Merillon Avenue station

Merillon Avenue
Merillon Avenue station as seen from the eastbound platform.
Location Nassau Boulevard & Merillon Avenue
Garden City Park, NY
Coordinates 40°44′07″N 73°39′45″W / 40.735164°N 73.662523°W / 40.735164; -73.662523Coordinates: 40°44′07″N 73°39′45″W / 40.735164°N 73.662523°W / 40.735164; -73.662523
Owned by Long Island Rail Road
Line(s) Main Line
Platforms 2 side platforms
Tracks 2
Construction
Parking Yes
Bicycle facilities Yes
Disabled access Yes
Other information
Fare zone 4
History
Opened 1912
Rebuilt 1958
Electrified October 1926
750 V (DC) third rail
Previous names Clowesville (1837–1874)
Garden City (1874–1876)
Traffic
Passengers (2006) 1,533[1]
Services
Preceding station   LIRR   Following station
Port Jefferson Branch

Merillon Avenue (/ˈmɛrɪlɒn/) is a station on the Main Line of the Long Island Rail Road. It is located at Nassau Boulevard and Merillon Avenue in Garden City Park, New York. The station is wheelchair accessible with two side platforms and a crossunder at Nassau Boulevard.

History

Merillon Avenue station was established in 1911 near the former Clowesville station, which was established in June 1837 by the Brooklyn and Jamaica Railroad. It was the closest LIRR station to the old Queens County courthouse (Nassau County became a separate county in 1899, splitting off from Queens County) off Jericho Turnpike. By 1845, it was used only when courts were in session.

From 1874-1876, the station was named "Garden City" in order to mislead travelers into thinking that the station served Alexander Turney Stewart's Garden City, which was already served by Garden City station along the Central Railroad of Long Island in 1872.[2]The court moved away in 1877 and the station fell by the wayside,[3] although some trains continued to stop there as late as June 1897.[4] Though re-established as a station in 1911, the station house itself was not built until 1912. It was rebuilt in 1958 with a smaller structure and an narrow 11'6" bridge under the tracks for Nassau Boulevard.

LIRR massacre

The Merillon Avenue station was the final stop on the 5:33 p.m. train from Penn Station to Hicksville on December 7, 1993, before Colin Ferguson opened gunfire at passengers who were white or Asian. Six people died and 19 others were wounded. Carolyn McCarthy, whose husband was killed and whose son was seriously injured in the tragedy, pressed for tougher gun control laws and was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1996. There are often memorial wreaths on the platform at the head of the eastbound tracks of the station on the anniversaries of the incident.[5]

Station enhancements

As part of the Main Line third track project, the Merillon Avenue station will be upgraded to accommodate full-length 12-car trains, and platform B will be relocated. Canopies, benches, signage, and security cameras will be installed. The station will be made compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 via the installation of elevators and ramps. The existing station building will be demolished and replaced with extra parking spaces. Amenities such as Wi-Fi, USB charging stations, artwork, and digital information displays would be included in the renovation.[6] The electrical substation at Merillon Avenue station will be replaced to make way for the third track.[7]

Platforms and tracks

This station has two high-level side platforms, each the length of ten railway cars. During peak hours, both platforms sometimes serve peak-direction trains in the opposite direction.

G Ground level Exit/entrance and parking
P
Platform level
Platform A, doors will open on the right
Track 1 ← Port Jefferson Branch toward Long Island City, Atlantic or Penn (New Hyde Park)
← Montauk Branch, Ronkonkoma Branch, and Oyster Bay Branch do not stop here
Track 2 Port Jefferson Branch toward Hicksville, Huntington or Port Jeff (Mineola) →
Montauk Branch, Ronkonkoma Branch, and Oyster Bay Branch do not stop here →
Platform B, doors will open on the right

References

  1. ↑ Average weekday, 2006 LIRR Origin and Destination Study
  2. ↑ "The Long Island Rail Road, a Comprehensive History - Part 3: The Age of Expansion: 1863-1880," by Vincent F. Seyfried (1966)
  3. ↑ Clowesville Station (Arrt's Arrchives)
  4. ↑ LIRR station history
  5. ↑ Merillon Avenue memorial wreaths (TheSubwayNut)
  6. ↑ "Merillon Avenue Station Enhancement". A Modern LI. Retrieved 2018-07-04.
  7. ↑ "Merillon Avenue Substation Replacement". A Modern LI. Retrieved 2018-07-04.

Media related to Merillon Avenue (LIRR station) at Wikimedia Commons

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