61st Street–Woodside station

Early history

The 1913 Dual Contracts called for the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) and Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT; later Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation, or BMT) to build new lines in Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. Queens did not receive many new IRT and BRT lines compared to Brooklyn and the Bronx, since the city's Public Service Commission (PSC) wanted to alleviate subway crowding in the other two boroughs first before building in Queens, which was relatively undeveloped. The IRT Flushing Line was to be one of two Dual Contracts lines in the borough, along with the Astoria Line; it would connect Flushing and Long Island City, two of Queens' oldest settlements, to Manhattan via the Steinway Tunnel. When the majority of the line was built in the early 1910s, most of the route went through undeveloped land, and Roosevelt Avenue had not been constructed.^[3]: 47 Community leaders advocated for more Dual Contracts lines to be built in Queens to allow development there.^[4]

61st Street–Woodside opened on April 21, 1917 as Woodside, as part of an extension of the IRT Flushing Line to Alburtis Avenue (now 103rd Street–Corona Plaza). The Long Island Rail Road station predates the station, as it originally opened in 1869.

On February 29, 1928, five petitions signed with 600 names were sent to the New York State Transit Commission (NYSTC), requesting that an escalator be constructed at the station to the southeastern corner of 61st Street and Roosevelt Avenue. On July 25, the NYSTC ordered the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) to install a double-width escalator from the mezzanine to that corner, similar to one at the Third Avenue entrance at Grand Central station on the same line.^[5][6] The new escalator was placed into service on December 27, 1930.^[7]

Later years

The city government took over the IRT's operations on June 12, 1940.^[8][9] The IRT routes were given numbered designations in 1948 with the introduction of "R-type" rolling stock, which contained rollsigns with numbered designations for each service.^[10] The route from Times Square to Flushing became known as the 7.^[11] On October 17, 1949, the joint BMT/IRT operation of the Flushing Line ended, and the line became the responsibility of the IRT.^[12] After the end of BMT/IRT dual service, the New York City Board of Transportation announced that the Flushing Line platforms would be lengthened to 11 IRT car lengths; the platforms were only able to fit nine 51-foot-long IRT cars beforehand.^[13][14] The platforms at the station were extended in 1955–1956 to accommodate 11-car trains.^[15] However, nine-car trains continued to run on the 7 route until 1962, when they were extended to ten cars.^[16] With the opening of the 1964 New York World's Fair, trains were lengthened to eleven cars.^[17][18]

In 1981, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) listed the station among the 69 most deteriorated stations in the subway system.^[19] Although the adjacent LIRR station was renovated in the 1990s, the subway station remained in poor shape. By the late 2010s, the 61st Street station was in poor condition; one newspaper reported that the station had issues with falling debris, rust, and peeling paint.^[20] The escalator leading up from 61st Street to the mezzanine, which had been installed around 2000, was one of the least reliable escalators in any subway station in Queens.^[21]

As part of the 2015–2019 Capital Program, the MTA announced plans to renovate the 52nd, 61st, 69th, 82nd, 103rd and 111th Streets stations, a project that had been delayed for several years. Conditions at these stations were reported to be among the worst of all stations in the subway system.^[22] Work on the 61st Street station included ADA upgrades; track, staircase, and platform replacement; and structural and waterproofing improvements.^[23] The Manhattan-bound platform at the 61st Street–Woodside station will close for renovation starting spring 2024, followed by the closure of the Flushing-bound platform. Throughout construction, trains in both directions will continue to stop at the station, and express service will be suspended.^[24][25] A separate contract was awarded to Skanska-Railroad JV to further improve structural conditions in the station; work began in early 2023.^[26]

3F Subway platforms	Southbound local	← toward 34th Street–Hudson Yards (52nd Street)
	Island platform
	Peak-direction express	← AM rush toward 34th Street–Hudson Yards (Queensboro Plaza) → PM rush/evenings toward Flushing–Main Street (Junction Boulevard) →
	Island platform
	Northbound local	→ toward Flushing–Main Street (69th Street) →
2F	Mezzanine	Connection between subway and LIRR, station agent, MetroCard machines Multiple accessible entrances: Elevator at northeast corner of Roosevelt Avenue and 61st Street Ramp to westbound Port Washington Branch platform from 63rd Street and Trimble Road Ramp to eastbound Main Line platform from dead end at 62nd Street near Woodside Avenue
1F LIRR platforms	Platform C, side platform
	Track 1	←      Port Washington Branch toward Penn Station or Grand Central Madison (Terminus)
	Track 2	→      Port Washington Branch toward Great Neck or Port Washington (Mets–Willets Point) →
	Platform B, Island platform
	Track 3	←      Main Line services toward Penn Station or Grand Central Madison (Terminus)
	Track 1	←      Main Line services do not stop here →
	Track 2	←      Main Line services do not stop here →
	Track 4	→      Main Line services toward Jamaica and Points East (Forest Hills) →
	Platform A, side platform
G	Street level	Entrances/exits

This station has two island platforms and three tracks. The two outer tracks are used for the full-time 7 local service while the bidirectional center track typically is used for rush hour peak-direction <7> express service,^[27] but as of April 2023^[update] the center track is closed.^[24] There is a mezzanine located at the center, underneath the platforms, with an ADA-accessible elevator to each platform, as well as another to each Long Island Rail Road platform. The elevator from the mezzanine to the street stops at the LIRR's eastbound Main Line platform.

The station is about 48 feet (15 m) above street level, and is located above a natural depression in ground level along Roosevelt Avenue.^[5]: 549

Artwork includes John Cavanagh's Commuting/Community (1986), located near the stairway down to LIRR Track 4, and Dimitri Gerakaris's Woodside Continuum (1999), which forms part of the steel-grating fare-control separation.

Exits

Entrance and exit are provided by long stairs down to street level on the northern curb of Roosevelt Avenue at 61st Street, as well as to other nearby locations via the LIRR platforms. An ADA-compliant elevator provides access to street level at the northeast corner of 61st Street and Roosevelt Avenue, while a long escalator at the southeast corner provides entrance only. The Woodside station of the Long Island Rail Road is located directly beneath the Flushing Line station; any of the three LIRR platforms can be accessed directly from the mezzanine.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 61st Street – Woodside (IRT Flushing Line).

• nycsubway.org – IRT Flushing Line: 61st Street/Woodside
• nycsubway.org — Commuting/Community Artwork by John Cavanagh (1986)
• nycsubway.org — Woodside Continuum Artwork by Dimitri Gerakaris (1999)
• Station Reporter — 7 Train
• The Subway Nut — 61st Street–Woodside Pictures Archived May 16, 2017, at the Wayback Machine
• MTA's Arts For Transit — Woodside–61st Street (IRT Flushing Line)
• 61st Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Station as seen from the LIRR platforms from Google Maps Street View
• Platforms from Google Maps Street View