Northern Boulevard station explained

Northern Blvd
Address:Northern Boulevard & Broadway
Queens, NY
Borough:Queens
Locale:Woodside
Coordinates:40.7532°N -73.9069°W
Division:IND
Line:IND Queens Boulevard Line
Service:Queens local
Service Header:Queens local header
Connection: MTA Bus:
Platforms:2 side platforms
Tracks:2
Structure:Underground
Accessible:construction

The Northern Boulevard station is a local station on the IND Queens Boulevard Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Northern Boulevard and Broadway, it is served by the M train on weekdays, the R train at all times except nights, and the E and F trains at night.

History

The Queens Boulevard Line was one of the first lines built by the city-owned Independent Subway System (IND),[1] [2] [3] and stretches between the IND Eighth Avenue Line in Manhattan and 179th Street and Hillside Avenue in Jamaica, Queens.[4] The Queens Boulevard Line was in part financed by a Public Works Administration (PWA) loan and grant of $25 million.[5] One of the proposed stations would have been located at Northern Boulevard.

The first section of the line, west from Roosevelt Avenue to 50th Street, opened on August 19, 1933. trains ran local to Hudson Terminal (today's World Trade Center) in Manhattan, while the (predecessor to current G service) ran as a shuttle service between Queens Plaza and Nassau Avenue on the IND Crosstown Line.[6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

Under the 2015–2019 MTA Capital Plan, the station, along with 30 other New York City Subway stations, will undergo a complete overhaul and would be entirely closed for up to 6 months. Updates would include cellular service, Wi-Fi, charging stations, improved signage, and improved station lighting.[11] [12] However, these renovations are being deferred until the 2020 - 2024 Capital Program due to a lack of funding.[13] In December 2019, the MTA announced that this station would become ADA-accessible as part of the agency's 2020–2024 Capital Program.[14]

In 2019, as part of an initiative to increase the accessibility of the New York City Subway system, the MTA announced that it would install elevators at the Northern Boulevard station as part of the MTA's 2020–2024 Capital Program.[15] In December 2022, the MTA announced that it would award a $146 million contract for the installation of eight elevators across four stations, including Northern Boulevard.[16]

Station layout

GroundStreet levelExit/entrance
Platform levelSide platform
Southbound local← toward weekdays
← toward (46th Street)
← toward, toward late nights (46th Street)
Northbound local toward weekdays →
toward Forest Hills–71st Avenue (65th Street) →
toward, toward late nights (65th Street) →
Side platform
B2
Express tracks		Southbound express← do not stop here
Northbound express do not stop here →
The station has two tracks and two side platforms. The E and F trains serve the station at night, the M train serves the station on weekdays during the day, and the R train serves the station at all times except late nights. The station is between 46th Street to the west and 65th Street to the east. The express tracks pass underneath the local tracks and are not visible from the platforms. West of the station, the express tracks turn south and run along a separate routing under Northern Boulevard.Both platform walls have a purple tile band with a black border, with a number of replacement tiles in different shades of violet and purple having been placed during repairs. There are also mosaic name tablets reading "NORTHERN BLVD." in white sans-serif lettering on a black background and purple border. Small tile captions reading "N BLVD" in white lettering on black run below the tile band, and directional signs in the same style are present below some of the name tablets.The tile band was part of a color-coded tile system used throughout the IND.[17] The tile colors were designed to facilitate navigation for travelers going away from Lower Manhattan. As such, the purple tiles used at the Northern Boulevard station were originally also used at, the next express station to the west, while a different tile color is used at, the next express station to the east. Purple tiles are similarly used at the other local stations between Queens Plaza and Roosevelt Avenue.[18] [19]

Dark teal I-beam columns run along both platforms at regular intervals, alternating ones having the standard black station name plate with white lettering. The I-beam piers are located every 15abbr=NaNabbr= and support girders above the platforms. The roof girders are also connected to columns in the platform walls.[20] The tunnel is covered by a U-shaped trough that contains utility pipes and wires. The outer walls of this trough are composed of columns, spaced approximately every 5feet with concrete infill between them. There is a 1abbr=NaNabbr= gap between the tunnel wall and the platform wall, which is made of 4abbr=NaNabbr=-thick brick covered over by a tiled finish. The columns between the tracks are also spaced every 5feet, with no infill.

There are heavy columns across one part of the station, where the New York Connecting Railroad to the Hell Gate Bridge crosses over. There is an older style wooden token booth in the mezzanine of the uptown entrance.

In the western half of this station, the express tracks go underneath the local tracks to run along Northern Boulevard. A short distance east of here, the express tracks rise to the same level as the local tracks. To the south (geographical west) of this station, there was a single crossover connecting the two tracks. In May 2019, this crossover was removed as part of the communications-based train control installation on the IND Queens Boulevard Line, which entailed the removal of under-used interlocking towers such as the Northern Boulevard crossover.[21]

There is an emergency exit at the western end of the northbound platform at this station, which leads to the D3 and D4 express tracks below.

Exits

The station's exits are at the western end at Northern Boulevard and Broadway. Fare controls are at platform level and there are no crossovers or crossunders. The booth on the southbound side is full-time. Each fare control area has one street stair to the intersection of Broadway, 54th Street, and Northern Boulevard.

