road, which also used the station as the eastern terminus of the White Line between 1873 and 1876. Shortly after the line was electrified on October 22, 1912, the station was abandoned on November 11, 1912, as part of an effort by the Long Island Rail Road to bring the Port Washington Branch above and below street level depending on the location.

In Flushing, the station was elevated along with the rest of the tracks on October 4, 1913. Until that point, the line used to run at grade and went through a tunnel under a girls' school just east of where the Main Street overpass stands today.^[3] The tunnel and the school were torn down to build the overpass and the open cut the line now runs through. In 1958, the elevated track level building was razed and replaced with a street level ticket office. Sheltered platforms exist on both sides of the tracks in the former station's place, and the sidewalks beneath the bridge serve as local businesses.

Platforms and tracks

The station has two high-level side platforms, each 10 cars long. The north platform next to Track 1, is generally used by westbound or Manhattan-bound trains. The south platform next to Track 2, is generally used by eastbound or Nassau County-bound trains. The branch has two tracks here.

Planned improvement

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is planning to renovate the station and bring it into compliance with the 1990 Americans With Disabilities Act. An official description of the $24.6 million project states:

The Project will include construction of two new elevators, one from each of the two platforms, to provide ADA accessibility from the street to the platforms at the Flushing Main Street Station. The work also will include a new ticket office, canopies, new stairs, platform railings, and platform lighting. Acquisition of the Property is needed to demolish the existing one-story commercial building in order to construct the elevator serving the westbound train platform that will be accessible from the west side of Main Street. This entrance will provide a safer, more visible entry point for westbound LIRR customers than the current entrance in an alley off of 40th Road and the Project as a whole will enhance LIRR's presence on Main Street.^[4]

On October 28, 2013, the MTA held a public hearing on the proposed acquisition of private property at 40-36 Main Street in Flushing for the purpose of adding an elevator intended for the rebuilt station. By June 2015, design had been completed and one of the two parcels of private property, a food stall, had been acquired. MTA expected to complete the eminent domain acquisition of Ou-Jang Supermarket's 40-36 Main Street property by summer 2015; the supermarket objected to the amount MTA offered, $974,592. On January 6, 2016, filings in Queens County Superior Court showed that MTA and the supermarket reached a settlement of $2,236,600, of which $1.9 million was the cash purchase price and the remainder represented rent to be paid by MTA on behalf of the supermarket at its new location.^[5] The MTA began in July 2016 and to complete the project by 4 quarter of 2017.^[6] As of December 2015, the MTA had put the project out for competitive bidding with a proposal due date of December 9, 2015.^[7]

On July 22, 2016, the ticket office was closed as part of the two-year renovation project along with the staircase to the eastbound platform with a temporary staircase and platform extension providing access.^[8][9] The current staircase to the city-bound platform will be closed for renovation upon the opening of a new staircase and elevator.^[10]

Gallery

• 
  Rendering for planned elevator at Flushing station. (street view)
• 
  Rendering for planned elevator at Flushing station. (platform view)
• 
  Bombardier M7 7799 at the Flushing station.
• 
  1891 Station Map.
• 
  The current station house, almost underneath the bridge.
• 
  Street vendor selling fruit under the station.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Flushing – Main Street (LIRR station) (category)

• Official LIRR station information page for Flushing–Main Street
• Station timetable for Flushing–Main Street
• Unofficial LIRR Website Photos.
  • Views of Main Street Ticket Booth,
  • Embankment on south side of the tracks,
  • Views of Platform B (To Port Washington),
  • Shelter for and Staircase to Port Washington-bound Platform
  • Staircase to Platform A (To Manhattan)
• Main Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Platforms from Google Maps Street View