Parkside (LIRR station)

Parkside

Site of former Parkside Station
Location 9230 Metropolitan Avenue
Queens, New York City
Coordinates 40°42′43″N 73°51′24″W / 40.71185°N 73.85667°W / 40.71185; -73.85667Coordinates: 40°42′43″N 73°51′24″W / 40.71185°N 73.85667°W / 40.71185; -73.85667
Owned by City of New York
Line(s)
  Rockaway Beach Branch
Platforms 2 side platforms
Tracks 2
Other information
Station code None
History
Opened September 15, 1927
Closed June 8, 1962
Electrified 1905
Previous names Glendale (September–October 1927)
Services

None (demolished)

Preceding station   LIRR   Following station
toward Grand Street
Rockaway Beach Branch

Parkside is a former elevated Long Island Rail Road station on the north side of Metropolitan Avenue on the border of the Middle Village, Rego Park, Forest Hills, and Glendale neighborhoods in Queens, New York City.[1][2] Opened in 1927, the wooden station was part of the Rockaway Beach Branch and was the northernmost station on the branch before the junction with the Main Line at Rego Park Station and the terminus of the line at Grand Street Station in Elmhurst. The station was closed in 1962, twelve years after the LIRR had abandoned the Rockaway portions of the line.[2]

Station layout

P
Former platform level		 Side platform, demolished
Northbound Trackbed
Southbound Trackbed
Side platform, demolished
G Street Level -

The station had two tracks and two wooden high-level side platforms, with four small wooden shelters on both platforms. Exit stairs were located on Metropolitan Avenue.[3][4][5][6]

North of the station, the line veered west to merge with the LIRR Main Line at Whitepot Junction. Just south of the station near the Union Turnpike overpass was a junction with the Montauk Branch (Glendale Junction), with a wye from the westbound Montauk track merging with the Rockaway Branch going north, and another from the eastbound Montauk track going south. The Rockaway line, meanwhile, ran elevated over the Montauk branch on a wooden trestle.[4][7][8][9]

Operation

Prior to the construction of the station, Rockaway Beach Branch service north of Ozone Park traveled via the Atlantic Branch to Flatbush Terminal, or the Montauk Branch to Hunters Point Ferry.[10] Between 1908 and 1911, the branch was extended north past the Montauk Branch to the Main Line; this new grade-separated section was known as the Glendale Cut-off, and allowed service from the branch to Penn Station in Manhattan.[8][11] In early 1927, a new station was conceived at Metropolitan Avenue along the cut-off to alleviate congestion at the Forest Hills Main Line station, and to replace the nearby Glendale station and Atlas Yard station (the current site of The Shops at Atlas Park at Cooper Avenue) on the Montauk Branch.[10][12][13] The station was opened on September 15, 1927. It was originally named "Glendale" as a substitute for the former station on the Montauk Branch. It was renamed "Parkside" on October 23, 1927, due to its proximity to Forest Park, after protests over the station name from the local community.[14][15] The Parkside name is shared with a nearby post office at Metropolitan Avenue and Continental Avenue (71st Avenue).[3][11][16][17]

The opening of the Parkside station helped spawn development in the area, which was previously empty lots and farmland. Over 100 homes were constructed to form the Forest Hills Crest community.[3][18][19] The block immediately to the south of the station, bound by Metropolitan Avenue, Woodhaven Boulevard, and Union Turnpike became an industrial superblock.[20]

In the early expansion plans of the city's Independent Subway System in the 1930s, Parkside was one of the stations that would have been absorbed into the new subway, connecting to the IND Queens Boulevard Line at its 63rd Drive station in Rego Park, north of the LIRR Main Line junction.[21]

Closure and current state

Following the condemning of the Rockaway Beach Branch by the LIRR in 1950 due to a fire, and the city's purchase of the line in 1955,[11] only the route south of Liberty Avenue was reactivated as a subway line (today's IND Rockaway Line).[22] LIRR service continued through Parkside to Ozone Park, although greatly reduced.[11] Due to vandalism, the railroad removed the station's southbound track and put both platforms out of service in 1958, replaced with a low-level concrete platform in the former trackbed.[5][6][23] The Rockaway Beach Branch ceased operations on June 8, 1962 and all stations along the line were closed.[2][11][24] No trace of the station exists today.[11]