There are closed exits at the eastern end on both sides.[22] IND "56th Street" direction tiles and arrows suggest that the exits lead to the intersection of 56th Street and Broadway; they have been left intact on both platforms under some of the "Northern Blvd" station tablets. The exit from the Manhattan-bound platform will be reopened as a part of the ADA accessibility improvements; it will receive an elevator.[23]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: OUR GREAT SUBWAY NETWORK SPREADS WIDER; New Plans of Board of Transportation Involve the Building of More Than One Hundred Miles of Additional Rapid Transit Routes for New York. September 22, 1929. The New York Times. Duffus. R.L.. August 19, 2015.
  2. Web site: QUEENS SUBWAY WORK AHEAD OF SCHEDULE: Completion Will Lead to Big Apartrnent Building, Says William C. Speers.. April 7, 1929. The New York Times. September 1, 2015.
  3. Web site: Queens Lauded as Best Boro By Chamber Chief. September 23, 1929. Newspapers.com. Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 40. October 4, 2015.
  4. [New York Times]
  5. News: TEST TRAINS RUNNING IN QUEENS SUBWAY; Switch and Signal Equipment of New Independent Line Is Being Checked.. December 20, 1936. The New York Times. 0362-4331. April 26, 2016.
  6. Book: Kramer, Frederick A.. Building the Independent Subway. 1990. Quadrant Press. 978-0-915276-50-9. en.
  7. Web site: Independent Subway Services Beginning in 1932. August 21, 2013. thejoekorner.com. August 2, 2015.
  8. Web site: TWO SUBWAY UNITS OPEN AT MIDNIGHT; Links in City-Owned System in Queens and Brooklyn to Have 15 Stations.. August 18, 1933. The New York Times. November 7, 2015.
  9. News: New Queens Subway Service Will Be Launched Tonight; Tunnel From Manhattan Open to Jackson Heights; Service Will Eventually Be Extended Through To Jamaica. August 18, 1933. Long Island Daily Press. Fultonhistory.com. 20. July 27, 2016.
  10. News: New Queens Tube To Open Saturday: Brooklyn-Long Island City Link of City Line Also to Be Put in Operation. August 17, 1933. New York Evening Post. Fultonhistory.com. 18. July 27, 2016.
  11. Web site: Whitford. Emma. January 8, 2016. MTA Will Completely Close 30 Subway Stations For Months-Long "Revamp". Gothamist. July 18, 2016. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160801200338/http://gothamist.com/2016/01/08/subway_facelift_shutdown.php. August 1, 2016. mdy-all.
  12. Web site: MTAStations. governor.ny.gov. Government of the State of New York. July 18, 2016.
  13. News: New York Subway Cuts Back Plans to Renovate Stations. Berger. Paul. 2018-04-03. Wall Street Journal. 2018-04-03. en-US. 0099-9660.
  14. Web site: Press Release - MTA Headquarters - MTA Announces 20 Additional Subway Stations to Receive Accessibility Improvements Under Proposed 2020-2024 Capital Plan . MTA . December 19, 2019 . December 20, 2019 . April 21, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200421204344/http://www.mta.info/press-release/mta-headquarters/mta-announces-20-additional-subway-stations-receive-accessibility . dead .
  15. Web site: Press Release - MTA Headquarters - MTA Announces 20 Additional Subway Stations to Receive Accessibility Improvements Under Proposed 2020-2024 Capital Plan. December 19, 2019. mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. December 20, 2019. April 21, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200421204344/http://www.mta.info/press-release/mta-headquarters/mta-announces-20-additional-subway-stations-receive-accessibility. dead.
  16. Web site: Dec 19, 2022 . Capital Program Oversight Committee Meeting December 2022 . July 14, 2022 . mta.info . Metropolitan Transportation Authority . 107–109.
  17. News: August 22, 1932 . Tile Colors a Guide in the New Subway; Decoration Scheme Changes at Each Express Stop to Tell Riders Where They Are . en-US . The New York Times . live . July 1, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220701184626/https://www.nytimes.com/1932/08/22/archives/tile-colors-a-guide-in-the-new-subway-decoration-scheme-changes-at.html . July 1, 2022 . 0362-4331.
  18. Web site: Carlson . Jen . Map: These Color Tiles In The Subway System Used To Mean Something . Gothamist . February 18, 2016 . May 10, 2023.
  19. Web site: Gleason . Will . The hidden meaning behind the New York subway's colored tiles . Time Out New York . February 18, 2016 . May 10, 2023.
  20. Records of the National Park Service, 1785 - 2006. National Archives. https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/05000672.pdf. National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks Program Records, 2013 - 2017. New York MPS Elmhurst Avenue Subway Station (IND). 05000672. National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks Program Records: New York.
  21. Web site: MTA awards L.K. Comstock Queens Boulevard Line signaling contract . 2017-01-05. Railway Track and Structures. en-US . 2019-06-06.
  22. Web site: MTA Neighborhood Maps: Astoria. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. September 27, 2015. 2015.
  23. Web site: June 1, 2023 . Community Board 1 Queens Transportation Committee . June 1, 2023 . YouTube.

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