Jamaica–Van Wyck station

Jamaica–Van Wyck (/væn ˈwɪk/ van WIK)[5] is a station on the IND Archer Avenue Line of the New York City Subway, located on the west side of the Van Wyck Expressway between Metropolitan Avenue and 89th Avenue on the border of Kew Gardens and Richmond Hill, Queens. It is served by the E train at all times. It is also the only station to be exclusively serviced by the E train.

 Jamaica–Van Wyck
 
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Station platform
Station statistics
AddressWest side of Van Wyck Expressway between Metropolitan Avenue & 89th Avenue
Queens, NY 11418
BoroughQueens
LocaleKew Gardens, Richmond Hill
Coordinates40.701905°N 73.81656°W / 40.701905; -73.81656
DivisionB (IND)
LineIND Archer Avenue Line
Services      E  (all times)
Transit connections NYCT Bus: Q24, Q54, Q56
MTA Bus: Q60, QM21
StructureUnderground
Platforms1 island platform
Tracks2
Other information
OpenedDecember 11, 1988 (1988-12-11)
Station code280[1]
Accessible ADA-accessible
Wireless service[2][3]
Opposite-direction transfer availableYes
Traffic
Passengers (2019)1,412,179[4]  6%
Rank306 out of 424[4]
Station succession
Next eastSutphin Boulevard–Archer Avenue–JFK Airport: E 
Next eastSutphin Boulevard–Archer Avenue–JFK Airport: E 
Next westBriarwood (local): E 
Kew Gardens–Union Turnpike (express): E 
Next westKew Gardens–Union Turnpike: E 

History

The plans for the Archer Avenue Lines emerged in the 1960s under the city and MTA's Program for Action.[6] It was conceived as an expansion of IND Queens Boulevard Line service to a "Southeast Queens" line along the right-of-way of the Long Island Rail Road Atlantic Branch towards Locust Manor, and as a replacement for the dilapidated eastern portions of the elevated BMT Jamaica Line within the Jamaica business district which business owners and residents sought removal of. Both lines would meet at the double-decked line under Archer Avenue. The two-track spur from the Queens Boulevard Line would use the original Van Wyck Boulevard bellmouths.[7][8][9][6] The IND line was to continue as a two-track line along the LIRR Atlantic Branch. It would have run through Locust Manor and Laurelton stations, with stops at Sutphin Boulevard, Parsons Boulevard (which was called Standard Place in planning documents), Linden Boulevard, Baisley Boulevard, and Springfield Boulevard.[10]

Design on the station began on October 1, 1974 and was completed on August 18, 1982 by MLA/Brodsky.[11]:15 Construction on Section 7 of Route 131D, the Southeast Queens Line, which included the Jamaica–Van Wyck station started on October 17, 1979. At this point, the segment of the Archer Avenue Line under the Van Wyck Expressway had been completed.[12] Bids for the station project were received on December 3, 1982, and the project was awarded to Carlin Construction & Development Corporation for $12.781 million. Work on the station began on December 15, 1982.[11]:15 The station opened along with the rest of the Archer Avenue Line on December 11, 1988.[13][14] Because of the 1975 New York City fiscal crisis, the Archer Avenue Line was never fully built to Springfield Boulevard, and was instead truncated to Parsons Boulevard. The shortened version of the line contained three stations, including Jamaica–Van Wyck, and was 2 miles (3.2 km) long.[14]

Station layout
Track layout
to Sutphin Blvd
to Briarwood or Union Tpke
Metropolitan Avenue entrance
G Street level Exit/entrance
B1 Mezzanine Fare control, station agents
Elevator at corner of 89th Avenue and Van Wyck Expressway south service road, adjacent to Jamaica Hospital
B2
Platform level		 Inbound[note 1] ← toward World Trade Center (Kew Gardens–Union Turnpike weekdays, Briarwood evenings/nights/weekends)
Island platform
Outbound[note 2] → toward Jamaica Center (Sutphin Boulevard–Archer Avenue–JFK Airport) →

This underground station has two tracks and a 600-foot-long (180 m) island platform.[12] It serves as the replacement for the former Metropolitan Avenue and Queens Boulevard stations of the BMT Jamaica Line. The track walls are mostly orange. The mezzanine is suspended above the Jamaica-bound track via heavy cables linked to the station roof. On the Manhattan-bound side, the station walls contain spaces for windows that can allow natural sunlight in, but they are currently covered over.

North (railroad south) of the station, the tracks lead trains to the IND Queens Boulevard Line, where they either switch to the line's local or express tracks depending on the time of day.[15]

This station has five escalators and two elevators.[11]:15

Exits

The Jamaica–Van Wyck station has two entrances.[12]

  • One entrance is at the southwest corner of Van Wyck Expressway and 89th Avenue near Jamaica Hospital Medical Center. This contains two escalators, an elevator, and one stair to the street level.[16][17]
  • The other entrance is at Metropolitan Avenue and Jamaica Avenue, and contains one up-only escalator and a street stair. Two escalators and one staircase connect the platform with the mezzanine.[16][17]

Notes
  1. This track is actually for trains going compass northbound, but its railroad direction is southbound.
  2. This track is actually for trains going compass southbound, but its railroad direction is northbound.

References
  1. "Station Developers' Information". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
  2. "NYC Subway Wireless – Active Stations". Transit Wireless Wifi. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  3. More Subway Stations in Manhattan, Bronx in Line to Get Online, mta.info (March 25, 2015). "The first two phases included stations in Midtown Manhattan and all underground stations in Queens with the exception of the 7 Main St terminal."
  4. "Facts and Figures: Annual Subway Ridership 2014–2019". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  5. Bilefsky, Dan (May 26, 2011). "Stuck on the Van Wyck Expressway? Just Try to Pronounce It". The New York Times. p. A28. Retrieved June 20, 2012.
  6. "Full text of "Metropolitan transportation, a program for action. Report to Nelson A. Rockefeller, Governor of New York."". Internet Archive. November 7, 1967. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
  7. Burks, Edward C. (October 24, 1973). "Work Begun on Queens Subway Extension" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
  8. nycsubway.org—The 1968 MTA "Program for Action"
  9. Dembart, Lee (September 9, 1977). "A Sentimental Journey on the BMT..." (PDF). nytimes.com. The New York Times. Retrieved July 2, 2015.
  10. "1.bp.blogspot.com/-KeE0zA-o9eQ/UkwMlD5iQgI/AAAAAAAACtM/rJZIo37CvK8/s640/southwest_route.jpg".
  11. "Archer Avenue Extension Ceremony 1988". New York City Transit Authority. December 1988. Missing or empty |url= (help)
  12. "New Subway Line" (PDF). Glendale Register. October 25, 1979. p. 11. Retrieved July 25, 2016 – via fultonhistory.com.
  13. Anders, Marjorie; Associated Press (December 11, 1988). "Subways get biggest change since 1904" (PDF). Nyack Journal News. p. I1. Retrieved July 25, 2016 – via fultonhistory.com.
  14. Johnson, Kirk (December 9, 1988). "Big Changes For Subways Are to Begin". nytimes.com. The New York Times. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
  15. Marrero, Robert (January 1, 2017). "472 Stations, 850 Miles" (PDF). B24 Blog, via Dropbox. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  16. "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Jamaica" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2015. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
  17. "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Kew Gardens" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2015. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
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