Queens Plaza (IND Queens Boulevard Line)

Queens Plaza
New York City Subway rapid transit station

View of the Jamaica and Continental bound platform from the Manhattan bound platform, with a Jamaica Center bound E express train leaving the station.
Station statistics
Address Queens Plaza, Jackson Avenue, Queens Boulevard & Northern Boulevard
Queens, NY 11101
Borough Queens
Locale Long Island City
Coordinates 40°44′56″N 73°56′15″W / 40.748915°N 73.937387°W / 40.748915; -73.937387Coordinates: 40°44′56″N 73°56′15″W / 40.748915°N 73.937387°W / 40.748915; -73.937387
Division B (IND)
Line IND Queens Boulevard Line
Services       E  (all times)
      M  (weekdays until 11:00 p.m.)
      R  (all hours except late nights)
Transit connections NYCT Bus: B62, Q32
MTA Bus: Q39, Q60, Q67, Q100, Q101, Q102
Structure Underground
Platforms 2 island platforms
cross-platform interchange
Tracks 4
Other information
Opened August 19, 1933 (1933-08-19)
Accessible
Wireless service [1][2]
Traffic
Passengers (2015) 3,101,888[3] Increase 3.2%
Rank 163 out of 422
Station succession
Next north 36th Street (local): E  M  R 
Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue (express): E 
Next south Court Square–23rd Street (via Queens Boulevard): E  M 
Lexington Avenue/59th Street (via Broadway): R 
Court Square (via Crosstown): no regular service
Next north Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue: E  M  R 
Next south Lexington Avenue–53rd Street (via Queens Boulevard): E  M 
Times Square–42nd Street (via Broadway): R 
Church Avenue (via Crosstown): no regular service

Queens Plaza is an express station on the IND Queens Boulevard Line of the New York City Subway. Located under the eastern edge of Queens Plaza at the large Queens Plaza interchange, it is served by the E train at all times, by the R train at all times except late nights, and by the M train on weekdays except late nights.

While situated relatively close to the elevated Queensboro Plaza station on the BMT Astoria Line and IRT Flushing Line, there is no free transfer between the two stations.

History

Look Up Not Down, Glass Mosaic, Ellen Harvey (2005)

The Queens Boulevard Line was one of the first lines built by the city-owned Independent Subway System (IND),[4][5][6] and stretches between the IND Eighth Avenue Line in Manhattan and 179th Street and Hillside Avenue in Jamaica, Queens.[4][6][7] The Queens Boulevard Line was in part financed by a Public Works Administration (PWA) loan and grant of $25,000,000.[8] One of the proposed stations would have been located at Steinway Street.

The first section of the line, west from Roosevelt Avenue to 50th Street, opened on August 19, 1933. E trains ran local to Hudson Terminal (today's World Trade Center) in Manhattan, while the GG (predecessor to current G service) ran as a shuttle service between Queens Plaza and Nassau Avenue on the IND Crosstown Line.[9][10][11][12][13][14] It was the first stop in Queens after crossing the East River for six years until 1939 with the opening of 23rd Street – Ely Avenue.

Until the opening of the 60th Street Tunnel Connection in 1955 after the unification of the subway, only express trains in Queens ran to Manhattan; local trains were routed onto the IND Crosstown Line.[15] This service pattern is no longer in use due to the increased popularity of cross-river travel to Manhattan and Crosstown Line trains now terminate one stop earlier at Court Square.

Station layout

G Street Level Exits/Entrances
M Mezzanine Fare control, station agent
(Elevator at SW corner of Queens Plaza South and Jackson Avenue)
P
Platform level		 Southbound local ← toward Middle Village – Metropolitan Avenue weekdays ( toward World Trade Center late nights) (Court Square – 23rd Street)
← toward 95th Street (Lexington Avenue / 59th Street)
(No service: Court Square)
Island platform, doors will open on the left, right
Southbound express ← toward World Trade Center (Court Square – 23rd Street)
Northbound express → toward Jamaica Center (Jackson Heights – Roosevelt Avenue all except nights, 36th Street late nights) →
→ toward Forest Hills – 71st Avenue weekdays (36th Street) →
Island platform, doors will open on the left, right
Northbound local → toward Forest Hills – 71st Avenue (36th Street) →

Like most express stations on the subway, Queens Plaza has two island platforms and four tracks to facilitate cross-platform interchanges between local and express trains. Its tile band is of the darkest shade of the violet family (Black Grape), three tiles high and black-bordered – so dark, in fact, that even under bright light it appears black from a distance.

