Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard Station
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard station (originally the Ditmars Avenue station; also Ditmars Boulevard station), is the northern
terminal station A train station, railroad station, or railway station is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track, and a station building providing such ...
on the
BMT Astoria Line The BMT Astoria Line (formerly the IRT Astoria Line) is a rapid transit line in the B Division of the New York City Subway, serving the Queens neighborhood of Astoria. It runs south from Ditmars Boulevard in Astoria to 39th Avenue in Long ...
of the
New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system in New York City serving the New York City boroughs, boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. It is owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Tr ...
. Located above 31st Street between 23rd Avenue and
Ditmars Boulevard Ditmars Boulevard, originally known as Ditmars Avenue, is a street located in northwest Queens, New York City. It is divided into two segments; one travels through the neighborhood of Ditmars, located within Astoria, and the other acts as a ...
in
Astoria, Queens Astoria is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City Boroughs of New York City, borough of Queens. Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to four other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City, Queens, Long Island C ...
, it is served by the N train at all times and the W train on weekdays. The Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard station opened on February 1, 1917, as part of the initial segment of the IRT Astoria Line. In 2018 and 2019, this station was renovated along with six others on the Astoria Line. This station has two tracks and an
island platform An island platform (also center platform (American English) or centre platform (British English)) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway inte ...
. It is partially under the
New York Connecting Railroad The New York Connecting Railroad or NYCR is a rail line in the borough (New York City), borough of Queens in New York City. It links New York City and Long Island by rail directly to the North American mainland. Amtrak, CSX, Canadian Pa ...
(NYCR) viaduct, which also carries the tracks of
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
's
Northeast Corridor The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston in the north to Washington, D.C., in the south, with major stops in Providence, Rhod ...
. Most of the platform is north of the viaduct.


History


Opening

This station opened on February 1, 1917, along with the rest of the Astoria Line, which was originally part of the
IRT IRT may refer to: Organisations * Indiana Repertory Theatre, an American company of actors * Institut für Rundfunktechnik, a German research institute for broadcasters * Interborough Rapid Transit Company, a defunct New York subway operator Sci ...
, as a spur off the
IRT Queensboro Line The IRT Flushing Line is a rapid transit route of the New York City Subway system, named for its eastern terminal in Flushing, Queens. It is operated as part of the A Division. The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT), a private operator, ...
, now the
IRT Flushing Line The IRT Flushing Line is a rapid transit route of the New York City Subway system, named for its eastern terminal in Flushing, Queens. It is operated as part of the A Division. The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT), a private operator, ...
. Trains ran between Grand Central and Astoria. Dignitaries from the first ride included President of Alderman Frank Dowling, Public Service Commissioner Hodges, numerous other officials of the commission, President Shonts of the IRT, with a number of his assistants, and Queens Borough President Connolly. Members of the PSC pointed out the need to extend the line from the terminal to Ditmars Boulevard and Steinway Street. Regular passenger service started that afternoon. The station's name was originally Ditmars Avenue, which was the name of Ditmars Boulevard at the station's opening. On July 23, 1917, the
Queensboro Bridge The Queensboro Bridge, officially the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, is a cantilever bridge over the East River in New York City. Completed in 1909, it connects the Long Island City neighborhood in the borough of Queens with the Midtown Manhattan ...
spur of the
elevated An elevated railway or elevated train (also known as an el train or el for short) is a railway with the Track (rail transport), tracks above street level on a viaduct or other elevated structure (usually constructed from steel, cast iron, concre ...
IRT Second Avenue Line The IRT Second Avenue Line, also known as the Second Avenue Elevated or Second Avenue El, was an elevated railway in Manhattan, New York City, United States, from 1878 to 1942. It was operated by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company until 1940 ...
opened. At that time, all elevated trains to Queensboro Plaza used the Astoria Line while all subway trains used the Corona Line, though this was later changed with trains alternating between branches. This station started to be served by
BMT BMT or bmt may refer to: Medicine * Bone marrow transplantation, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation Science and technology * 5-hydroxyfuranocoumarin 5-O-methyltransferase, an enzyme * Bangladesh Meteorological Department, the national ...
shuttles using elevated cars on April 8, 1923. The city government took over the BMT's operations on June 1, 1940, and the IRT's operations on June 12, 1940. On October 17, 1949, the Astoria Line became BMT-only as the tracks at Queensboro Plaza were consolidated and the platforms on the Astoria Line were shaved back to allow through BMT trains to operate on it. Service was initially provided by the ''Brighton Local'' (
BMT 1 The Q Second Avenue/Broadway Express/Brighton Local is a rapid transit service in the B Division of the New York City Subway. Its route emblem, or "bullet", is colored since it is a part of the BMT Broadway Line in Manhattan. The Q operates ...
) weekdays & ''Broadway - Fourth Avenue Local'' (
BMT 2 The R Broadway Local is a rapid transit service in the B Division of the New York City Subway. Its route emblem, or "bullet", is colored since it uses the BMT Broadway Line in Manhattan. The R operates 24 hours daily, although service patte ...
) at all times.


