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For
photos see www.nycsubway.org
This
route operates between Jamaica-179th Street and Stillwell
Ave-Coney Island, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It operates
express in Queens, between 21st-Queensbridge and 71st-Continental
Avenues, and local in Manhattan and Brooklyn. During AM and PM
rush hours, alternate trains begin/end their trips at
Gravesend/Kings Highway in Brooklyn, while other early AM trips
begin at Avenue X. North refers to Jamaica Queens while south
refers to Coney Island. The fleet consists of mostly R46 cars;
however several R32 trainsets from Jamaica Yard have been used at
various times of the day. We board our F train at the
departure platform at 179th Street.

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179th STREET
|
179th
Street
(179th
Street and Hillside Ave)
opened
12/10/1950:
This is a very large terminal
station, and is the newest station on the Queens Blvd line.
The station has 4 tracks on 2 island platforms, beyond it at the
eastern end lies 8 relay tracks, 4 on the upper level and 4 on the
lower level. F trains use either track on the northbound
platform, discharge and fumigate the train, then use one of the 8
relay tracks to turn the train and come in on either track on
the southbound platform. The relay track configuration gives some
theoretical evidence that the line was planned to be extended to
Little Neck Parkway and Hillside Ave. Some unnamed sources can
confirm a partial tunnel was actually excavated beyond the 185th
Street wall, and sidewalk gratings are present further up Hillside
Ave. A total of 13 street stairs are laid out over 3 blocks on
Hillside Ave, and there are at least 5 stairs to each platform.
Full time booth is at east end of station between 179th and 180th
Streets, with 8 street stairs. The station is slated be ADA
accessible; an elevator is under construction at the S/E corner of
Hillside Ave and 179th Place. P/T booth is at 178th Street and has 5
street stairs. A full length mezzanine connects both fare
control areas. Artwork is untitled and features two life-sized
construction workers simulating that they are holding up the
mezzanine’s ceiling.
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169th STREET
|
169th
Street
(169th
Street and Hillside Ave)
Opened
4/24/1937: Local stop, 4
tracks on 2 side platforms, full length mezzanine and 2 fare
control areas, each having 4 street stairs. F/T side at 169th
Street, P/T side at 168th Street, in the 1990's the booth operations
were switched. At one time before Archer Ave opened in
1988 and when the E train also ran to 179th
Street as a local, while the F was the Hillside express, it was
considered to be the most congested station along the entire Queens
Blvd line. Numerous bus lines either started outside the
station entrances or at the nearby 165th Street bus terminal.
There still exists crowd bars attached to each of the
7 Jamaica-bound staircases at platform level in order to "feed" the
customers into the staircase, instead of crowding around it, which
can create a dangerous condition if the bars were not installed.
Manhattan-bound side has 5 stairs to platform level. A "DO NOT
RUN" sign from decades ago is still visible at the F/T side, by
the eastern end.
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PARSONS BOULEVARD
|
Parsons
Boulevard
(Parsons Blvd and Hillside Ave) opened
4/24/1937: Express stop,
4 tracks and 2 island platforms. Only the F local uses the
local tracks, the express tracks are use only for reroutes and an
occasional reverse-peak E train in the afternoon. Full length
mezzanine with F/T side at Parsons Blvd, has 3 street stairs, one
closed street stair at N/E corner. P/T side at 153rd
Street also has 3 street stairs, Ghost Booth and 24/7 HEET access.
The booth was removed in 2003. The mezzanine allows full
length passage both inside and outside fare control.
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SUTPHIN BOULEVARD
|
Sutphin
Boulevard
(Sutphin Blvd and Ave Hillside)
Opened
4/24/1937:
The film "Coming To America"
where the woman whom Eddie Murphy (played by Prince Akeem) chases
into the subway, is not the express stop as noted in the picture,
when she says goodbye to him. (All interior scenes were filmed
at Hoyt Schermerhorn station). It is actually a local stop, with 4
tracks and 2 side platforms, full length mezzanine inside fare
control only. F/T side is a Sutphin Blvd and has 3 street
stairs. P/T side at 144th Street has ghost booth (closed in
2003) and 2 street stairs. 5 stairs to each platform, a sixth
stair is at Jamaica bound side and is HXT (exit only) to Sutphin
Blvd side.
