Elmhurst Avenue station

Not to be confused with 90th Street–Elmhurst Avenue (IRT Flushing Line).

The Elmhurst Avenue station is a local station on the IND Queens Boulevard Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Elmhurst Avenue, 45th Avenue, and Broadway in Elmhurst, Queens, it is served by the M train on weekdays, the R train at all times except nights, and the E and F trains at night.

Elmhurst Avenue  ​
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
View from northbound platform
Station statistics
Address	Elmhurst Avenue, 45th Avenue, & Broadway Elmhurst, New York
Borough	Queens
Locale	Elmhurst
Coordinates	40.741795°N 73.88104°W / 40.741795; -73.88104
Division	B (IND)[1]
Line	IND Queens Boulevard Line
Services	E  (late nights) ​   F  (late nights) ​   M  (weekdays during the day) ​   R  (all times except late nights)
Transit	MTA Bus: Q53 SBS
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	4
Other information
Opened	December 31, 1936; 87 years ago (1936-12-31)
Opposite- direction transfer	Yes
Traffic
2023	2,676,734[2]  9.4%
Rank	130 out of 423[2]
Services Preceding station New York City Subway Following station Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue E  ​F  ​M  ​R  via Queens Plaza Local Grand Avenue–Newtown E  ​F  ​M  ​R  toward Forest Hills–71st Avenue 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 Grand Avenue–Newtown to Roosevelt Avenue
Street map
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times except late nights Stops late nights only Stops weekdays during the day
Elmhurst Avenue Subway Station (IND)
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
MPS	New York City Subway System MPS
NRHP reference No.	05000672[3]
Added to NRHP	July 6, 2005

History

Construction and opening

Mezzanine level

The Queens Boulevard Line was one of the first built by the city-owned Independent Subway System (IND), and was planned to stretch between the IND Eighth Avenue Line in Manhattan and 178th Street and Hillside Avenue in Jamaica, Queens, with a stop at Elmhurst Avenue.^[4][5] The line was first proposed in 1925.^[6] Construction of the line was approved by the New York City Board of Estimate on October 4, 1928.^[7] The line was constructed using the cut-and-cover tunneling method, and to allow pedestrians to cross, temporary bridges were built over the trenches.^[8]

The first section of the line opened on August 19, 1933 from the connection to the Eighth Avenue Line at 50th Street to Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights.^[9] Later that year, a $23 million loan was approved to finance the remainder of the line, along with other IND lines.^[10] The remainder of the line was built by the Public Works Administration.^[11][12] In 1934 and 1935, construction of the extension to Jamaica was suspended for 15 months and was halted by strikes.^[13] Construction was further delayed due to a strike in 1935, instigated by electricians opposing wages paid by the General Railway Signal Company.^[14] The chief engineer of the Elmhurst Avenue station was Robert Ridgway and the design engineer was Aaron I. Raisman.^[3]: 8

In August 1936, tracks were installed all the way to 178th Street, and the stations to Union Turnpike were completed.^[13] On December 31, 1936, the IND Queens Boulevard Line was extended by eight stops, and 3.5 miles (5.6 km), from its previous terminus at Roosevelt Avenue to Union Turnpike.^[15][16][17] The E train, which initially served all stops on the new extension, began making express stops in April 1937,^[18] and local GG trains began serving the extension at the time.^[19]

Later years

The opening of the Elmhurst Avenue station resulted in the development of Elmhurst as a commercial and residential neighborhood.^[3]: 8 This station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 6, 2005, as structure number 05000672.^[20][21]

Station layout

Ground	Street level	Exit/entrance
Mezzanine		Fare control, station agent, MetroCard and OMNY machines
Platform level	Side platform
	Southbound local	← toward Middle Village–Metropolitan Avenue weekdays (Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue) ← toward Bay Ridge–95th Street (Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue) ← toward World Trade Center late nights (Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue) ← toward Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue late nights (Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue)
	Southbound express	← do not stop here
	Northbound express	→ do not stop here →
	Northbound local	→ toward Forest Hills–71st Avenue weekdays (Grand Avenue–Newtown) → → toward Forest Hills–71st Avenue (Grand Avenue–Newtown) → → toward Jamaica Center–Parsons/Archer late nights (Grand Avenue–Newtown) → → toward Jamaica–179th Street late nights (Grand Avenue–Newtown) →
	Side platform