The vicinity of the former station is located near the Forest Hills Volunteer Ambulance Corps.[25][26] The former industrial block west of the line is currently a shopping center. The land east of the line south of Metropolitan Avenue is currently the site of the Metropolitan Avenue Public School Campus built from 2006 to 2010; the northern entrance to the campus is on Metropolitan Avenue, and the school building sits on the former right-of-way of the northern Montauk connection. The southern wye is used by baseball fields. The overpass above the Montauk branch has been demolished.[4][7][20] Shortly after the opening of the Metropolitan campus in 2010, the trestle and overpass over Metropolitan Avenue near the school were deemed to be structurally unsound in a report by the Vornado Realty Trust.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Shepard, Richard F. (September 3, 1995). "Memories of My Queens". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 Dunlap, David W. (July 31, 2014). "Clashing Visions for Old Rail Bed (Just Don't Call It the High Line of Queens)". The New York Times. p. A20. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 Marzlock, Ron (May 1, 2008). "Parkside Station, Forest Hills". qchron.com. Queens Chronicle. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 Keller, Dave. "Rockaway Beach Branch". trainsarefun.com. trainsarefun.com. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  5. 1 2 "L.I.R.R. Asks Cuts in Queens Branch: Seeks Reduction of Service on Rockaway Beach Spur-Request Is Opposed". The New York Times. February 20, 1958. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  6. 1 2 Noyes, Thomas (December 27, 1961). "'Forgotten Spur' a Painful Reminder" (PDF). Long Island Star-Journal. Fultonhistory.com. p. 17. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 Goldman, Sam (December 16, 2010). "A Third Mall In Rego Park?". timesnewsweekly.com. Times Newsweekly. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  8. 1 2 "Millions Spent on Long Island R.R. - First Full Details of Improvements and What They Have Cost the Pennsylvania - Tunnel Trains in June - Company Expects to Carry 500,000 Commuters Daily - $30,000,000 Already Spent - $10,000,000 to Come". The New York Times. April 10, 1910. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  9. ↑ Queens Subway Options Study, New York: Environmental Impact Statement. United States Department of Transportation, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Urban Mass Transit Administration. May 1984. pp. 83–. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  10. 1 2 Roden, J. (July 4, 1948). "Old Timers: This Veteran Railroader Describes Rockaway Run". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. p. 18. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bresiger, Gregory (July 18, 2012). "The Trains Stopped Running Here 50 Years Ago". qgazette.com. Queens Gazette. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  12. ↑ "New Long Island Station - Will Be Built Near Forest Hills on the Rockaway Division". The New York Times. March 25, 1927. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  13. ↑ "New L.I. Railroad Station Ordered In Glendale Area: New Depot May Relieve Crowded Conditions at Forest Hills" (PDF). Long Island Daily Star. Fultonhistory.com. March 24, 1927. p. 13. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  14. ↑ "Forest Hills Park Grows During Year" (PDF). Long Island Daily Press. Fultonhistory.com. October 27, 1927. p. 2. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  15. ↑ "Forest Hills Happy Over Depot Name: Plans Celebration to Mark Victory Over L.I.R.R. in Station Title Dispute" (PDF). Long Island Daily Press. Fultonhistory.com. October 26, 1927. p. 2. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  16. ↑ The Long Island Rail Road: A Comprehensive History Volume #5; New York, Woodhaven & Rockaway Railroad; New York & Rockaway Beach Railway; New York & Long Beach Railroad; New York & Rockaway Railroad; Brooklyn Rapid Transit Operation to Rockaway Over L.I.R.R., by Vincent F. Seyfried
  17. ↑ Amezaga, L. (October 28, 1927). "Remedy for Overcrowding (Letter)". The New York Times. p. 22. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  18. ↑ "Queens Builders Pay $200,000 For Farm Worth $3,500 in 1865". The New York Times. April 19, 1931. p. 4RE. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  19. ↑ "New Queens Home Community". The New York Times. June 28, 1931. p. 1RE. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  20. 1 2 "ENB - Region 2 Notices: Notice Of Acceptance Of Draft EIS". ny.gov. Queens, New York City: New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. May 25, 2005. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  21. ↑ "City Board Votes New Subway Links - Tentatively Lists $16,000,000 Outlay for Rockaway and North Bronx Extensions - Albany Approval Needed - Brunner Will Go to Capital to Seek Authority for Purchase From Long Island Railroad". The New York Times. March 19, 1937. p. 25. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  22. ↑ Freeman, Ira Henry (June 28, 1956). "Rockaway Trains to Operate Today - City Line to Resort to Open 3 Days Ahead of Schedule With Fare of 2 Tokens - Exercises at 4:30 P.M. - Mayor and Officials to be First Passengers After Howard BGeach Talks". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  23. ↑ Roberts, John A. (March 2002). "Forgotten Spur to the Rockaways". junipercivic.com. Juniper Park Civic Association. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  24. ↑ "An Era Ends at 6:09: Last Train Rides Forgotten Spur" (PDF). Long Island Star-Journal. Fultonhistory.com. June 8, 1962. p. 11. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  25. ↑ Forest Hills Volunteer Ambulance Corps (Official Website)
  26. ↑ Forest Hills Volunteer Ambulance Corps (Google)
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