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BRIARWOOD
VAN WYCK BOULEVARD
|
Briarwood Van
Wyck Boulevard
(Van
Wyck Expressway South service road, south of Queens Blvd and 84th
Road)
Opened 4/27/1934:
Local stop, 4 tracks, 2 side platforms. The station's name
tablets show the original name of Van Wyck Blvd (a street), before
the Van Wyck Expressway was built in the 1950's, and remains
unchanged. Station has NYPD Transit Bureau District office at
mezzanine level on the west side, the 1990's relocation of this
district office forced the closure and removal of two stairs to each
platform. There is no crossover allowed at this station,
unless you have any of the 4 Unlimited Ride card types, you must
swipe the Unlimited card in order to access the opposite platform,
the booth and fare controls are in the center of this mezzanine.
There are 3 street stairs, two of them through a passageway to
Queens Blvd, the other outside the S/B Van Wyck Expressway service
road, about 800 feet south of Queens Blvd. The layout of this
mezzanine does suggest a full length mezzanine inside fare control
was possible; this would have to have a ghost booth. Most
likely the ghost booth would be at the Van Wyck Expressway side,
while the F/T booth was at Queens Blvd side.
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UNION TURNPIKE
KEW GARDENS
|
Union Turnpike
Kew Gardens Queens Blvd at Union Turnpike/Kew Gardens Road)
opened 12/13/1936 Express stop, with 4 tracks on 2 island platforms.
We are now sharing space with the E Line
from here to Roosevelt Ave. We run express at all times.
Station has 2 mezzanines and was built around the same time the
Interborough Parkway was constructed in the late 1930’s, now called
the Jackie Robinson Parkway. An interesting aspect of the
station is the unique set of castle-like doors on both mezzanines;
each one allows anyone to walk alongside the parkway for a brief
minute before exiting through the standard subway staircases. (Don’t
worry, there are wired fences to separate the cars from the
pedestrians.). However, the castle door exit at the P/T side
is closed for unknown reasons. Each mezzanine has 3 street
stairs and 3 stairs to each platform, for a total of 6 exits and 6
sets of stairs to each platform. F/T side is at east end, near
Kew Gardens Road, it serves the Q10 bus to JFK Airport, as well as 3
other bus routes, while P/T side is at 78th Road,
and is open daily from 6 AM to Midnight. It was impossible to
construct a full length mezzanine because the parkway splits in
half. Tile band is medium yellow with black borders.
Full words UNION TURNPIKE are spelled out on the walls. A
tower is visible on the Manhattan-bound platform, active only on
weekdays. The station is slated to be a key ADA
station.
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75th AVENUE
|
75th
Avenue Puritan Avenue
(75th
Avenue and Queens Blvd) Opened
12/13/1936:
Local stop, 4 tracks, and 2
side platforms. Full length mezzanine, no crossover allowed.
Booth sits at center of mezzanine, giving further evidence that
there were 2 booths when the station first opened, one booth for
each end. HEETs allow access to Manhattan-bound platform,
without having to walk down to the middle of the mezzanine in order
to enter fare control. There a total of 3 street stairs, and 4
stairs to each platform, one stair to each platform is closed.
Tile band is light shade of green. The station name on the
map, and the station tablet both read 75th Ave, but until several
years ago, the "Puritan Ave" was on the signs on platform columns.
This was the original street name, before a massive conversion of
Queens street names to numbered streets, took place in the early
20th century.
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71st AVENUE
CONTINENTAL AVENUE
FOREST HILLS
|
71st Avenue Continental Avenue
Forest Hills (Queens Blvd @ 71st Ave/108th
Street) Opened 12/13/1936:
Express stop, 4 tracks on 2 island platforms, and is the
terminus of R, V,
and part-time G trains( For local service
between here and Court Square see the R or
V pages.). There are 3 fare control
areas along full width mezzanine. 2 of the 3 fare control
areas are near each other along wraparound passageway outside of
fare control. The F/T booth is near the east end and is closest to
71st Ave/Queens Blvd staircase on south side. The
other P/T booth in the same area is in the middle and is closest to
108th street71st Avenue. It is open
during AM rush hours, other times; a couple of HEETs can be used.
The other P/T booth at the far west end is at 70th
Road/Queens Blvd and has only one street stair. There are 7
street stairs to each platform. On the platform, the platform
wall has green tile band with black border. Facing the express
tracks are the vintage 1936 white signs with black lettering "
Contin-ental Ave Forest Hills" .A renovated and expanded tower is at
the far eastern end of the Jamaica-bound platform, another
mini-tower also sits on the center of the Manhattan-bound platform
but it is seldom used. Before we enter this station, there are
a set of tracks rising from the lower level, one for each direction.
These tracks are used for local trains relaying back downtown, as
well as yard moves to the massive Jamaica Yard facility nearby.
They come up and merge with both local and express tracks in “Y”
track configuration. Renovation is pending in the 2005-2009
MTA Capital Program, and is slated to be a key ADA station as well.