Renovations

In 1981, the MTA listed the station among the 69 most deteriorated stations in the subway system. The MTA received a $106 million grant from the
Urban Mass Transit Administration The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is an agency within the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) that provides financial and technical assistance to local public transportation systems. The FTA is one of ten modal administration ...
in October 1983; most of the grant would fund the renovation of eleven stations, including Ditmars Boulevard. In February 2018, the MTA announced that the station would be renovated for 14 months beginning in April of that year, as part of a $22 million project. The station house, mezzanine, and stairs would be repaired. Some residents protested, arguing that the renovated station would lack elevators, and that then-ongoing full closures of the 30th Avenue and 36th Avenue stations in Astoria had negatively impacted the community. The station remained open during renovation.


Station layout

The Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard station has two tracks and an
island platform An island platform (also center platform (American English) or centre platform (British English)) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway inte ...
. The stops here at all times and the stops only on weekdays during the day; the station is the northern terminus for both trains. The next stop to the south is
Astoria Boulevard Astoria Boulevard is an important east–west commercial street in Astoria and East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City. It runs from 1st Street at the East River to the World's Fair Marina on Flushing Bay, where it merges with Northern Boule ...
. It is partially located under the
New York Connecting Railroad The New York Connecting Railroad or NYCR is a rail line in the borough (New York City), borough of Queens in New York City. It links New York City and Long Island by rail directly to the North American mainland. Amtrak, CSX, Canadian Pa ...
(NYCR) viaduct. Most of the platform is north of the viaduct. The platform canopy extends to the portion of the platform under the NYCR. The tracks end at
bumper block A buffer stop, bumper, bumping post, bumper block or stopblock (US), is a device to prevent railway vehicles from going past the end of a physical section of track. The design of the buffer stop is dependent, in part, on the kind of couplings ...
s at the north end of the platform. As part of the
MTA Arts & Design MTA Arts & Design, formerly known as Metropolitan Transportation Authority Arts for Transit and Arts for Transit and Urban Design, is a commissioned art program directed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for the transportation systems ...
program,
Elisabeth Condon Elisabeth Condon (born 1959) is a contemporary American painter who combines natural imagery, the built environment, and abstraction in her free-flowing synthetic landscapes. Vivid color palettes and contrasting organic and geometric shapes chara ...
created an artwork for the station, titled ''Urban Idyll'', which was installed in 2018. It consists of laminated glass windows with a
Tree of Life The tree of life is a fundamental archetype in many of the world's mythology, mythological, religion, religious, and philosophy, philosophical traditions. It is closely related to the concept of the sacred tree.Giovino, Mariana (2007). ''The ...
theme.


Exits

The station's only mezzanine is a station house beneath the tracks and platforms. Two double-wide staircases from the platform go down to their own bank of turnstiles with a token booth in the middle. Outside
fare control In rail transport, the paid area is a dedicated "inner" zone in a railway station or metro station, accessible via turnstiles or other barriers, to get into which, visitors or passengers require a valid ticket, checked smartcard or a pass. A s ...
, there are four staircases, two going down to the west side of 31st Street between Ditmars Boulevard and 23rd Avenue and two going down to the east side. The east side of the station house has a short, enclosed pedestrian bridge that leads to the Ditmars Plaza Mini Mall, located on the second floor of the adjacent Garry Building. This mall has a staircase to the street, providing another entrance to the station.


