Two E trains hold down service on the IND Queens Boulevard Line at Sutphin Blvd.-Archer Ave./JFK. Photo by David Pirmann, April 2009.

Opening/Closing Dates

Station by Station (Jamaica Branch)

Jamaica Center -- Parsons-Archer

Artwork Jamaica Center Station Riders, Blue (Sam Gilliam, 1991)

EJZTwo levels, two tracks and one island platform on each level. ADAaccessible with full elevator access. This station has tan brickwalls and red brick floor. The ceiling has metal slats and resembles avaulted ceiling except there are no curves.

Photo by: Bill E.	Photo by: John Barnes	Photo by: Robert Mencher	Photo by: Christopher Henderson	Photo by: Robert Mencher
More Images:1-5051-100101-129

Sutphin Blvd.-Archer Ave.-JFK

EJZTwo levels, two tracks and one island platform on each level. ADAaccessible with full elevator access. This station features grayvertical acoustic tile side walls and a glassed-in crossover. Thestation has a high ceiling with transverse metal slats. The I-beamsare enclosed with stainless steel. The mezzanine is glass andstainless steel and features a Sutphin Boulevard mosaic on thegeographic north wall. The escalator from mezzanine to LIRR stationfeatures a red checkerboard pattern. The stairs to the mezzanine andlower level have glass sides.

Photo by: Robert Marrero	Photo by: Peter Ehrlich	Photo by: Wilfredo Castillo	Photo by: Bernard Chatreau	Photo by: Christopher Henderson
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Jamaica-Van Wyck

EThis station has a station house at street level. Thestation's fare control mezzanine is reached by a long escalator. Thestation has red brick sidewalls and has the mezzanine over thenorthbound (to Jamaica) track. The geographic north side of themezzanine has windows near the ceiling to let in natural light thusgiving the station a broad, airy, open feeling. The mezzanine issuspended via heavy cables to the station roof.

Photo by: Peter Ehrlich	Photo by: Filip Matuska	Photo by: David Pirmann	Photo by: David Pirmann	Photo by: John Dooley
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Station by Station (179th Street Branch)

179th Street

Artwork Our Spectrum of Support (Reginald Polynice, 1993)

FThis terminal station has four tracks and two islandplatforms. There is beige wall tile with blue and orange colorstripes. In an unusual feature the two colors alternate in a sine-wavepattern with each being on top before curving underneath the othercolor. The full mezzanine with crossover features comic superheroplywood cutouts "holding up the ceiling" of the station. The south endof southbound platform features a tower. North of this station thereare eight storage tracks, four on each of two levels, which continueas far as 184th Street.

Photo by: Robbie Rosenfeld	Photo by: Leonard Wilson	Photo by: John Barnes	Photo by: John Barnes	Collection of: Collection of nycsubway.org
More Images:1-5051-100101-122

169th Street

Artwork Sorry, no artwork here.

FTwo side platforms, four tracks. Tile is similar to thatat Parsons Boulevard, but I-beams here are painted green. The fullmezzanine features a crossover.

Photo by: Roberto C. Tobar	Photo by: Roberto C. Tobar	Photo by: Leonard Wilson	Photo by: Gary Chatterton	Photo by: Wilfredo Castillo
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Parsons Boulevard

Artwork Sorry, no artwork here.

FFour tracks, two island platforms. Tile stripe is burntorange with black border. A name tablet with reversed colorsexists. I-beams are also the burnt orange color. At present only thelocal tracks are used. The station features a full mezzanine withcrossover.

Photo by: Brian Weinberg	Photo by: John Barnes	Photo by: Christopher Henderson	Photo by: John Dooley	Photo by: John Dooley
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Sutphin Boulevard

Artwork Sorry, no artwork here.

FFour tracks, two side platforms. Typical IND tile in a gold color.

Photo by: Wayne Whitehorne	Photo by: Wayne Whitehorne	Photo by: John Barnes	Photo by: John Dooley	Photo by: Jie Wen Li
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Briarwood-Van Wyck Boulevard

Artwork Beautifying Briarwood (Briarwood Students)

FTwo side platforms, four tracks. This station was renamed from VanWyck Blvd. to avoid confusion with the Jamaica/Van Wyck Station onthe Jamaica Center branch. Tile stripe is gold with a black border,with the pattern reversed on the name tablet. There is no freecrossover due to center fare control in the mezzanine. After thisstation, the 179th St. line and Jamaica Center line diverge, with fourtracks to 179th St. and two new tracks between the local and expresstrains diverging to Jamaica Center.