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ROOSEVELT AVENUE
|
Roosevelt
Avenue Jackson Heights is discussed on the
Complexes Page
After we bypass 36th
Street we diverge right and break away from the Queens Boulevard
Line. We say goodbye to the E,
R and V train, but the
V train will rejoin us later in Manhattan. This newest section
of the IND is called the 63rd Street Connector and opened
on 12/16/2001, the opening was briefly delayed due to 9/11. After 35
years of planning to construction and $650 million later, the 63rd
Street "Stubway" or " tunnel to nowhere" actually is put to valuable
use.
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21st STREET
QUEENSBRIDGE
qU |
21st
Street Queensbridge
(21st
Street at 41st Avenue) Opened
10/29/1989:
Originally a terminal stop for
B/Q and late night F trains from 1989 to December 2001, it gain
notorious fame as the "tunnel to nowhere". 2 tracks on 2 side
platforms, the station is fully ADA accessible. It serves the
residents of Queensbridge houses, the city's largest housing project
development, Silvercup Studios, and other industrial companies
nearby. The only mezzanine is towards the east end of station,
2 street stairs at N/E corner of 21st Street and 41st Ave.
Elevator and up/down escalator are at N/W corner of the same
intersection. Tower remains on west end of Manhattan-bound
platform and can be used if necessary. Double crossover
switches remain to the west of the station, indicating it's presence
as a terminal station. The platform edge does not have the
current yellow tactile strip with bumps like most stations being
renovated at this time.

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ROOSEVELT ISLAND
|
Roosevelt
Island
(On
Roosevelt Island, Main Street and about 500 feet north of the
Tramway terminal) Opened
10/29/1989:
One of the deepest stations in
the entire NYCT system, it takes 157 steps from the stationhouse at
street level to either platform. It has a nice WMATA
(Washington D.C. Metro Subway) feel of a high arched ceiling.
The station walls are curved with beams at both platforms, the only
NYCT station in the entire system to have this look.
There are 4 levels from mezzanine to platform level, a total of 10
escalators, 2 large staircases, and 2 smaller staircases 1 to each
platform. The balcony level above the platform, affords a nice
view of the station and tunnel mouth facing the Queens end, as well
as trains entering and leaving this station. Station is fully
ADA accessible, 1 elevator to each platform is located at opposite
end of stairs/escalators to the stationhouse level. This gives
the clearest indication on how deep you are below the surface. politically
It is a pert of Manhattan.
As we travel from
Roosevelt Island to our next stop, Lexington Ave, we see bellmouths
again at the 2nd Ave turnouts. There will be planned
connections to and from the 2nd Avenue subway line that will permit
Q Broadway line trains from the West side of Manhattan to travel
north on the 2nd Ave line, once Phase I of the SAS line is completed
to 96th Street. In addition, a non-revenue tunnel connection
from the southern portion of the 2nd Ave line to/from the Queens
bound direction on this line will also be built.
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LEXINGTON AVENUE/ 63th
STREET
|
Lexington
Avenue 63rd Street
(Lexington Avenue and 63rd Street)
Opened
10/29/1989:
This is a bi-level station, with
Downtown/Brooklyn bound trains using the upper level, while Queens
bound trains use the lower level. The station's walls are
facing north, it could've have been island platforms instead.
Behind this wall, lies an unfinished station on each level and track
leads than end at wall. The walls can be removed and we would
have 4 tracks on 2 island platforms instead of the current 2 tracks
and 2 side platforms. Wall tiles are red, similar to the red
color in the Bowling Green Station, and the brick red at 49th
Street/BMT Broadway line station. Station has a total of 10
escalators, 6 staircases and 2 elevators, full ADA access. 2
additional staircases from upper to lower level are at opposite end
of platform, and behind elevator. There are 1 set of
escalators and 2 street stairs, separate fare controls to escalators
and the ADA elevator exist. It is possible, but rare, that the
MTA's Capital Construction program that is the lead agency
overseeing the Second Ave Subway project, to remove these walls and
allow Q trains to use the north tracks, while F trains se the
current southern 2 tracks. In this manner, it would eliminate
double switching and merging; under the current track
configuration Q trains would be forced to merge with the heavily
trafficked F lie before entering Lexington Avenue, only to diverge
away after leaving this station. Realigning the proposed Q
line extension would now only eliminate this merge, but would
actually allow cross-platform transfers between both lines.
The setup for the Q line at this station, is already there, all is
needed is the connection to the N/B 2nd Ave line. It is
unclear whether the MTA is planning on this matter and how the Q
line will be running at this point; this is only a suggestion by the
authors of this page.
