Queens Plaza station

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.

Not to be confused with Queensboro Plaza station.

 Queens Plaza
 ​​
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Northbound platform with an M train
Station statistics
AddressQueens Plaza, Jackson Avenue, Queens Boulevard & Northern Boulevard
Queens, NY 11101
BoroughQueens
LocaleLong Island City
Coordinates40.748915°N 73.937387°W / 40.748915; -73.937387
DivisionB (IND)
LineIND Queens Boulevard Line
Services   E  (all times)
​   M  (weekdays until 11:00 p.m.)
​   R  (all hours except late nights)
Transit NYCT Bus: B62, Q32
MTA Bus: Q39, Q60, Q67, Q100, Q101, Q102
StructureUnderground
Platforms2 island platforms
cross-platform interchange
Tracks4
Other information
OpenedAugust 19, 1933 (1933-08-19)
Station code273[1]
Accessible ADA-accessible
Opposite-
direction
transfer		Yes
Traffic
20194,334,290[2]  11.5%
Rank114 out of 424[2]
Station succession
Next northJackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue (express): E 
36th Street (local): E  ​M  ​R 
Next southCourt Square–23rd Street (via Queens Boulevard): E  ​M 
Lexington Avenue/59th Street (via Broadway): R 
Court Square (via Crosstown): no regular service

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),[3][4][5] and stretches between the IND Eighth Avenue Line in Manhattan and 179th Street and Hillside Avenue in Jamaica, Queens.[3][5][6] The Queens Boulevard Line was in part financed by a Public Works Administration (PWA) loan and grant of $25 million.[7] 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.[8][9][10][11][12][13] It was the first stop in Queens after crossing the East River for six years until the 1939 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.[14] This service pattern is no longer in use due to the opening of the 63rd Street track connector in 2001, and Crosstown Line trains now terminate one stop earlier at Court Square.[15]

In 1978, the New York City Department of City Planning proposed making Queens Plaza into a large subway station complex. Queens Plaza would have been converted to a transfer station with the 63rd Street Line,[16] which at that time was described as a "tunnel to nowhere" that did not connect with any other lines in Queens.[17] The complex would also have had a retail center above it,[18] as well as a transfer to the elevated Queensboro Plaza station.[16] This was ultimately not constructed, and the 63rd Street connector was built instead, between the Queens Plaza and 36th Street stations.[15]

Station layout
G Street level Exits/entrances
M Mezzanine Fare control, station agent
Elevator at southwest corner of Queens Plaza South and Jackson Avenue
P
Platform level		 Southbound local ← toward Metropolitan Avenue weekdays (Court Square–23rd Street)
← toward 95th Street (Lexington Avenue/59th Street)
← toward World Trade Center late nights (Court Square–23rd Street)
← (No service: Court Square)
Island platform
Southbound express ← toward World Trade Center (Court Square–23rd Street)
Northbound → toward Jamaica Center (36th Street late nights, Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue other times) →
→ toward 71st Avenue weekdays (36th Street) →
Island platform
Northbound local → toward 71st Avenue (36th Street) →

Like most express stations in 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.

West of the station, the M train (and the E train during late nights) crosses to the express track from the local track. R trains stay on the local tracks, which 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, while the 60th Street Tunnel Connection is used by the R. The express tracks, used by E and M trains, continue to Court Square–23rd Street at Long Island City before they travel through the 53rd Street Tunnel to Manhattan.[19]

East of the station, the M train (and the E train during late nights) crosses from the express track to the local track, after which 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.[19]

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 on all corners of Queens Boulevard and Jackson Avenue except the northern one. There is an outside passageway to two more staircases near the southern and western corners of Jackson Avenue and Orchard Street at the 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.[20]

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 space in between the two fare control areas was needed to build a signal relay room for the 63rd Street Connection. The part-time booth has two stairs to the northwest and southeast corners of Northern Boulevard at 41st Avenue, and one to each platform.[20][21]

References
  1. "Station Developers' Information". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
  2. "Facts and Figures: Annual Subway Ridership 2014–2019". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  3. 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 August 19, 2015.
  4. "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 September 1, 2015.
  5. "Queens Lauded as Best Boro By Chamber Chief". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. September 23, 1929. p. 40. Retrieved October 4, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. New York Times, New Subway Routes in Hylan Program to Cost $186,046,000, March 21, 1925, page 1
  7. "TEST TRAINS RUNNING IN QUEENS SUBWAY; Switch and Signal Equipment of New Independent Line Is Being Checked". The New York Times. December 20, 1936. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  8. Kramer, Frederick A. (1990). Building the Independent Subway. Quadrant Press. ISBN 978-0-915276-50-9.
  9. Raskin, Joseph B. (2013). The Routes Not Taken: A Trip Through New York City's Unbuilt Subway System. New York, New York: Fordham University Press. doi:10.5422/fordham/9780823253692.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-82325-369-2.
  10. "Independent Subway Services Beginning in 1932". thejoekorner.com. August 21, 2013. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
  11. "TWO SUBWAY UNITS OPEN AT MIDNIGHT; Links in City-Owned System in Queens and Brooklyn to Have 15 Stations" (PDF). The New York Times. August 18, 1933. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
  12. "New Queens Subway Service Will Be Launched Tonight; Tunnel From Manhattan Open to Jackson Heights; Service Will Eventually Be Extended Through To Jamaica". Long Island Daily Press. Fultonhistory.com. August 18, 1933. p. 20. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
  13. "New Queens Tube To Open Saturday: Brooklyn-Long Island City Link of City Line Also to Be Put in Operation". New York Evening Post. Fultonhistory.com. August 17, 1933. p. 18. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
  14. "1937 IND system map" (PDF). NYCSubway. Retrieved June 9, 2011.
  15. Kershaw, Sarah (December 17, 2001). "V Train Begins Service Today, Giving Queens Commuters Another Option". The New York Times. Retrieved February 3, 2018.
  16. Smothers, Ronald (September 13, 1979). "$170 Million Queens Subway‐Station Complex Is Planned". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
  17. Andelman, David A. (October 11, 1980). "Tunnel Project, Five Years Old, Won't Be Used" (PDF). The New York Times. p. 25. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  18. "Queens Plaza Trying Out in New Role: As a Retail Center" (PDF). The New York Times. December 17, 1980. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
  19. Marrero, Robert (January 1, 2017). "472 Stations, 850 Miles" (PDF). B24 Blog, via Dropbox. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  20. "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Long Island City" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2015. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
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