West of the station, the local tracks split to the BMT Broadway Line via the 60th Street Tunnel to Manhattan and IND Crosstown Line to Brooklyn. The connection to the Crosstown Line is not currently used in revenue service. The express tracks continue on the IND Queens Boulevard Line, serving Court Square – 23rd Street at Long Island City before traveling through the 53rd Street Tunnel to Manhattan.[16]

East of the station, the tunnel widens to include a lay-up track that forms from the two express tracks and then merges with the northbound express track. This track is used to relay the New York Transit Museum's holiday trains in November and December. The tunnel then widens again to allow the IND 63rd Street Line ramps to rise and lead trains to merge with either the local or express tracks.[16]

Entrances and exits

Station entrance at 41st Avenue and Northern Boulevard. Overhead is the BMT Astoria Line. Off to the right (although out of sight in this photo) is Queensboro Plaza station.

The full-time booth is near the center of the mezzanine. There are three staircases to the street and an outside passageway to two more staircases at south end near a former booth. The old-style change booth was in place until it was removed in 1998. Two of the outside entrances were redone to match the facade of the DOT indoor parking lot structure when it was constructed in 1975. Before the renovation, the station had a full length mezzanine (inside and outside of fare control) with three booths. Since then, this area has balconies that allow views of local trains and platforms down below. There are three staircases to each platform from that end. Two staircases in between both fare control areas were removed during the renovation process. The part-time booth has two stairs to the street and one to each platform.

References

  1. ↑ "NYC Subway Wireless – Active Stations". Transit Wireless Wifi. Retrieved 2016-05-18.
  2. ↑ More Subway Stations in Manhattan, Bronx in Line to Get Online, mta.info (March 25, 2015). "The first two phases included stations in Midtown Manhattan and all underground stations in Queens with the exception of the 7 Main St terminal."
  3. ↑ "Facts and Figures: Annual Subway Ridership". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
  4. 1 2 Duffus, R.L. (September 22, 1929). "OUR GREAT SUBWAY NETWORK SPREADS WIDER; New Plans of Board of Transportation Involve the Building of More Than One Hundred Miles of Additional Rapid Transit Routes for New York". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  5. ↑ "QUEENS SUBWAY WORK AHEAD OF SCHEDULE: Completion Will Lead to Big Apartrnent Building, Says William C. Speers.". The New York Times. April 7, 1929. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  6. 1 2 "Queens Lauded as Best Boro By Chamber Chief". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. September 23, 1929. p. 40. Retrieved 4 October 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ New York Times, New Subway Routes in Hylan Program to Cost $186,046,000, March 21, 1925, page 1
  8. ↑ "TEST TRAINS RUNNING IN QUEENS SUBWAY; Switch and Signal Equipment of New Independent Line Is Being Checked.". The New York Times. 1936-12-20. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-04-26.
  9. ↑ Kramer, Frederick A. (1990-01-01). Building the Independent Subway. Quadrant Press. ISBN 978-0-915276-50-9.
  10. ↑ Joseph B. Raskin (1 November 2013). The Routes Not Taken: A Trip Through New York City's Unbuilt Subway System. Fordham University Press. ISBN 978-0-8232-5369-2. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  11. ↑ "Independent Subway Services Beginning in 1932". thejoekorner.com. August 21, 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  12. ↑ "TWO SUBWAY UNITS OPEN AT MIDNIGHT; Links in City-Owned System in Queens and Brooklyn to Have 15 Stations.". The New York Times. August 18, 1933. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  13. ↑ "New Queens Subway Service Will Be Launched Tonight; Tunnel From Manhattan Open to Jackson Heights; Service Will Eventually Be Extended Through To Jamaica" (PDF). Long Island Daily Press. Fultonhistory.com. August 18, 1933. p. 20. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  14. ↑ "New Queens Tube To Open Saturday: Brooklyn-Long Island City Link of City Line Also to Be Put in Operation" (PDF). New York Evening Post. Fultonhistory.com. August 17, 1933. p. 18. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  15. ↑ "1937 IND system map" (PDF). NYCSubway. Retrieved 2011-06-09.
  16. 1 2 Marrero, Robert (2015-09-13). "469 Stations, 846 Miles" (PDF). B24 Blog, via Dropbox. Retrieved 2015-10-09.
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