Locust Manor station explained

Locust Manor
Style:LIRR
Address:Farmer's Boulevard and Bedell Street
Locust Manor, Queens, New York
Coordinates:40.675°N -73.7649°W
Line:Atlantic Branch
Distance:12.2miles from Atlantic Terminal[1]
Other: NYCT Buses:
Platform:2 side platforms
Tracks:2
Parking:No
Passengers:1,389[2]
Pass Year:2012 - 2014
Pass Rank:64 of 125
Opened:June 1869 (SSRRLI)
c. 1876
Closed:June 1876[3]
Rebuilt:1876, 1959,[4] 2018-19
Electrified:October 16, 1905
750 V (DC) third rail
Accessible:No; accessibility planned
Owned:Long Island Rail Road
Zone:3
Former:Locust Avenue (1867 - 1929)
Other Services Header:Former services
Other Services Collapsible:yes
Mapframe:yes
Mapframe-Custom:
Shape:none
Line:none
Marker:rail
Zoom:14

Locust Manor is a station on the Long Island Rail Road's Atlantic Branch in the Locust Manor neighborhood of Queens, New York City. The station is located at Farmers Boulevard and Bedell Street and is 14.0 miles (22.5 km) from Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan.

The stop serves the Rochdale and Locust Manor sections of Queens – along with its Rochdale Village cooperative apartment complex.

History

The Locust Manor station first opened in 1869, and it was rebuilt in 1876.[5] For many years, it served as the stop for the racecourse on which Rochdale Village was erected, known as the Jamaica Race Course.

In February 1956, the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) petitioned the New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) for permission to close and remove the station if racing was transferred from Jamaica Race Course to Belmont Park due to low ridership.[6] The station was used by 80 riders on weekdays, and by 30 riders on non-racing Saturdays. The LIRR suggested that riders use the Higbie Avenue station instead.[7]

On August 23, 1956, the PSC rejected plans to build a permanent railroad station alongside Jamaica Race Course, and approved a revised plan to close the Locust Manor station and a bridge at 120th Avenue, which would save $1,087,000. The PSC ruled that it was not justified for the LIRR to spend $847,000 on a new station in light of public knowledge about the closure of the racetrack in 1958.[8] The PSC permitted the LIRR to construct temporary facilities instead.[9] The LIRR's application was opposed by the counsel for the Mayor's Committee on Slum Removal, who stated that as soon as racing ended in 1958 at the track following the rebuilding of Belmont Racetrack, and the modernization of Aqueduct Racetrack, a builder would start work on the site.[10] [11] [12]

On May 19, 1957, the PSC granted the LIRR permission to discontinue the Higbie Avenue and Locust Manor stations following the completion of a station between them at Farmers Boulevard. The new station would initially be accessed by a stairway at its southern end and by a pedestrian walkway at the northern end, which would be extended to Bedell Street after Jamaica Race Course was replaced by a housing project. The PSC also directed the LIRR to combine the project with its planned Old Southern–Rosedale grade crossing elimination project, and approved its $8,170,000 estimated cost.[13] The new station included high-level platforms and Populuxe shelters for passengers. The reconstruction project was completed in 1959.

The station underwent extensive renovations between 2018 and 2019, during which time it received upgraded features such as LED lighting and improved staircases. The project also saw a complete reconstruction of the pathway connecting the station with Bedell Street and 134th Avenue – including the addition of a pedestrian ramp, making the walkway ADA-accessible.

In March 2022, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced that it would be making the Locust Manor station and several other non-wheelchair-accessible stations in Queens compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, thus making the stations wheelchair-accessible.[14] [15] [16] Elevators would be installed at the Locust Manor station to make it accessible.[17] The MTA approved contracts for the elevators' construction in November 2022.[18]

Station layout

This station has two high-level side platforms, each eight cars long.

This station has two exits; one exit, is on the northeast portion of the sprawling Rochdale Village housing co-operative. At that end of the station, the staircase leads to a walkway linking Bedell Street and residential 134th Avenue, in between two private Rochdale parking lots; both ends of the walkway are connected via a pedestrian underpass below the tracks. The southern exit leads to Farmers Boulevard, between Garrett Street and Bedell Street. There are platform shelters near the exits. Ticket machines are located within the pedestrian tunnel on the north end of the station, at the base of the eastbound LIRR station staircase.

P
Platform level
Platform A, side platform
Track 1← weekdays toward or
← weekends toward or
Track 2 weekends toward
weekdays toward
Platform B, side platform,
GGround levelEntrance/exit, buses

References

  1. Web site: TIMETABLE No. 4 . Long Island Rail Road . May 14, 2012 . August 4, 2022 . VI.
  2. Web site: 2012-2014 LIRR Origin and Destination Report : Volume I: Travel Behavior Among All LIRR Passengers. 23 August 2016. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20190717085537/http://web.mta.info/mta/planning/data/2012_LIRR_OD_Report_Volume_I_FINAL%2008232016.pdf. July 17, 2019. 29 March 2020. PDF pp. 15, 198.
  3. [Vincent F. Seyfried]
  4. http://www.trainsarefun.com/lirrphotos/LIRR%20Station%20History.htm Long Island Railroad Station History (TrainsAreFun.com)
  5. Book: Morrison . David D. . Long Island Rail Road Stations . Pakaluk . Valerie . Arcadia . 2003 . 0-7385-1180-3 . Chicago . April 21, 2024.
  6. News: August 30, 1956 . LIRR Hearing Set . New York Daily News . March 19, 2023 . Newspapers.com.
  7. News: February 27, 1956 . LIRR Asks End Of a Station . New York Daily News . March 19, 2023 . Newspapers.com.
  8. News: August 24, 1956 . PSC ruling . New York Daily News . March 19, 2023 . Newspapers.com.
  9. News: 1956-08-24 . Track Station Dropped; Plan for Jamaica Facility Is Turned Down by P.S.C. . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-03-31 . 0362-4331.
  10. News: Reports of Housing Project Premature . New York Daily News . March 19, 2023 . Newspapers.com.
  11. Web site: 2023-01-29 . Locust Manor Station Enhancement (Completed 05/2019) – A Modern LI . 2024-04-23 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230129062555/https://www.amodernli.com/project/locust-manor-station-enhancement/ . January 29, 2023 .
  12. Web site: 2023-02-04 . Locust Manor Station Walkway Renovation Completed – A Modern LI . 2024-04-23 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230204084400/https://www.amodernli.com/locust-manor-station-walkway-renovation-completed/ . February 4, 2023 .
  13. News: 1957-05-20 . Two L.I.R.R. Stations in Queens to Close . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-03-31 . 0362-4331.
  14. Web site: Parry . Bill . 2022-03-29 . MTA announces accessibility upgrades at three southeast Queens LIRR stations – QNS . 2024-04-22 . qns.com . en-US.
  15. Web site: Chasan . Aliza . 2022-11-30 . MTA making accessibility upgrades to subway stations, LIRR stations . 2024-04-22 . PIX11 . en-US.
  16. Web site: September 23, 2019 . Rail News - MTA to add wheelchair accessibility to 11 stations. For Railroad Career Professionals . 2024-04-22 . Progressive Railroading . en.
  17. March 28, 2022 . MTA to Add Accessibility Upgrades to Three Long Island Rail Road Stations in Queens . 2024-04-22 . MTA . en.
  18. Web site: MTA approves boro elevator contracts . Queens Chronicle . Gannon . Michael . December 5, 2022 . April 22, 2024.

External links