Floral Park is a

Long Island Rail Road The Long Island Rail Road , or LIRR, is a Rail transport, railroad in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County on Long Islan ...

train station in

Floral Park Floral Park is an incorporated village in Nassau County, Long Island, New York, United States. The population was 16,172 at the 2020 census. Floral Park is at the western border of Nassau County, mainly in the Town of Hempstead, while the ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, at Tulip and Atlantic Avenues, on the Main Line and Hempstead Branch just west of their split. Most service is provided by trains on the Hempstead Branch and the

Port Jefferson Branch The Port Jefferson Branch is a rail line and service owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The branch splits from the Main Line (Long Island Rail Road), Main Line just east of Hicksville ...

History

The first Floral Park station was built between October and November 1878 as "Stewart Junction," for the junction between the LIRR Main Line and the Central Railroad of Long Island built by

Alexander Turney Stewart Alexander Turney Stewart (October 12, 1803 – April 10, 1876) was an Irish Americans, Irish- American entrepreneur who moved to New York and made his multimillion-dollar fortune in the most extensive and lucrative dry goods store in the world ...

. Five years earlier the CRRLI had bridged the LIRR, and the station served as a connection between both lines. Connecting tracks were available at the southwest corner of the bridge at the station, and on the northwest corner of the bridge west of the station. It was renamed "Hinsdale" in 1879 with the closing of the CRRLI depot of the same name along the

Creedmoor Branch The Creedmoor Branch was the name of a short branch that the Long Island Rail Road gave to the right of way of tracks between its Floral Park (LIRR station), Floral Park station and Creedmoor State Hospital in Queens, New York. The branch existe ...

, then renamed "East Hinsdale" in 1887. That same year, the station gained a control tower known as "Tower #47." Apparently due to the presence of the florist John Lewis Childs, the station was renamed "Floral Park" by 1890. Tower #47 was replaced with the "FK Tower" in 1904, the station itself was razed in 1909, and a second station was rebuilt and relocated the same year in July. In 1924, the LIRR replaced the FK Tower with the Park Tower, and rebuilt it again in 1946. The third and current elevated structure was built in 1960 as part of a grade-separation project executed by the New York Public Service Commission, as the second one was razed on October 20 of that same year. The ticket office at this station was staffed until August 19, 2009, when it was closed during cost-cutting measures across the

Metropolitan Transportation Authority The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a New York state public benefit corporations, public benefit corporation in New York (state), New York State responsible for public transportation in the New York metropolitan area, New York Ci ...

. As part of the LIRR third track project, the Floral Park station was renovated starting in spring 2019 and three vehicular crossings east of the station were rebuilt starting that year. The station was rebuilt and received elevators, making it ADA-accessible as of July 2021. On August 15, 2022, the track designations at Floral Park were changed. With the opening of Grand Central Madison in 2023, significant service changes occurred at Floral Park. Generally, Hempstead Branch trains provide a one seat ride to Grand Central while Main Line trains provide a one seat ride to Penn Station; previously, almost all Main Line trains bypassed the station. Direct service to

Atlantic Terminal Atlantic Terminal (formerly Flatbush Avenue) is the westernmost commuter rail terminal on the Long Island Rail Road's (LIRR) Atlantic Branch, located at Flatbush Avenue and Atlantic Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn, New York City. It is the prima ...

is limited to one peak Hempstead Branch train in each direction.

Station layout

This station has three high-level platforms serving four tracks. Platform A is eight cars long, while Platforms B and C are 10 cars long. Main Line trains (the

Port Jefferson Port Jefferson, also known as Port Jeff, is an Administrative divisions of New York (state)#Village, incorporated village in the Administrative divisions of New York (state)#Town, town of Brookhaven, New York, Brookhaven in Suffolk County, New Y ...

, Oyster Bay, Ronkonkoma, and

Branches A branch, also called a ramus in botany, is a stem that grows off from another stem, or when structures like veins in leaves are divided into smaller veins. History and etymology In Old English, there are numerous words for branch, includi ...

) use the three northern tracks while Hempstead Branch trains use the two southern tracks.

References

External links

Floral Park Station History (TrainsAreFun)

Carnation Avenue entrance (west) from Google Maps Street View

Station House and entrance (middle) from Google Maps Street View

Tulip Avenue entrance (east) from Google Maps Street ViewPlatforms from Google Maps Street ViewPlatform waiting room from Google Maps Street
{{LIRR stations navbox Long Island Rail Road stations in Nassau County, New York Long Island Rail Road Station Railway stations in the United States opened in 1878