Steinway Street station explained

Steinway Street
Address:Steinway Street & Broadway
Queens, NY
Borough:Queens
Locale:Astoria
Coordinates:40.7587°N -73.9189°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 Steinway Street station is a local station on the IND Queens Boulevard Line of the New York City Subway. Located under Steinway Street between Broadway and 34th Avenue, 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 Steinway Street.

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]

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 Steinway Street station as part of the MTA's 2020–2024 Capital Program.[11] In November 2022, the MTA announced that it would award a $965 million contract for the installation of 21 elevators across eight stations,[12] including Steinway Street.[13] A joint venture of ASTM and Halmar International would construct the elevators under a public-private partnership.[13] [14]

Station layout

GroundStreet levelExit/entrance
MezzanineMezzanineFare control, station agent
Platform levelSide platform
Southbound local← toward weekdays
← toward (36th Street)
← toward, toward late nights (36th Street)
Northbound local toward weekdays
toward Forest Hills–71st Avenue (46th Street)
toward, toward late nights (46th Street)
Side platform
This underground 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 36th Street to the west and 46th Street to the east.

Both platform walls have a purple tile band with a black border and mosaic name tablets reading "STEINWAY ST." in white sans-serif lettering on a black background and purple border. Small tile captions reading "STEINWAY" in white on black run below the tile band, and directional signs in the same style are present under some of the name tablets.The tile band was part of a color-coded tile system used throughout the IND.[15] The tile colors were designed to facilitate navigation for travelers going away from Lower Manhattan. As such, the purple tiles used at the Steinway Street 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.[16] [17]

Royal purple 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.[18] 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.

South of this station, the express tracks rejoin the local tracks and the line becomes four tracks again.

Exits

There are two separate mezzanines, one at each end of the station, and crossover is allowed on both of them. The side on Steinway Street near Broadway has two street stairs and has a token booth, and used to be the full-time side to the station. This side has two small staircases to the southbound side and a single platform-wide staircase on the northbound side. The part-time side at 34th Avenue and Steinway Street currently has no booth (it had been completely dismantled for asbestos abatement), and is HEET turnstile access at all times. This side has two stairs to the street to the northeast and southwest corners, and one to each platform.[19]

In 2003, the hours for this token booth were 6:10 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. The entrances on this side, at the time, were only open 6:10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Mondays through Fridays, 6:10 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. Saturdays, and 4:20 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. Sundays.[20] In 2009, the MTA proposed closing the part-time booth, which was then open 6:10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. Access to this entrance has been added through HEET access between 2003 and 2009.[21]

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: 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.
  12. Web site: Nessen . Stephen . MTA to spend more than $1B on accessibility upgrades . Gothamist . November 28, 2022 . December 1, 2022.
  13. Web site: Brachfeld . Ben . MTA to spend $1 billion on subway, commuter rail accessibility upgrades . amNewYork . November 29, 2022 . December 1, 2022.
  14. Web site: November 29, 2022 . Capital Program Oversight Committee Meeting November 2022 . July 14, 2022 . mta.info . Metropolitan Transportation Authority .
  15. 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.
  16. Web site: Carlson . Jen . Map: These Color Tiles In The Subway System Used To Mean Something . Gothamist . February 18, 2016 . May 10, 2023.
  17. 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.
  18. 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.
  19. Web site: Steinway Street Neighborhood Map. April 2018. mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. February 9, 2020.
  20. Web site: Cox . Jeremiah . October 5, 2003 . Approaching the part-time entrance with its red-half globes at 34 Avenue to Steinway Street . August 20, 2019 . subwaynut.com .
  21. Web site: December 24, 2008 . Station Listing for Public Hearing . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090305201018/http://www.mta.info/mta/09/2009_nyct_booth_closures.pdf . March 5, 2009 . May 19, 2022 . mta.info . Metropolitan Transportation Authority . 147.