Photo by: Brian Weinberg	Photo by: John Barnes	Photo by: Roberto C. Tobar	Photo by: Roberto C. Tobar	Photo by: Christopher Henderson
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Station by Station (Main Line)

Union Turnpike-Kew Gardens

Artwork Underground Skies/Cloud Forest (Krystyna Spisak-Madejczyk)

EFFour tracks and two island platforms. I-beams are blueand tile stripe is gold with black border. There is a crossover inthe mezzanine and a tower at the north end of the northboundplatform. The mezzanine itself is in two halves due to Union Turnpikecrossing under Queens Boulevard at this location.

Photo by: Richard Panse	Photo by: John Barnes	Photo by: Oren H.	Photo by: Roberto C. Tobar	Photo by: Wilfredo Castillo
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75th Avenue

Artwork Sorry, no artwork here.

FFour tracks, two side platforms. The tile is anolive green color. There used to be a full mezzanine but the fare controlis now in the center so there is no free crossover.

Photo by: Roberto C. Tobar	Photo by: Roberto C. Tobar	Photo by: Roberto C. Tobar	Photo by: John Dooley	Photo by: John Dooley
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71st-Continental Aves.-Forest Hills

Artwork Sorry, no artwork here.

EFMR

(click to enlarge)

Area Track Map]

Four tracks, two island platforms. The tile stripe is light green withblack border. I-beams are also light green. A dispatch tower is in thecenter of the southbound platform. The full mezzanine has a centerfare control. There is a free crossover. East of the station the linewidens to six tracks, with two tracks starting between the local andexpress pairs. They dive to a lower level, widen to four tracks, andrun on a lower level through 75th Ave. station. This is primarily foraccess toJamaica Yard and offpeak train storage.

Photo by: Wayne Whitehorne	Photo by: Doug Grotjahn	Photo by: Richard Panse	Photo by: Zach Summer	Photo by: Jose Garrido
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67th Avenue

Artwork Sorry, no artwork here.

MRTwo side platforms with four tracks. The mezzanine is very dim and has vent chambers to the street.

Photo by: Wayne Whitehorne	Photo by: Michael Hodurski	Photo by: Bill E.	Photo by: Bill E.	Photo by: Roberto C. Tobar
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63rd Drive-Rego Park

Artwork Sorry, no artwork here.

MRTwo side platforms with four tracks. There is a center mezzanine and afree crossover at the west end near the token booth. The mezzaninefeatures a "63rd Drive" mosaic.

There is an unused trackway for westbound local trains beginning atouter wall just east of station, rising up to an upper level. Itcrosses over the existing tracks to curve south, ends at the edge ofthe line under Queens Blvd. At that curve, another unused trackway foreastbound local trains curves off outer wall. This was another way toget to the Rockaways and south Queens in the 1929 plan, running rightto the LIRR Rockaway line.

Photo by: Wayne Whitehorne	Photo by: Bill E.	Photo by: Michael Hodurski	Photo by: Roberto C. Tobar	Photo by: Roberto C. Tobar
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Woodhaven Boulevard-Queens Mall

Artwork In Memory of the Lost Battalion (Pablo Tauler, 1996)

MRFour tracks, two side platforms but space has been allowed forpossible future conversion to an express station. Recently renovated,tile color is like Elmhurst and has no border around the nametablet. In the past, the station bore the secondary name of SlatteryPlaza but recent maps indicate the secondary name as Queens Mall. Themezzanine features nine I-beam sculptures, and vent chambers to thestreet. This station was designed for conversion to an expressstation. The outer walls are curved so that the local track could bererouted if desired. In addition, at each end of the station abellmouth exists in the tunnel walls which is similar to stationswhere the tracks widen to accommodate an island platform.

Photo by: Roberto C. Tobar	Photo by: John Barnes	Photo by: Peter Ehrlich	Photo by: Wilfredo Castillo	Photo by: Roberto C. Tobar
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Grand Avenue-Newtown

Artwork Sorry, no artwork here.

MRThis station features an old wooden token booth on the Manhattan-boundside. Typical IND dim incandescent lights in the mezzanine.

Photo by: Stephen DeLuca	Photo by: Richard Panse	Photo by: Roberto C. Tobar	Photo by: John Barnes	Photo by: Roberto C. Tobar
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Elmhurst Avenue

Artwork Sorry, no artwork here.

MRTwo side platforms, four tracks. This station features alight shade of blue in the tile stripe. There had been a fullmezzanine but the central portion has been fenced off. There is a freecrossover at the extreme north end. There are numerous closed exits tothe mezzanine.

Photo by: Wayne Whitehorne	Photo by: Roberto C. Tobar	Photo by: Roberto C. Tobar	Photo by: Roberto C. Tobar	Photo by: Roberto C. Tobar
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Roosevelt Avenue

Artwork Sorry, no artwork here.