Tile caption below trim line

Southwestern (railroad north) street stair

There are four tracks and two side platforms;^[22] the two center express tracks are used by the E and F trains at all times except late nights.^[23] The E and F trains serve the station at night,^[24][25] the M train serves the station on weekdays during the day,^[26] and the R train serves the station at all times except late nights.^[27] The station is between Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue to the west and Grand Avenue–Newtown to the east.^[28]

Both platform walls have a blue tile band on a black border with small "ELMHURST" tile captions in white lettering on a black background beneath them. They also have mosaic name tablets reading "ELMHURST AVE." in white sans-serif lettering on a black background and Cerulean blue border.^[3]: 4 The tile band was part of a color-coded tile system used throughout the IND.^[29] The tile colors were designed to facilitate navigation for travelers going away from Lower Manhattan. As such, the blue tiles used at the Elmhurst Avenue station are also used at Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue, the next express station to the west, while a different tile color is used at Forest Hills–71st Avenue, the next express station to the east. Blue tiles are similarly used at the other local stations between Roosevelt Avenue and 71st Avenue.^[30][31] There are also advertising recesses between the tablets, as well as grates at the top of the platform wall.^[3]: 5

The ceiling of the platform level is held up by yellow I-beam piers located every 15 feet (4.6 m), which support girders underneath the mezzanine that runs above the platform level. The roof girders are also connected to columns in the platform walls.^[3]: 3

The tunnel is covered by a U-shaped trough that contains utility pipes and wires. The outer walls of this trough are composed of columns, spaced approximately every 5 feet (1.5 m) with concrete infill between them. There is a 1-inch (25 mm) gap between the tunnel wall and the platform wall, which is made of 4-inch (100 mm)-thick brick covered over by a tiled finish. The columns between the tracks are also spaced every 5 feet (1.5 m), with no infill.^[3]: 3

This station has a full-length mezzanine above the platforms and tracks supported by yellow I-beam columns located every 15 feet (4.6 m). It is separated into three sections by two chain-link fences, which separate the paid areas along the outer walls from the unpaid area in the center of the station. However, underneath the westernmost staircase of the station, there is a passageway that connects the mezzanines from each direction, allowing free transfers between directions. The token booth is at the center in the middle section outside fare control with a small turnstile bank to either outer section. Each platform has seven staircases going up to the mezzanine.^[3]: 5

Exits

Elmhurst Avenue exit at 82-55 Broadway

There are five entrances to the station in total, two on the northwestern end of the mezzanine and three on the southeastern end.^[3]: 4

The staircases to the street are at either end of the mezzanine. On the northwest (railroad south) side, one staircase goes up to the southwest corner of 82nd Street and Broadway while another goes up to the southwest corner of Britton Avenue and Broadway. At this end, there are two exit-only turnstiles from the Forest Hills-bound side of the mezzanine and two High Entry-Exit Turnstiles from the Manhattan-bound side.^{[3]: 5 [32]}

On the southeast (railroad north) side of the mezzanine, there are two staircases going up to either southern corner of 45th Avenue and Broadway. Another goes up to the northwest corner of Elmhurst Avenue and Broadway, which is built within a store front and goes through a small underground shopping arcade. On this side, there are two exit-only turnstiles and one High Entry-Exit Turnstile from the Forest Hills-bound side and two High Entry-Exit Turnstiles from the Manhattan-bound side.^{[3]: 5 [32]}

Nearby infrastructure

The Elmhurst station on the Long Island Rail Road's Port Washington Branch was about one block to the south of this station before it closed in 1985.^[33]

Between this station and Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue, there are holes on the tunnel's ceiling, which accommodate the never-used tunnels coming from the Roosevelt Avenue station's unused upper-level terminal.

