Division B (IND) Platforms 2 side platforms Borough Queens | Structure Underground Opened 31 December 1936 Locale Elmhurst | |
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Line IND Queens Boulevard Line Services E (late nights)
M (weekdays until 11 p.m.)
R (all hours except late nights) Transit connections NYCT Bus: Q58, Q59
MTA Bus: Q53, Q60 Address Queens, NY 11373, United States Similar Elmhurst Avenue, Woodhaven Boulevard, 67th Avenue, 46th Street, 63rd Drive–Rego Park | ||
Grand Avenue–Newtown is a local station on the IND Queens Boulevard Line of the New York City Subway. Located under private property at the northeast corner of the intersection of Grand Avenue, Broadway, and Queens Boulevard in the neighborhood of Elmhurst, Queens, it is served by the R train at all times except nights, when the E train takes over service. The M train provides additional service here on weekdays except nights.
Contents
History
The Queens Boulevard Line was one of the first lines built by the city-owned Independent Subway System (IND), and stretches between the IND Eighth Avenue Line in Manhattan and 179th Street and Hillside Avenue in Jamaica, Queens. The Queens Boulevard Line was in part financed by a Public Works Administration (PWA) loan and grant of $25,000,000. On December 31, 1936, the IND Queens Boulevard Line was extended by eight stops, and 3.5 miles (5.6 km), from its previous terminus at Roosevelt Avenue to Union Turnpike, and the Grand Avenue station opened as part of this extension.
In Elmhurst, the destruction of almost all of the century-old buildings in the heart of the village were destroyed for the construction of the subway. Land was taken on the west side of the Broadway to avoid the demolition of the Saint James Episcopal Church and the Reformed Church. Many nineteenth century residences and the Wandowenock Fire Company buildings had to be torn down. To allow the subway line to curve into Queens Boulevard from Broadway, the northeast corner of the two streets was removed, in addition to some stores and an old Presbyterian chapel. New buildings were built behind a new curb line once the subway was completed, bringing a new face to Elmhurst. The introduction of the subway stimulated local growth in Elmhurst. Commercial buildings and apartment houses replaced existing structures.
Station layout
There are four tracks and two side platforms here. In between the local tracks and the express tracks, there are trackway walls. The station has a full length mezzanine, but as the fare control and booth area are at the center of the mezzanine, crossover is available only at the easternmost staircase.
Both platforms have a medium Cerulean Blue tile band with a black border with small "GRAND" captions in white lettering on a black background beneath them. They also have name tablets reading "GRAND AVE." with "NEWTOWN" shown beneath in white sans serif lettering on a black background and a Cerulean Blue border. Concrete-clad columns painted Cadet blue run along both platforms at regular intervals with alternating ones having the standard black name plates in white lettering.
Exits
Each side has two sets of street stairs, with the full-time entrance at Grand Avenue and Broadway on the west end. There are two additional staircases by the crossovers; however, these are closed at night. HEET access at both ends of the mezzanine allow people to exit fare control without having to walk down to the middle of the mezzanine. Originally, there were two fare control areas at each end, which is clear from the presence of two closed staircases at the Manhattan-bound side. The mezzanine narrows to about two-thirds of its width on the southern side of the mezzanine directly to the opposite of the closed staircases. The narrowing of the mezzanine did not allow for staircases on the Queens-bound side in this location like on the Manhattan-bound side. Chain-link fence is used to separate the area inside and outside fare control. In total, this side of the station has four staircases in addition to the two closed ones mentioned, while the other side has five staircases.