Transfer to IRT Flushing Line

EFMRTwo island platforms, four tracks. This station has a blue colorstripe with black border and no name tablet. I-beams are painted gold.This station is a transfer to the IRT Flushing elevated line. The farecontrol is in the center of the mezzanine which does have a freecrossover. Exiting the north fare control in the mezzanine andfollowing the passageway will take you to the built-but-never-usedRoosevelt Avenue terminal station.

Photo by: Doug Grotjahn	Photo by: Gary Chatterton	Photo by: Gary Chatterton	Collection of: Collection of nycsubway.org	Photo by: Mike L.
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Roosevelt Avenue (Terminal Station)

The Winfield Spur, planned as part of the IND Second System in 1929, was designed to provide through service to theRockaways from midtown, and to serve the neighborhoods of Maspeth andRidgewood. It would have been a two-track line from Roosevelt Avenueto a connection with another newly planned line, the Myrtle/CentralAvenue line. It would have run as subway to 45th Avenue, elevated toFresh Pond Road, and again as subway to the connection with theMyrtle/Central Ave line. In anticipation of this line being built,trackways measuring 750 feet long and a completed station with fulltile work were built that connect to today's IND Queens Blvd line atRoosevelt Avenue -- Jackson Heights. The Great Depression and laterWorld War II stopped all these grand expansion plans, and no furtherconstruction was ever done. The station and trackways remain, servingnot passengers, but as a storage area and maintenance-of-wayoffices.

Joe Brennan notes: There is an unused trackway forwestbound local trains beginning at outer wall just east of station,rises up to same level as 2 trackways mentioned above making 3trackways on upper level. At 78th St, 3 trackways on upper level curveto south, ending at "temporary" wall at edge of constructed subway. Onlower track level in use, a fourth local trackway for eastbound localtrains is seen also curving to south and similarly ending at a wall.The 4-track subway running south was a plan for a line to theRockaways and south Jamaica proposed in 1929. Get out the atlases: viaprivate property at 78th St now used as a playground, west in GarfieldAve, south in 65th Place, private property, Fresh Pond Road, then eastin the LIRR, etc.

Photo by: Mark S. Feinman	Photo by: Mark S. Feinman	Photo by: Mark S. Feinman	Photo by: Mark S. Feinman	Photo by: Michael Pompili
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65th Street

Artwork Sorry, no artwork here.

MRFour tracks, two side platforms. The express tracks have rejoined theroute just west of this station. There is a crossover at the north(65th St.) end and a closed entrance, visible in the tile differenceon the 63rd street end. A hint of IND Second System plans is foundhere in the "Jamaica and Rockaways" mosaic in the north end mezzanine.

Photo by: Wayne Whitehorne	Photo by: Wayne Whitehorne	Photo by: Frank LeViness	Photo by: Frank LeViness	Photo by: Frank LeViness
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Northern Boulevard

Artwork Sorry, no artwork here.

MRThe station features platform level fare controls at bothends of the two wall platforms. There are heavy columns across onepart of the station, where N.Y. Connecting Railroad to the Hell GateBridge crosses over.

Photo by: Wayne Whitehorne	Photo by: Gary Chatterton	Photo by: Roberto C. Tobar	Photo by: Gary Chatterton	Photo by: Robbie Rosenfeld
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46th Street

Artwork Sorry, no artwork here.

MRNo crossovers due to platform level fare controls at both ends of each platform.

Photo by: Wayne Whitehorne	Photo by: Phillip Lee	Photo by: Gary Chatterton	Photo by: Gary Chatterton	Photo by: Roberto C. Tobar
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Steinway Street

Artwork Sorry, no artwork here.

MRThere is a crossover and mosaics "Manhattan and Brooklyn" and"Jamaica". I-beams are gold. The north end features a crossover.

Photo by: Wayne Whitehorne	Photo by: Bill E.	Photo by: Leonard Wilson	Photo by: Roberto C. Tobar	Photo by: Nicholas Noel
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36th Street

Artwork Sorry, no artwork here.

MRTwo tracks, two side platforms. The southbound fare control is atplatform level with a passageway outside the control to 35th and 34thStreets. The northbound platform has a short mezzanine fare control atthe 34th Street end. The 36th Street end reveals an iron maiden and apossible closed crossover. This station has two wall platforms forthe local trains and four tracks.

