69th Street station (IRT Flushing Line)

The 69th Street station (also known as 69th Street–Fisk Avenue station) is a local station on the IRT Flushing Line of the New York City Subway. Located at 69th Street and Roosevelt Avenue in the Woodside, Queens, it is served by the 7 train at all times.^[3]

69 Street
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Northbound platform with southbound 7 train departing
Station statistics
Address	69th Street & Roosevelt Avenue Woodside, New York
Borough	Queens
Locale	Woodside
Coordinates	40°44′46.53″N 73°53′48.66″W
Division	A (IRT)[1]
Line	IRT Flushing Line
Services	7  (all times)
Transit	NYCT Bus: Q32, Q47
Structure	Elevated
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	3
Other information
Opened	April 21, 1917; 107 years ago (1917-04-21)
Opposite- direction transfer	Yes
Former/other names	69th Street–Fisk Avenue
Traffic
2023	1,391,674[2]  8.7%
Rank	226 out of 423[2]
Services Preceding station New York City Subway Following station 61st Street–Woodside toward 34th Street–Hudson Yards Local 74th Street–Broadway toward Flushing–Main Street does not stop here
Location Show map of New York City Subway Show map of New York City Show map of New York
Track layout Legend to 74th Street–Broadway to 61st Street–Woodside
Street map
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times

History

Early history

The 1913 Dual Contracts called for the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) and Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT; later Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation, or BMT) to build new lines in Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. Queens did not receive many new IRT and BRT lines compared to Brooklyn and the Bronx, since the city's Public Service Commission (PSC) wanted to alleviate subway crowding in the other two boroughs first before building in Queens, which was relatively undeveloped. The IRT Flushing Line was to be one of two Dual Contracts lines in the borough, along with the Astoria Line; it would connect Flushing and Long Island City, two of Queens's oldest settlements, to Manhattan via the Steinway Tunnel. When the majority of the line was built in the early 1910s, most of the route went through undeveloped land, and Roosevelt Avenue had not been constructed.^[4]: 47 Community leaders advocated for more Dual Contracts lines to be built in Queens to allow development there.^[5]

The Flushing Line was opened from Queensboro Plaza to Alburtis Avenue (now 103rd Street–Corona Plaza) on April 21, 1917, with a local station at 69th Street.^[6]

Later years

The city government took over the IRT's operations on June 12, 1940.^[7][8] The IRT routes were given numbered designations in 1948 with the introduction of "R-type" rolling stock, which contained rollsigns with numbered designations for each service.^[9] The route from Times Square to Flushing became known as the 7.^[10] On October 17, 1949, the joint BMT/IRT operation of the Flushing Line ended, and the line became the responsibility of the IRT.^[11] After the end of BMT/IRT dual service, the New York City Board of Transportation announced that the Flushing Line platforms would be lengthened to 11 IRT car lengths; the platforms were only able to fit nine 51-foot-long IRT cars beforehand.^[12][13] The platforms at the station were extended in 1955–1956 to accommodate 11-car trains.^[14] However, nine-car trains continued to run on the 7 route until 1962, when they were extended to ten cars.^[15] With the opening of the 1964 New York World's Fair, trains were lengthened to eleven cars.^[16][17]

As part of the 2015–2019 Capital Program, the MTA announced plans to renovate the 52nd, 61st, 69th, 82nd, 103rd and 111th Streets stations, a project that had been delayed for several years. Conditions at these stations were reported to be among the worst of all stations in the subway system.^[18] The Manhattan-bound platform at the 69th Street station will close for renovation starting winter 2025, followed by the closure of the Flushing-bound platform.^[19][20]

Station layout

Platform level
	Side platform
	Southbound local	← toward 34th Street–Hudson Yards (61st Street–Woodside)
	Peak-direction express	← AM rush does not stop here ← PM rush/evenings does not stop here →
	Northbound local	→ toward Flushing–Main Street (74th Street–Broadway) →
	Side platform
Mezzanine		Fare control, station agent, MetroCard and OMNY machines
Ground	Street level	Entrances/exits

South side from street

This elevated station has three tracks and two side platforms.^[21] The center track is used by the peak direction express service during rush hours.^[3] The extreme north (geographical east) end of the northbound platform is a closed work stair leading to a storage area below the tracks.

Both platforms have beige windscreens and brown canopies with green support frames and columns in the center and black, waist-high, steel fences at either ends. Black lampposts are at the un-canopied sections at regular intervals and the station signs are in the standard black name plate in white lettering.