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. "New York MPS Elmhurst Avenue Subway Station (IND)". Records of the National Park Service, 1785 - 2006, Series: National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks Program Records, 2013 - 2017, Box: National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks Program Records: New York, ID: 05000672. National Archives.
4. See:

   • 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. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 19, 2015.
   • Board of Transportation of the City of New York Engineering Department, Proposed Additional Rapid Transit Lines And Proposed Vehicular Tunnel, dated August 23, 1929
5. "Queens Lauded as Best Boro By Chamber Chief". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. September 23, 1929. p. 40. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
6. "New Subway Routes in Hylan Program to Cost $186,046,000" (PDF). The New York Times. March 21, 1925. p. 1. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
7. "$17,146,500 Voted For New Subways; Estimate Board Appropriates More Than $9,000,000 for Lines in Brooklyn. $6,490,000 For The Bronx Smaller Items for Incidental Work --Approves the Proposed Queens Boulevard Route". The New York Times. October 5, 1928. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
8. Hirshon, Nicholas; Romano, Foreword by Ray (January 1, 2013). Forest Hills. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-9785-0.
9. "Two Subway Links Opened In Queens" (PDF). The New York Times. August 19, 1933. p. 13. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 11, 2016.
10. "Unfinished Sections of Subway Lines To Be Completed" (PDF). The New York Sun. December 13, 1933. p. 47. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
11. "Trains Testing Jamaica Link Of City Subway". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. April 10, 1937. p. 3. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
12. "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.
13. Neufeld, Ernest (August 23, 1936). "Men Toil Under Earth to Build Subway" (PDF). Long Island Daily Press. p. 2 (Section 2). Retrieved August 12, 2016.
14. See:

    • "500 More Quit Subway Work On Boulevard: General Strike Order Issued Today; 72 Walk Out in Jamaica" (PDF). Long Island Daily Press. April 2, 1935. p. 2. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
    • "Aldermen Probe Strike on Subway" (PDF). Long Island Daily Press. April 3, 1935. p. 4. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
15. Roger P. Roess; Gene Sansone (August 23, 2012). The Wheels That Drove New York: A History of the New York City Transit System. Springer Science & Business Media. pp. 416–417. ISBN 978-3-642-30484-2.
16. "City Subway Opens Queens Link Today; Extension Brings Kew Gardens Within 36 Minutes of 42d St. on Frequent Trains". The New York Times. December 31, 1936. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
17. "Mayor Takes 2,000 for a Ride ln Queens Subway Extension: Heads Civic Leaders in 10-Car Train Over Route to Kew Gardens That Opens at 7 A. M. Today; Warns of 15-Cent Fare if Unity Plan Fails The Mayor Brings Rapid Transit to Kew Gardens". New York Herald Tribune. December 31, 1936. p. 34. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1222323973.
18. "Trains Testing Jamaica Link Of City Subway". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. April 10, 1937. p. 3. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
19. "Jamaica Will Greet Subway" (PDF). The New York Sun. April 23, 1937. p. 8. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
20. Queens County Listings at the National Register of Historic Places (Structure #05000672)
21. National Register of Historic Places Listings March 25, 2005 (Structure #05000672)
22. Dougherty, Peter (2006) [2002]. Tracks of the New York City Subway 2006 (3rd ed.). Dougherty. OCLC 49777633 – via Google Books.
23. "Late Night Subway Service" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. March 23, 2023. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
24. "E Subway Timetable, Effective April 1, 2024". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
25. "F Subway Timetable, Effective June 30, 2024". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
26. "M Subway Timetable, Effective June 30, 2024". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
27. "R Subway Timetable, Effective June 30, 2024". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
28. "Subway Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. September 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
29. "Tile Colors a Guide in the New Subway; Decoration Scheme Changes at Each Express Stop to Tell Riders Where They Are". The New York Times. August 22, 1932. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 1, 2022. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
30. Carlson, Jen (February 18, 2016). "Map: These Color Tiles In The Subway System Used To Mean Something". Gothamist. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
31. Gleason, Will (February 18, 2016). "The hidden meaning behind the New York subway's colored tiles". Time Out New York. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
32. "Map of NYC Subway Entrances". NYC Open Data. City of New York. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
33. "LIRR Station History". TrainsAreFun.com. Archived from the original on January 6, 2011. Retrieved June 22, 2013.

External links

• nycsubway.org – IND Queens Boulevard Line: Elmhurst Avenue
• Station Reporter — R Train
• Station Reporter — M Train
• The Subway Nut — Elmhurst Avenue Pictures
• Elmhurst Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Britton Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View
• 82nd Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Platforms from Google Maps Street View