Photo by: Roberto C. Tobar	Photo by: Roberto C. Tobar	Photo by: Roberto C. Tobar	Photo by: Roberto C. Tobar	Photo by: Roberto C. Tobar
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Queens Plaza

Artwork Look Up Not Down (Ellen Harvey, 2005)

EMRTwo island platforms and a standard four track local/expressconfiguration, The tile stripe is medium purple with a blackborder. The station has no name tablet and features gold coloredI-Beams. There are two control towers here, one at each end of theplatforms. East of the station, the tunnel widens to allow the 63rdStreet Line's ramps to rise and lead trains to merge with either thelocal or express tracks. Prior to the 63rd Street Connector project,completed in 2001, a fifth track had already existed, used for turningtrains during off-peak service times.

Photo by: Joe Testagrose	Photo by: Doug Grotjahn	Photo by: Robbie Rosenfeld	Photo by: Robbie Rosenfeld	Photo by: Nicholas Noel
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Court Square

Artwork Temple Quad Reliefs (Frank Olt, 1992),Stream (Elizabeth Murray, 2001)

Transfer to IND Crosstown Line

EMTwo tracks, two side platforms. Thanks to Citibank, a new freetransfer to the IND Brooklyn/Queens Crosstown line has beenestablished here. The north fare control features a crossover, whilethe south fare control is four steps up from the platform and has nocrossover. The tile stripe is red with black border. The name tabletis brown with an orange border. The lower tile is faux marble andthere is artwork on the north end of the station.

ADA accessiblity is presently limited to Manhattan-bound trains only.

Photo by: Robbie Rosenfeld	Photo by: John Dooley	Photo by: John Dooley	Photo by: John Dooley	Photo by: Wilfredo Castillo
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Lexington Avenue-53rd Street

Artwork Passing Through (Al Held, 2004)

Transfer to IRT East Side Line

EMTwo tracks, one island platform. The western end has long escalatorsto the fare control, which were reported to be the longest in theworld when first opened. (Many longer ones outside of New York are inoperation since then.) The station has an island platform with twotracks and has no tile on the walls and as such no mosaics or coloredtile bands. The station is very deep (approximately 80 feet belowstreet level) and has very low ceilings. In October 2003, the TAopened an expanded mezzanine and a new escalator offering a secondtransfer point to the IRT East Side/Lexington Avenue Subway. Anelevator is now being installed at this station.

Photo by: Doug Grotjahn	Photo by: Roberto C. Tobar	Photo by: Aliandro Brathwaite	Photo by: Peter Ehrlich	Photo by: Lee Winson
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5th Avenue-53rd Street

Artwork Subway Riders (Ralph Fasanella, 1950),The Subway: Design for a Modern Icon (MTA Arts & Design and The Museum of Modern Art, 2020)

Transfer to IND 6th Avenue Line,IND 8th Avenue Line

EMTwo levels, one track and one side platform on each level. Theplatforms are on the south side of the tracks. Trains heading toManhattan use the upper level and trains to Queens trains use thelower level. I-beams are red and the tile is tan with red stripe withthe name "Fifth Avenue 53 Street" in white. The upper level has arounded ceiling with longitudinal metal slats. The lower level hasvent chambers at the eastern end. To get to the fare control from theupper level requires 77 steps or a long escalator ride. There's 28steps between the lower level and the upper level, and another 30between the fare control (at the 5th Avenue end) to the street outside666 Fifth Avenue. The upper platform is approximately 60 feet belowthe street, the lower level approximately 80 feet below the street.

Photo by: Brian Weinberg	Photo by: David Pirmann	Photo by: Peter Ehrlich	Photo by: Richard Panse	Photo by: Richard Panse
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7th Avenue-53rd Street

Artwork Sorry, no artwork here.

Transfer to IND 6th Avenue Line,IND 8th Avenue Line

BDETwo levels, two tracks and one island platform on each level. Thelower level serves "uptown" trains from both the 8th Avenue and 6thAvenue subway lines (that is, both trains are heading north to theBronx or Queens) but they travel in opposite directions. The sameholds true for the upper level, which serves trains heading downtownto either the 8th Avenue or 6th Avenue subway, but the trains aretraveling in opposite directions along 53rd St. The northernmosttrack on each level is used by 8th Avenue service while the 6th Avenuetrains use the southernmost track. This station is fairly deep,approximately 30 feet below street level (upper platform). Threeflights of stairs are necessary to reach the fare control. Tile coloris purple with black border and has no name tablet as such. Whatpasses for a name tablet is a medium sized "7th Avenue" mosaic. The7th Ave. end of the station features a round tube design. TheBroadway BMT line passes directly overhead near the western end of thestation which can be seen by different ceiling and column styles.

Photo by: Todd Glickman	Photo by: David Pirmann	Photo by: David of Broadway	Photo by: Wilfredo Castillo	Photo by: Robbie Rosenfeld
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Page Credits

Station descriptions by Peggy Darlington.