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57th
STREET 6th AVENUE
|
57th
Street 6th Avenue
(57th
Street and Ave of the Americas) Opened
7/1/1968:
From 1968 to 1989, this was a
terminal stop for B trains and rush hour K local trains (the KK was
discontinued in 1976 for lack of patronage), and features one of the
last surviving telephone booths inside one of the 3 fare control
areas at mezzanine level. The door on the telephone booth is
broken and is unlikely to ever see any repair. A plaque
dedicating Ret. Col. John T. O'Neill, who served as NYCTA Chief
Engineer, until his death in 1978, sits next to the booth on the
west wall. Except for the removal of the 1960's exit slam
gates at fare controls; much of the station design remains unchanged
from the initial 1968 opening. 6 stairs to island platform (2
tracks), and 8 street stairs spread out on both sides of Avenue of
the Americas from 56th to 57th Streets. Even the "Next Train"
indicator lights are still hanging from the platform's ceiling.
The tower and crew area still exists, though it is abandoned after
the 1989 63rd Street extension to 21st Street, Queensbridge, but was
revived again in the late 1990's when Q express trains terminated
once again at 57th Street due to long term construction work that
necessitated a shuttle train from Queensbridge to 57th St/7th Ave on
the Broadway line. Once all construction work was completed on
the 63rd Street connector to Queens Blvd in 2001, the tower was
abandoned, permanently. Station walls are plain white with
1960's "57th St" names on the wall.
We leave 57/6 and are
suddenly sandwiched in between 2 tunnels. The V line is to the
left of us, while the B and D line are to the right of us.
We diverge to the left and merge with the V line for the first time.
We also have the option of diverging to the right for the B and D
lines, but that would take place during nightly/weekend G.O.s or an
unplanned reroute. After both tracks split away, the right side
first then our left side, there is a short track that ends in bumper
block. It was installed for no apparent reason.
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47th- 50th
STREET
ROCKEFELLER CENTER
|
47th-
50th Street Rockefeller Center (Ave of the
Americas, between West 47th and West 50th
Streets) Opened 12/15/1940: Very large
station, it is an express stop along the prestigious Avenue of the
Americas, with 4 tracks and 2 island platforms. Ordinarily, we
would be arriving on the local track. Because of the tricky
“T” shaped line configuration involving the E, F V and B/D lines
traveling in different directions, southbound express and local
trains come in on opposite sides, the B and D express trains use the
local track, while F and V trains use the express track.
Station has numerous passageways and exits, a total count of at
least 14 entrances from street level alone, were taken. This
does not include several passageways through Rockefeller Center, all
outside fare control. F/T booth is at north end of full-length
mezzanine, at West 49th Street, with 1 passageway through
Rockefeller Center on the East side, and another set of passageways
through various Concourse levels of office buildings along the west
side of Avenue of the Americas. A passageway to one northern
P/T staircase leads to Radio City Music Hall/West 50th
Street and is open late during evening performances. Another
passageway along west side of 49th Street was recently
extended to connect with the BMT 49th St station on the
N, R and W lines (no free transfer). Middle fare control at West 48th
Street has ghost booth and all-day HEET access. South fare
control at West 47th St has P/T booth and more
staircases. Eagle eye movie fans who saw the 1976 thriller
“Marathon Man”, will note the old KK rush hour subway route on a
street entrance of the east side of Ave of the Americas and West 47th
Street, before the routes’ demise. Each platform has 7 stairs
to mezzanine, the north end of the N/B platform has an active tower,
and is depressed about 10 feet below the S/B platform. This is
to prepare the lines to be branched out towards the Bronx and
Queens. Color band is red, with dark brown borders, “47” and
“50” alternate each other below the tile band
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42th
STREET BRYANT PARK
|
42nd
Street Bryant Park is discussed on the
complexes page
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|
34th
STREET
HERALD SQUARE
HERALD SQUARE |
34th Street
Herald Square is discussed on the complexes page
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|
23rd STREET
|
23d Street
(23rd
Street and 6th Avenue)
Opened
12/15/1940:
Local stop, 2 tracks along 2 separate side platforms. Because
the Hudson and Manhattan tunnels (now PATH) were constructed over 40
years prior to the IND, the local platforms do not allow any
crossover or cross under, nor was any mezzanine ever constructed at
this station (there is a mezzanine at 14th Street station, though.)
