Flushing–Main Street station (LIRR)

Flushing – Main Street
View from eastbound Platform "B" to Port Washington
Location Main Street and 41st Avenue
Flushing, Queens, New York
Coordinates 40°45′29″N 73°49′52″W / 40.757989°N 73.831086°W / 40.757989; -73.831086Coordinates: 40°45′29″N 73°49′52″W / 40.757989°N 73.831086°W / 40.757989; -73.831086
Owned by Long Island Rail Road
Line(s)
  Port Washington Branch
Platforms 2 side platforms
Tracks 2
Connections New York City Subway:
"7" train "7" express train​ trains at Flushing–Main Street
NYCT Bus: Q12, Q13, Q15, Q16, Q17, Q19, Q20A, Q20B, Q26, Q27, Q28, Q44 SBS, Q48, Q50, Q58
MTA Bus: Q25, Q34, Q65, Q66
Nassau Inter-County Express: n20G
Construction
Parking Yes (metered)
Other information
Fare zone 3
History
Opened June 26, 1854 (NY&F)[1]
Rebuilt 1865, 1870, 1913, 1958
Electrified October 22, 1912
750 V (DC) third rail
Previous names Flushing (1853–1870)
Traffic
Passengers (2006) 2,136[2]
Services
Preceding station   LIRR   Following station
toward Penn Station
Port Washington Branch
regular service
toward Penn Station
Port Washington Branch
seasonal service

Flushing–Main Street is a station on the Port Washington Branch of the Long Island Rail Road, serving the neighborhood of Flushing, Queens. The station is part of the L.I.R.R.'s CityTicket, and is in Zone 3. The station is located at Main Street and 41st Avenue, off Kissena Boulevard and is 9.5 miles (15.3 km) from Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan and 10.4 miles (16.73 km) southwest of Port Washington.

History

1891 map of area around station

The Flushing–Main Street station was originally built in December 1853 as the Flushing station by the New York and Flushing Railroad, but not opened until June 26, 1854. Flushing served as the terminus of the NY&F until October 30, 1864 when a subsidiary known as the North Shore Railroad extended it to Great Neck, and it was burned in order to prepare for a second station that was built between January and February 1865. In 1868, the station and the rest of the line were acquired by the Flushing and North Side Railroad, which razed the second station in 1870 and built a third station between October and November 1870. The station was renamed after both Flushing and Main Street, in order to distinguish itself from the former Flushing Bridge Street station that ran along the F&NS's Whitestone Branch, which was abandoned by the LIRR in 1932.

During the mid-1870s, the station and the rest of the line merged with the Central Railroad of Long Island to form the Flushing, North Shore and Central Railroad, and then became part of the Port Washington Branch of the Long Island Rail Road, which also used the station as the eastern terminus of the White Line between 1873 and 1876. Shortly after the line was electrified on October 22, 1912, the station was abandoned on November 11, 1912, as part of an effort by the Long Island Rail Road to bring the Port Washington Branch above and below street level depending on the location.

In Flushing, the station was elevated along with the rest of the tracks on October 4, 1913. Until that point, the line used to run at grade and went through a tunnel under a girls' school just east of where the Main Street overpass stands today.[3] The tunnel and the school were torn down to build the overpass and the open cut through which the line now runs. In 1958, the elevated track level building was razed and replaced with a street level ticket office. Sheltered platforms exist on both sides of the tracks in the former station's place, and the sidewalks beneath the bridge serve local businesses.

Station layout

The station has two high-level side platforms, each 10 cars long.

G Ground level Exit/entrance and buses
P
Platform level
Platform A, doors will open on the right
Track 1 ← Port Washington Branch toward Penn (Mets–Willets Point or Woodside)
Track 2 Port Washington Branch toward Great Neck or Port Washington (Murray Hill) →
Platform B, doors will open on the right

Improvements

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is planning to renovate the station and bring it into compliance with the 1990 Americans With Disabilities Act. According to a description of the $24.6 million project, one elevator will be built from each platform to street level, and various components of the station would be renovated. A one-story commercial building on the west side of Main Street would be demolished and replaced by a station house with an elevator, which would provide more direct access to the westbound platform.[4]

On October 28, 2013, the MTA held a public hearing on the proposed acquisition of private property at 40-36 Main Street in Flushing for the purpose of adding an elevator intended for the rebuilt station. By June 2015, design had been completed and one of the two parcels of private property, a food stall, had been acquired. The MTA expected to complete the eminent domain acquisition of Ou-Jang Supermarket's 40-36 Main Street property by summer 2015; the supermarket objected to the amount MTA offered, $974,592. On January 6, 2016, filings in Queens County Superior Court showed that MTA and the supermarket reached a settlement of $2,236,600, of which $1.9 million was the cash purchase price and the remainder represented rent to be paid by MTA on behalf of the supermarket at its new location.[5] The MTA began in July 2016 and planned to complete the project by the 4th quarter of 2017.[6] In December 2015, the MTA had put the project out for competitive bidding with a proposal due date of December 9, 2015.[7]

On July 22, 2016, the ticket office was closed as part of the two-year renovation project along with the staircase to the eastbound platform with a temporary staircase and platform extension providing access.[8][9] The current staircase to the city-bound platform will be closed for renovation upon the opening of a new staircase and elevator.[10] Completion of the project was set for early 2018,[11] though as of summer 2018, the elevators had been completed.[10]

References

  1. ↑ Vincent F. Seyfried, The Long Island Rail Road: A Comprehensive History, Part Two: The Flushing, North Shore & Central Railroad, © 1963
  2. ↑ Average weekday, 2006 LIRR Origin and Destination Study
  3. ↑ October 12, 1913 image of Water Tank & Tunnel @ Flushing Station by Vincent Seyfried and Asadorian (TrainsAreFun.com)
  4. ↑ "Public Hearing: LIRR Flushing Main Street Station Improvement Project". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Archived from the original on April 30, 2014. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
  5. ↑ Toure, Madina (February 12, 2016). "MTA settles Flushing LIRR eminent domain case". Times Ledger.
  6. ↑ Toure, Madina (June 24, 2015). "Flushing LIRR station project to be completed by 2017: MTA". Times Ledger.
  7. ↑ "Current Solicitations". MTA LIRR. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2016-06-29. Retrieved 2016-09-17.
  8. ↑ "MTA LIRR – Flushing Main Street". lirr42.mta.info. Retrieved 2016-09-16.
  9. ↑ "Flushing-Main Street Station Ticket Office Closure Effective Friday". web.mta.info. Retrieved 2016-09-16.
  10. 1 2 "MTA LIRR - Flushing Main Street Station Improvement Project". web.mta.info. Retrieved 2016-09-16.
  11. ↑ Monteverdi, Suzanne (2017-09-15). "Elevators under construction at Flushing-Main Street LIRR station". Queens Courier. Retrieved 2017-12-13.
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