The Brooklyn-Queens Expressway passes under the IRT Flushing Line just east of the station. There were formerly crossovers and switches between this station and 61st Street–Woodside. They were removed in 2008 and replaced with crossovers on either side of 74th Street–Broadway. The new crossovers are set up in such a way that trains going in either direction on the express track can stop at 74th Street.^[21]

Under the elevated structure of the Flushing Line directly east of the station and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and two tracks of the New York Connecting Railroad, which is used for freight by CSX, Canadian Pacific, and Providence and Worcester Railroad.

Exits

This station has one elevated station house beneath the center of the platforms and tracks. Two staircases from the street, one at the northeast corner of 69th Street and Roosevelt Avenue and the other at the southwest corner, go up to the mezzanine, where there is a token booth at the center and a turnstile bank at either ends. Both turnstile banks lead to a waiting area/crossunder and have one staircase going up to each platform.

References

1. "Glossary". Second Avenue Subway Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) (PDF). Vol. 1. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. March 4, 2003. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 26, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
2. "Annual Subway Ridership (2018–2023)". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
3. "7 Subway Timetable, Effective December 17, 2023". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
4. 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.
5. "Move for Rapid Transit" (PDF). Newtown Register. December 2, 1909. p. 1. Retrieved September 30, 2017 – via Fultonhistory.com.
6. "Transit Service on Corona Extension of Dual Subway System Opened to the Public". The New York Times. April 22, 1917. p. RE1. Retrieved October 2, 2011.
7. "City Transit Unity Is Now a Reality; Title to I.R.T. Lines Passes to Municipality, Ending 19-Year Campaign". The New York Times. June 13, 1940. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on January 7, 2022. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
8. "Transit Unification Completed As City Takes Over I. R. T. Lines: Systems Come Under Single Control After Efforts Begun in 1921; Mayor Is Jubilant at City Hall Ceremony Recalling 1904 Celebration". New York Herald Tribune. June 13, 1940. p. 25. ProQuest 1248134780.
9. Brown, Nicole (May 17, 2019). "How did the MTA subway lines get their letter or number? NYCurious". amNewYork. Archived from the original on March 2, 2021. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
10. Friedlander, Alex; Lonto, Arthur; Raudenbush, Henry (April 1960). "A Summary of Services on the IRT Division, NYCTA" (PDF). New York Division Bulletin. 3 (1). Electric Railroaders' Association: 2–3. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 14, 2020. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
11. "Direct Subway Runs To Flushing, Astoria" (PDF). The New York Times. October 15, 1949. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
12. Bennett, Charles G. (November 20, 1949). "Transit Platforms On Lines In Queens To Be Lengthened; $3,850,000 Program Outlined for Next Year to Care for Borough's Rapid Growth New Links Are To Be Built 400 More Buses to Roll Also — Bulk of Work to Be on Corona-Flushing Route Transit Program In Queens Outlined". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 29, 2018.
13. "37 Platforms On Subways To Be Lengthened: All Stations of B. M. T. and I.R.T.in Queens Included in $5,000,000 Program". New York Herald Tribune. November 20, 1949. p. 32. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1325174459.
14. Minutes and Proceedings of the New York City Transit Authority. New York City Transit Authority. 1955. Archived from the original on September 13, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
15. "R17s to the Flushing Line". New York Division Bulletin. 5 (6). Electric Railroaders' Association: M-8. December 1962 – via Issu.
16. "TA to Show Fair Train". Long Island Star – Journal. August 31, 1963. Retrieved August 30, 2016 – via Fulton History.
17. "A First-class Rapid Ride". Railway Age. Vol. 156, no. 21. June 1, 1964. p. 22. ProQuest 895766286.
18. Murray, Christian (November 19, 2019). "MTA To Overhaul Six Stations on the 7 Line, Currently in Design Phase". Sunnyside Post. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
19. "MTA Announces Service Changes on 7 Line Beginning May 12". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. April 21, 2023. Archived from the original on April 22, 2023. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
20. "Improving the 7 Line". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. March 9, 2023. Archived from the original on March 25, 2023. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
21. Dougherty, Peter (2006) [2002]. Tracks of the New York City Subway 2006 (3rd ed.). Dougherty. OCLC 49777633 – via Google Books.

External links

• nycsubway.org – IRT Flushing Line: 69th Street/Fisk Avenue
• Station Reporter — 7 Train
• The Subway Nut — 69th Street Pictures Archived October 1, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
• 69th Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Platforms from Google Maps Street View