The F and V use the 2 outside tracks while inside the walls, the
PATH trains use the 2 inner tracks. The B and D express
tracks are way below the PATH tracks, and were constructed using the
"deep-bore" tunneling method in the mid 1960's. Each mezzanine
has 4 street stairs and a direct indoor entrance to the 23rd Street
PATH station. 2 of the 4 entrances on each side appear to be
part of the original 1911 PATH entrances. Tile band is lime
green. The tile band on the track walls appears to be obscured
by support beams directly underneath 23rd Street.
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14th
STREET
|
14th
Street is discussed on the complexes
page
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|
WEST 4th
STREET
WASHINGTON SQUARE
SQUARE |
West 4th
Street-Washington Square opened on 9/10/1932 (Ave of the
Americas between West 3rd St and Waverly Place) Upper
level opened 9/10/1932, Lower level opened 12/15/1940. has four
tracks on the upper level, serving A,( see A
Lefferts and A Rockaway)
C and E trains, a
lower Mezzanine and then a lower level serving B,
D, F and V
trains. The lower Mezzanine is full width and ramps length and also
holds numerous offices for NYCT. The north end of the upper level
has exits to the street. The south end of the upper level ramps up
to a crossover and a booth. Full ADA is in progress via the south
end.. A tower is at the south end of the southbound lower level
platform. The North exit leads to West Eighth Street and the south
to west Third Street. The exit to west Fourth Street has been
removed. The station has a secondary name of Washington Square and
is located under Sixth Avenue
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BROADWAY LAFAYETTE
|
Broadway Lafayette (West
Houston Street between Broadway and Lafayette Ave)
Opened 10/1/1936 Station has free transfer to IRT
Downtown 6 train (4 trains stop here during late nights) at east
end, and is approx 3 levels deep. Renovated by a contractor,
it still lacks the passageway from IND level to the Uptown IRT side
and is the only transfer point where access is restricted to
one-way. Over the years, there were plans on the drawing
boards to create a free transfer from the IND level to the Uptown
IRT side at Bleecker Street, the plans keep getting shelved, mostly
a lack of funding in the MTA’s Capital Program. The 2005-2009
MTA Capital Program makes allowances to design and build the free
transfer from the east end of the IND platform. This area
appears to be an entrance at one time that apparently never was
finished, it is sealed as a false wall. The relatively high
ceiling at the same end indicates a ramp was planned somewhere also.
This station features only 1 F/T fare control area at Broadway and
West Houston, with 2 street stairs. Before the renovation, the
fare control was situated in the middle, between the 2 Broadway
entrances and the Lafayette Ave entrance. The Lafayette Ave
entrance on the south side is currently 24/7 HEET access. A
new entrance and booth on the North side of Lafayette Ave and
Houston was constructed during the renovation, the booth fell victim
to the 2003 ax, as is now listed a ghost booth and part-time HEET
access. There is an intermediate level between the
mezzanine/IRT level and platform level, it contains artwork on the
columns. “Signal” by Mel Chin (1998) uses various materials to
create a lighted appearance at the bottom of the column. There
are 3 stairs from each platform to intermediate level and an
additional 2 stairs from intermediate to mezzanine level. At
the far western end (due north in accordance to lines traveled) is
another set of stairs (1 for each side) that lead directly up to
fare control, 3 levels and a steep walk up.
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2nd AVENUE
|
2nd
Avenue Lower East Side
(East Houston Street between 2nd Ave/Chrystie Street and
1st Avenue/Allen Street)
Opened 10/7/1933:
This is a terminal stop for V trains, it has 4 tracks, 2 island
platforms and 2 mezzanines. F/T side is at 1st Avenel/Allen
Street, while P/T side is at 2nd Avenel/Chrystie Street. When
the station first opened, it had a full length mezzanine, both
inside and outside fare control. Clear evidence of this
mezzanine points to the following: 1. partially obscured
directional sign "2nd Ave" at the 1st Avenue end. 2. Three
closed staircases from the closed mezzanine, to each platform.
Walk from one end of the platform to another and you will see a
break in the ceiling's pattern from time to time, and 3. The
mezzanine area is covered on both sides by various station and RTO
facilities, along with the gates that would have separated the
inside and outside fare control areas. This would have been a
transfer point to the IND's second system along 2nd Avenue, there is
a small closed staircase found at the P/T side that confirms this.
The MTA is currently building the full length 2nd Ave line within 20
years, and a free transfer at the proposed Houston Street station,
to this station is being considered. The 2 "express" tracks
end in a false wall, further evidence suggests that the 2 middle
tracks were being planned to be routed into Brooklyn's South 4th
Street line as part of the IND second system, none of which
ever got past the planning stage. Tile band is purple
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|
DELANCEY STREET / ESSEX
STREET
|
Delancey
Street/ Essex Street is discussed on the
complexes page | | |