90th Street–Elmhurst Avenue station

Not to be confused with Elmhurst Avenue (IND Queens Boulevard Line).

The 90th Street–Elmhurst Avenue station is a local station on the IRT Flushing Line of the New York City Subway, located at 90th Street and Elmhurst Avenue in Elmhurst, Queens.^[3] It is served by the 7 train at all times.^[4]

90 Street–Elmhurst Avenue
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Station statistics
Address	90th Street, Elmhurst Avenue & Roosevelt Avenue Queens, New York
Borough	Queens
Locale	Elmhurst
Coordinates	40°44′54″N 73°52′35″W
Division	A (IRT)[1]
Line	IRT Flushing Line
Services	7  (all times)
Structure	Elevated
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	3
Other information
Opened	April 21, 1917; 107 years ago (1917-04-21)
Opposite- direction transfer	Yes
Traffic
2023	4,476,908[2]  18.1%
Rank	61 out of 423[2]
Services Preceding station New York City Subway Following station 74th Street–Broadway toward 34th Street–Hudson Yards Local Junction Boulevard toward Flushing–Main Street 82nd Street–Jackson Heights One-way operation 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 Junction Boulevard to 82nd Street–Jackson Heights
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.^[5]: 47 Community leaders advocated for more Dual Contracts lines to be built in Queens to allow development there.^[6] 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 90th Street.^[7]

Later years

The city government took over the IRT's operations on June 12, 1940.^[8][9] 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.^[10] The route from Times Square to Flushing became known as the 7.^[11] On October 17, 1949, the joint BMT/IRT operation of the Flushing Line ended, and the line became the responsibility of the IRT.^[12] 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.^[13][14] The platforms at the station were extended in 1955–1956 to accommodate 11-car trains.^[15] However, nine-car trains continued to run on the 7 route until 1962, when they were extended to ten cars.^[16] With the opening of the 1964 New York World's Fair, trains were lengthened to eleven cars.^[17][18]

On February 2, 2019, a fatal gang shooting occurred at the station, carried out by an alleged MS-13 or SUR 13 member who shot another person of rival 18th Street gang.^[19][20]

Station layout

Platform level
	Side platform
	Southbound local	← toward 34th Street–Hudson Yards (82nd Street–Jackson Heights)
	Peak-direction express	← AM rush does not stop here ← PM rush/evenings does not stop here →
	Northbound local	→ toward Flushing–Main Street (Junction Boulevard) →
	Side platform
Mezzanine		Fare control, station agent, MetroCard and OMNY machines
Ground	Street level	Entrances/exits

View from street

This elevated station has three tracks and two side platforms.^[21] The center track is used by the peak direction <7> express service during rush hours.^[4]

Both platforms have beige windscreens and brown canopies with red support frames and columns in the center and beige, waist-high, steel fences with lampposts at regular intervals at either ends.^[22][23] The windscreens have translucent panels by the exit staircases and the station signs are in the standard black name plates in white lettering.^[24]

Exits

This station has one elevated station house below the center of the platforms and tracks. The north side has two staircases going down to either northern corners of 90th Street and Roosevelt Avenue while the south side has one staircase going down to the triangle formed by Roosevelt Avenue, Elmhurst Avenue, and Case Street.^[3]

Inside the station house is a token booth in the center.^[25] On the south (geographical west) side is a turnstile bank that leads to a waiting area/crossover and one staircase going up to each platform.^[26] On the north (geographical east) side, each side has a bank of two turnstiles and one staircase going up to the platform.^[27]

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. "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Corona" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2015. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
4. "7 Subway Timetable, Effective December 17, 2023". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
5. 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.
6. "Move for Rapid Transit" (PDF). Newtown Register. December 2, 1909. p. 1. Retrieved September 30, 2017 – via Fultonhistory.com.
7. "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.
8. "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.
9. "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.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. "Direct Subway Runs To Flushing, Astoria" (PDF). The New York Times. October 15, 1949. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
13. 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.
14. "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.
15. 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.
16. "R17s to the Flushing Line". New York Division Bulletin. 5 (6). Electric Railroaders' Association: M-8. December 1962 – via Issu.
17. "TA to Show Fair Train". Long Island Star – Journal. August 31, 1963. Retrieved August 30, 2016 – via Fulton History.
18. "A First-class Rapid Ride". Railway Age. Vol. 156, no. 21. June 1, 1964. p. 22. ProQuest 895766286.
19. Moore, Tina; Jaeger, Max (February 4, 2019). "Fatal subway shooting in Queens was 'gang-related': cops". New York Post. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
20. "Queens Subway Shooting: MS-13 Member Is Arrested, Police Say". The New York Times. February 4, 2019. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
21. Dougherty, Peter (2006) [2002]. Tracks of the New York City Subway 2006 (3rd ed.). Dougherty. OCLC 49777633 – via Google Books.
22. Cox, Jeremiah (May 28, 2010). "Looking across to one of the street stairs and an odd translucent wall". subwaynut.com. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
23. Cox, Jeremiah (May 28, 2010). "Approaching a platform end with modern speaker structures". subwaynut.com. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
24. Cox, Jeremiah (May 28, 2010). "Looking across to the opposite platform at 90 St-Elmhurst Av". subwaynut.com. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
25. Cox, Jeremiah (May 28, 2010). "Approaching the turnstiles". subwaynut.com. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
26. Cox, Jeremiah (May 28, 2010). "The portion of the mezzanine with the small waiting area and free crossunder". subwaynut.com. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
27. Cox, Jeremiah (May 28, 2010). "The turnstiles for the Flushing-bound platform only and exit staircase that curves out from the middle of the station house". subwaynut.com. Retrieved February 6, 2019.

External links

• nycsubway.org – IRT Flushing Line: 90th Street/Elmhurst Avenue
• Station Reporter — 7 Train
• The Subway Nut — 90th Street - Elmhurst Avenue Pictures Archived May 21, 2017, at the Wayback Machine
• 90th Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Elmhurst Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Platforms from Google Maps Street View