Flushing–Main Street (IRT Flushing Line)

History

The station was constructed under the Dual Contracts as part of an extension of the Flushing Line past 103rd Street–Corona Plaza. At the time of the line's planning in the 1910s, Downtown Flushing was a quiet Dutch-colonial-style village; what is now Roosevelt Avenue in the area was known as Amity Street, a major commercial thoroughfare in the neighborhood. It was decided to build the station underground due to local opposition to the disturbances, loss of property value, and the required widening of Amity Street that an elevated line would bring. Thus, it is one of only seven underground stations on the Flushing Line, one of three underground stations on the line in Queens, and the only underground station east of Queensboro Plaza. Construction of the station and the double-deck bridge over the Flushing Creek began on April 21, 1923, with the station built via cut-and-cover methods. The bridge was completed in 1927, and the station opened on January 21, 1928, over a decade after the line began operation.

Following the station's opening, Downtown Flushing evolved into a major commercial and transit center, as development sprung around the section of Main Street near the station. On April 24, 1939, express trains began operating to and from the station, in conjunction with the reconstruction of the Willets Point station for the 1939 World's Fair. Due to the high level of passenger use, beginning in 1940 local residents requested an additional exit at the east end of the station, and the widening of existing staircases. A new eastern entrance was added after World War II. Ground broke on the new entrance on November 5, 1947, and it opened on October 28, 1948 with two new street stairs and an additional token booth. Upon its initial opening, the new entrance did little to relieve crowding at the main fare control area.

The platforms at Main Street and all other stations on the Flushing Line with the exception of Queensboro Plaza were extended in 1955–1956 to accommodate 11-car trains.

A station renovation had been planned since the 1970s. In 1981, the MTA listed the station among the 69 most deteriorated stations in the subway system. The MTA finally found funding for the station's renovation in 1994—at the expense of the renovations of 15 other stations, including three Franklin Avenue Line stations and the Atlantic Avenue–Pacific Street, Roosevelt Avenue/74th Street, and 161st Street–Yankee Stadium station complexes—because the station was a "vital station" for commuters from Eastern Queens. Between 1999 and 2000, the station underwent a major renovation project. The renovation added an elevator near the eastern Lippmann Plaza exit that made the station compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The project also added new street entrances and a large entrance hall near Lippmann Plaza at the far east end of the station, beyond the bumper blocks at the end of the tracks. Prior to 1999, the tracks went past where the current bumper blocks are, to a dead-end, as the line was planned to extend eastward.

The Flushing–Main Street station has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2004.

Proposed extension of the line

Under several expansion plans of the New York City Subway, including the Dual Contracts and the IND Second System, the Flushing Line would have been extended past Main Street, along and/or parallel to the right-of-way of the nearby Port Washington Branch of the Long Island Rail Road towards Bell Boulevard in Bayside. A spur line would have branched off north along 149th Street towards College Point.

Station layout

The station has three tracks and two relatively narrow island platforms, due to Roosevelt Avenue's narrow width of approximately 50 feet (15 m). When peak-direction express service operates, express trains will leave from the middle and southernmost tracks, Track M and Track 2 respectively, while local trains will leave from Track 1. This system was instituted in November 1952. Mosaic on the wall tiles read "MAIN STREET"; small tiles along the platforms read "M".

At the west end of the platforms are the offices and dispatch tower for the IRT Flushing Line. Train crews report to the offices, while the dispatch tower dispatches trains and controls the Flushing Line. West of the station, the line rises from the tunnel via a portal at College Point Boulevard, and onto the elevated bridge across Flushing Creek.

Exits

There are nine entrances at street level, leading to two separate fare control areas. The original street exit is in the middle of the platforms with a separate fare control mezzanine above the tracks, and the 24-hour station agent's booth. Staircases lead up to all four corners of Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue. The new fare control area at Lippmann Plaza has an extremely high ceiling, with the lobby itself located approximately 40 feet (12 m) below the street level. The mezzanine is at platform level, and provides an ADA-compliant elevator, three unidirectional escalators, and a stairway to street level at Lippmann Plaza. New artwork titled Happy World was installed over the row of turnstiles in 1998. The plaza, also known as Lippmann Arcade, is a pedestrian walkway that leads to a municipal parking lot and several bus stops on 39th Avenue.

Bus service

In addition to connecting with the nearby Long Island Rail Road station of the same name, the station serves as one of the two busiest local bus-subway interchanges in Queens (along with Jamaica Center) and the largest in North America, with over 20 bus routes running through or terminating in the area as of 2015.

Attractions and points of interest

The station is located in Downtown Flushing, also known as Flushing Chinatown, one of New York City's largest Asian enclaves.

Nearby points of interest include: