Kew Gardens station (LIRR)

Kew Gardens
The Kew Gardens station and the Lefferts Boulevard Bridge as seen from the eastbound platform.
General information
LocationAustin Street and Lefferts Boulevard
Kew Gardens, Queens, New York
Coordinates40°42′35″N 73°49′50″W / 40.7096°N 73.83066°W / 40.7096; -73.83066
Owned byLong Island Rail Road
Line(s)Main Line
Distance7.7 mi (12.4 km) from Long Island City[1]
Platforms2 side platforms
Tracks4
ConnectionsLocal Transit MTA Bus: Q10, Q37, QM18
(Q37 at 80th Road and Austin Street)[2]
Construction
ParkingYes
Bicycle facilitiesBike racks (westbound platform)
Other information
Fare zone1[3]
History
Opened1879, 1883
Closed1882, 1909
RebuiltSeptember 8, 1910[4]: 26 [5]
ElectrifiedJune 23, 1910
750 V (DC) third rail[6]: 74 
Previous namesMaple Grove (1879–1910)
Kew (1910–1912)
Passengers
20171,778 (Daily)[7]
Services
Preceding station Long Island Rail Road Following station
Forest Hills Hempstead Branch
Evening Hours Only
Jamaica
toward Hempstead
Ronkonkoma Branch
Peak periods only
Jamaica
toward Ronkonkoma
Far Rockaway Branch
Peak periods only
Jamaica
Babylon Branch
Peak periods only
Jamaica
toward Babylon
West Hempstead Branch
Peak periods only
Jamaica
Long Beach Branch
Peak periods only
Jamaica
toward Long Beach
Woodside Port Jefferson Branch Jamaica
toward Huntington
     Oyster Bay Branch does not stop here
     Montauk Branch does not stop here
Former services
Preceding station Long Island
Rail Road
Following station
Forest Hills Main Line Westbridge
toward Greenport
Location
Map

The Kew Gardens station is a station on the Main Line of the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR). It is located in the Kew Gardens neighborhood of Queens, New York City, near Austin Street and Lefferts Boulevard. The station is located within the City Terminal Zone, part of LIRR fare zone 1. It contains four tracks and two side platforms for the outermost tracks.

The Kew Gardens station was built on the site of a station named Hopedale, which operated from 1875 to 1884 and served the Maple Grove Cemetery nearby. Another station named Maple Grove was built even closer to the cemetery in 1879. The station closed in 1909 as the LIRR was rerouted onto a more direct alignment with the construction of the Maple Grove Cut-Off. Maple Grove was replaced by the current Kew Gardens station in 1910. The station's opening played an integral part in the construction of the community of Kew Gardens. The Kew Gardens train crash took place east of the station on November 22, 1950, which killed 78 people and injured 363 others in the worst crash in the LIRR's history.

One of the Kew Gardens station's unique features is the Lefferts Boulevard Bridge, which has one story commercial buildings on both sides for local businesses. The stores were built over the tracks in 1930. While the neighborhood's charm has been attributed to the bridge, it has been under threat of demolition multiple times. Since the bridge is deteriorating, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which operates the LIRR, had proposed demolishing the bridge. However, the bridge was saved after local residents and politicians strongly opposed demolition.

  1. ^ Long Island Rail Road (May 14, 2012). "TIMETABLE No. 4" (PDF). p. III. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  2. ^ "Queens Bus Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. August 2022. Retrieved September 29, 2022.
  3. ^ "LIRR Stations and Fare Zones" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. March 19, 2017. Retrieved September 16, 2018.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference MapleGrove was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference BranchNotes was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Seyfried7 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference PlatformExtension was invoked but never defined (see the help page).