Provisions for proposed extensions

There was a proposed, but never-built, extension of the line toward Bayside and possibly
LaGuardia Airport LaGuardia Airport ( ) – colloquially known as LaGuardia or simply LGA – is a civil airport in East Elmhurst, Queens, East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City, situated on the North Shore (Long Island), northwestern shore of Long Island, bord ...
. In 1998, an extension of the BMT Astoria Line to
LaGuardia Airport LaGuardia Airport ( ) – colloquially known as LaGuardia or simply LGA – is a civil airport in East Elmhurst, Queens, East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City, situated on the North Shore (Long Island), northwestern shore of Long Island, bord ...
was planned as part of a $1.2 billion package to provide access to the New York City airports with funding from the MTA, the
Port Authority A port authority (less commonly a port district) is a governmental or quasi-governmental public authority for a special-purpose district usually formed by a legislative body (or bodies) to operate ports and other transportation infrastructure. ...
and the city. The preferred route would have extended the Astoria Line along 31st Street north onto Con Edison’s property at the edge of Astoria and then east along 19th Avenue to the Marine Air Terminal. The MTA also considered an eastward extension along Ditmars Boulevard, and a plan to reroute LaGuardia-bound trains from Queensboro Plaza through the Sunnyside rail yard and along the eastern edge of St. Michael’s Cemetery to elevated tracks parallel to the
Grand Central Parkway The Grand Central Parkway (GCP) is a 14.61-mile (23.51 km) controlled-access parkway that stretches from the Triborough Bridge in New York City to the Queens– Nassau County line on Long Island. At the Nassau County line, it becomes t ...
. A fourth route was to have trains turn east via Astoria Boulevard. All of the options would have new elevated sections built. $645 million for the LaGuardia extension was included in the MTA’s 2000-2004 Five-Year Capital Plan, and in late 2002, Mayor
Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician a ...
supported the extension. These options were studied in the LaGuardia Airport Subway Access Study. Community opposition was strong and therefore the plan was canceled in July 2003. After the
AirTrain LaGuardia AirTrain LaGuardia was a proposed people mover system and elevated railway in New York City, United States, that would provide service to LaGuardia Airport in Queens. It would have connected with the New York City Subway and Long Island Rail R ...
people mover, which would have run to Mets–Willets Point, was canceled in 2023, a panel of three transportation experts recommended that the
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, (PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ) is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York (state), New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate c ...
operate a shuttle bus route from the airport to the Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard station. The
Regional Plan Association The Regional Plan Association is an independent, not-for-profit regional planning organization, founded in 1922, that focuses on recommendations to improve the quality of life and economic competitiveness of a 31-county New York (state), New Yo ...
, in its Fourth Plan in 2017, anticipated that the population of Astoria would quickly grow over the next three decades, and so called for the Astoria Line to be extended to a new storage yard at Ditmars Boulevard and 20th Street, which would provide added capacity. In addition, a new station at 21st Avenue and 20th Street would improve access for the currently underserved but dense northwest parts of Astoria.


Ridership

In 2019, the station had 5,277,341 boardings, making it the 120th most used station in the -station system. This amounted to an average of 17,912 passengers per weekday.


Image gallery

File:Astoria - Ditmars Boulevard - Platform.jpg, Platform before 2019 renovation File:Urban Idyll at Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard station.jpg, Elisabeth Condon's ''Urban Idyll '' piece in the station's mezzanine. File:NEW YORK CONNECTING RR VIADUCT CROSSING 31ST STREET. QUEENS, QUEENS CO., NY. Sec. 4207, MP 6.45. - Northeast Railroad Corridor, Amtrak Route between New Jersey-New York and New HAER NY,31-NEYO,167-7.tif, Station seen in 1970s File:Ditmars Boulevard; BMT Astoria Line; Garry Building Entrance.jpg, Gerry Building Entrance


References


External links

* * Station Reporter â€
N Train
* TheSubwayNut
Astoria-Ditmars Boulevard

Ditmars Boulevard entrance from Google Maps Street View

Platform from Google Maps Street View
{{DEFAULTSORT:Astoria - Ditmars Boulevard station BMT Astoria Line stations New York City Subway stations in Queens, New York New York City Subway terminals Railway stations in the United States opened in 1917 Astoria, Queens 1917 establishments in New York City