Hunterspoint Avenue station (LIRR)
Hunterspoint Avenue is a station on the Main Line of the Long Island Rail Road within the City Terminal Zone. It is located at 49th Avenue (formerly Hunters Point Avenue) between 21st Street and Skillman Avenue in the Hunters Point and Long Island City neighborhoods of Queens, New York City. This ground-level station has an island platform between two tracks and is not wheelchair accessible from the entrance above the station.
Hunterspoint Avenue | |||||||||||||||||||
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 The western end of the station. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Location | 49th Avenue between 21st Street and Skillman Avenue Hunters Point and Long Island City, Queens, New York | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 40°44′32″N 73°56′50″W | ||||||||||||||||||
| Owned by | Long Island Rail Road | ||||||||||||||||||
| Line(s) | Main Line | ||||||||||||||||||
| Platforms | 1 island platform | ||||||||||||||||||
| Tracks | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Connections | New York City Subway:  at Hunters Point Avenue at 21st Street NYCT Bus: B62 (at Jackson Avenue) MTA Bus: Q67 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Construction | |||||||||||||||||||
| Disabled access | No; accessibility planned | ||||||||||||||||||
| Other information | |||||||||||||||||||
| Fare zone | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||||||
| Opened | 1860 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Closed | 1902 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Rebuilt | 1878, 1903, 1914 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Electrified | June 16, 1910 750 V (DC) third rail | ||||||||||||||||||
| Passengers | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2006 | 6,479[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Services | |||||||||||||||||||
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The station is served only during weekday rush hours in the peak direction (to Hunterspoint Avenue from Long Island in the morning, from Hunterspoint Avenue to Long Island in the evening). Trains serving here usually run on the Oyster Bay, Montauk, or Port Jefferson Branches, with one Ronkonkoma-bound train also departing from Hunterspoint Avenue in the late afternoon. Some westbound trains continue to Long Island City, and some eastbound trains originate in Long Island City. All service (except for one PM rush Ronkonkoma-bound train and one AM rush train from Huntington) is provided by diesel trains that cannot use the East River Tunnels, but the tracks are electrified.
History
Hunterspoint Avenue station opened in August 1860, three years before the New York and Flushing Railroad built their own Hunter's Point station. LIRR's Hunterspoint Avenue was renovated in April 1878, but burned in a fire in December 1902. The station was replaced on April 26, 1903, only to be rebuilt again nine years later. According to a New York Times article from May 1914, the third station was scheduled to open on July 1, 1914.[2] Instead, the reopening date was delayed until October 18, 1914.[3]
In June 1947, only two weekday trains were scheduled east from Hunterspoint Ave, one to Jamaica and one to Queens Village. Trains destined beyond electrified territory could leave Penn Station behind DD1 electric locomotives and change engines at Jamaica; thirteen weekday trains did so. That service ended in 1951, leading to Hunterspoint Avenue's present role.
On November 22, 1948, a 155 foot (47 m)-long extension of the platform went into service.[4]
In the 2010s, it was announced that the station would receive renovations and become compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as part of the 2015-2019 MTA Capital Program.[5] However, this was pushed back in an amendment from August 2017 until the MTA's 2020-2024 Capital Program.[5][6]
Station layout
The station has one 10-car long high-level island platform between the two Main Line tracks, with stairways on both sides of 49th Avenue.
| G | Street level | Entrance/exit to 49th Avenue |
| P Platform level |
Track 1 | ← Port Jefferson Branch toward Long Island City (Terminus) ← Oyster Bay Branch toward Long Island City (Terminus) ← Montauk Branch toward Long Island City (Terminus) Port Jefferson Branch toward Huntington or Port Jefferson (Jamaica) → Oyster Bay Branch toward Oyster Bay (Jamaica) → Montauk Branch toward Patchogue, Speonk or Montauk (Jamaica) → |
| Island platform, doors will open on the left or right | ||
| Track 2 | ← Port Jefferson Branch toward Long Island City (Terminus) ← Oyster Bay Branch toward Long Island City (Terminus) ← Montauk Branch toward Long Island City (Terminus) Port Jefferson Branch toward Huntington or Port Jefferson (Jamaica) → Oyster Bay Branch toward Oyster Bay (Jamaica) → Montauk Branch toward Patchogue, Speonk or Montauk (Jamaica) → | |
Gallery
Hunterspoint Avenue station, as seen from IRT Flushing Line subway train.
Junction; left branch crosses Borden Avenue to HP station.
A New Jersey Transit commuter train passes by on the way to Penn Station as it leaves the Sunnyside Yard.
So does an Amtrak train.
References
- Average weekday, 2006 LIRR Origin and Destination Study
- "New Railway Station; At Hunters Point Avenue, L.I. City, to Open July 1". The New York Times. May 3, 1914. p. XX1. Retrieved February 12, 2010.
- "Long Island Rail Road Alphabetical Station Listing and History". trainsarefun.com. Archived from the original on May 26, 2017. Retrieved February 12, 2010.
- "Extended Rail Platform in Use". The New York Times. November 23, 1948. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
- Contributor, Richard Heaton, Chronicle. "MTA sidetracks new LIRR Elmhurst station". Queens Chronicle. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
- "LIRR plan: Upgrade stations, new trains". Newsday. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
