52nd Street station (IRT Flushing Line)

For other uses, see 52nd Street (disambiguation).

The 52nd Street station (also known as 52nd Street–Lincoln Avenue station) is a local station on the IRT Flushing Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of 52nd Street and Roosevelt Avenue in Woodside, Queens, it is served by the 7 train at all times.

52 Street
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
View from eastbound platform
Station statistics
Address	52nd Street & Roosevelt Avenue Woodside, New York
Borough	Queens
Locale	Woodside
Coordinates	40°44′38.53″N 73°54′46.31″W
Division	A (IRT)[1]
Line	IRT Flushing Line
Services	7  (all times)
Transit	NYCT Bus: Q32
Structure	Elevated
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	3
Other information
Opened	April 21, 1917; 107 years ago (1917-04-21)
Opposite- direction transfer	Yes
Former/other names	52nd Street–Lincoln Avenue
Traffic
2023	1,402,690[2]  6.5%
Rank	224 out of 423[2]
Services Preceding station New York City Subway Following station 46th Street–Bliss Street toward 34th Street–Hudson Yards Local 61st Street–Woodside toward Flushing–Main Street does not stop here
Location Show map of New York City Subway Show map of New York City Show map of New York
Track layout Legend to 61st Street–Woodside to 46th Street–Bliss Street
Street map
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times

History

Early history

R188 7 train leaving the station

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]

The Flushing Line was opened from Queensboro Plaza to Alburtis Avenue (now 103rd Street–Corona Plaza) on April 21, 1917, with a local station at 52nd Street.^[5]

Later years

The city government took over the IRT's operations on June 12, 1940.^[6][7] 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.^[8] The route from Times Square to Flushing became known as the 7.^[9] On October 17, 1949, the joint BMT/IRT operation of the Flushing Line ended, and the line became the responsibility of the IRT.^[10] 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.^[11][12] The platforms at the station were extended in 1955–1956 to accommodate 11-car trains.^[13] However, nine-car trains continued to run on the 7 route until 1962, when they were extended to ten cars.^[14] With the opening of the 1964 New York World's Fair, trains were lengthened to eleven cars.^[15][16]

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.^[17] The Manhattan-bound platform at the 52nd Street station will close for renovation starting spring 2024, followed by the closure of the Flushing-bound platform.^[18][19]

Station layout

Platform level
	Side platform
	Southbound local	← toward 34th Street–Hudson Yards (46th Street–Bliss Street)
	Peak-direction express	← AM rush does not stop here ← PM rush/evenings does not stop here →
	Northbound local	→ toward Flushing–Main Street (61st Street–Woodside) →
	Side platform
Mezzanine		Fare control, station agent, MetroCard and OMNY machines
Ground	Street level	Entrances/exits

Street stair

This elevated station has two side platforms and three tracks. The center express track is used by the rush hour peak direction <7> express train. Both platforms have beige windscreens and brown canopies with green roofs along the entire length except for a small section at the south end, which has only a windscreen on the eastbound side and a waist-high steel fence on the westbound side.^[20][21]

This is the southernmost (geographical west) station on the IRT Flushing Line that is on a steel viaduct above Roosevelt Avenue. West of this station, the line curves and becomes a concrete viaduct above Queens Boulevard until 32nd Place.

Exits

This station has two entrances. The full-time one is a wooden elevated station house beneath the tracks at the south end. It has a single staircase to each platform, waiting area that allows free transfer between directions, turnstile bank, token booth, and two staircases to the street, one to each western corner of 52nd Street and Roosevelt Avenue.^[20][21]

The other entrance is at the station's extreme north (geographical east) end. A single canopied staircase from each platform goes down a landing outside of a now-closed elevated station house beneath the tracks. A single HEET turnstile provides entrance/exit from the station before a street stair goes down 53rd Street and Roosevelt Avenue. The Manhattan-bound staircase is at the northeast corner while the Flushing-bound one is at the southeast corner.^[20][21]

References

1. "Glossary". Second Avenue Subway Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) (PDF). Vol. 1. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. March 4, 2003. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 26, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
2. "Annual Subway Ridership (2018–2023)". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
3. Raskin, Joseph B. (2013). The Routes Not Taken: A Trip Through New York City's Unbuilt Subway System. New York, New York: Fordham University Press. doi:10.5422/fordham/9780823253692.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-82325-369-2.
4. "Move for Rapid Transit" (PDF). Newtown Register. December 2, 1909. p. 1. Retrieved September 30, 2017 – via Fultonhistory.com.
5. "Transit Service on Corona Extension of Dual Subway System Opened to the Public". The New York Times. April 22, 1917. p. RE1. Retrieved October 2, 2011.
6. "City Transit Unity Is Now a Reality; Title to I.R.T. Lines Passes to Municipality, Ending 19-Year Campaign". The New York Times. June 13, 1940. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on January 7, 2022. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
7. "Transit Unification Completed As City Takes Over I. R. T. Lines: Systems Come Under Single Control After Efforts Begun in 1921; Mayor Is Jubilant at City Hall Ceremony Recalling 1904 Celebration". New York Herald Tribune. June 13, 1940. p. 25. ProQuest 1248134780.
8. Brown, Nicole (May 17, 2019). "How did the MTA subway lines get their letter or number? NYCurious". amNewYork. Archived from the original on March 2, 2021. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
9. Friedlander, Alex; Lonto, Arthur; Raudenbush, Henry (April 1960). "A Summary of Services on the IRT Division, NYCTA" (PDF). New York Division Bulletin. 3 (1). Electric Railroaders' Association: 2–3. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 14, 2020. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
10. "Direct Subway Runs To Flushing, Astoria" (PDF). The New York Times. October 15, 1949. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
11. Bennett, Charles G. (November 20, 1949). "Transit Platforms On Lines In Queens To Be Lengthened; $3,850,000 Program Outlined for Next Year to Care for Borough's Rapid Growth New Links Are To Be Built 400 More Buses to Roll Also — Bulk of Work to Be on Corona-Flushing Route Transit Program In Queens Outlined". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 29, 2018.
12. "37 Platforms On Subways To Be Lengthened: All Stations of B. M. T. and I.R.T.in Queens Included in $5,000,000 Program". New York Herald Tribune. November 20, 1949. p. 32. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1325174459.
13. Minutes and Proceedings of the New York City Transit Authority. New York City Transit Authority. 1955. Archived from the original on September 13, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
14. "R17s to the Flushing Line". New York Division Bulletin. 5 (6). Electric Railroaders' Association: M-8. December 1962 – via Issu.
15. "TA to Show Fair Train". Long Island Star – Journal. August 31, 1963. Retrieved August 30, 2016 – via Fulton History.
16. "A First-class Rapid Ride". Railway Age. Vol. 156, no. 21. June 1, 1964. p. 22. ProQuest 895766286.
17. Murray, Christian (November 19, 2019). "MTA To Overhaul Six Stations on the 7 Line, Currently in Design Phase". Sunnyside Post. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
18. "MTA Announces Service Changes on 7 Line Beginning May 12". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. April 21, 2023. Archived from the original on April 22, 2023. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
19. "Improving the 7 Line". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. March 9, 2023. Archived from the original on March 25, 2023. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
20. "www.nycsubway.org: IRT Flushing Line". www.nycsubway.org. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
21. Cox, Jeremiah. "52 Street-Lincoln Av (7) - The SubwayNut". www.subwaynut.com. Archived from the original on January 5, 2018. Retrieved February 28, 2016.

External links

• nycsubway.org – IRT Flushing Line: 52nd Street/Lincoln Avenue
• 52nd Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• 53rd Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Platforms from Google Maps Street View