61st Street – Woodside station (Photo: Nathaly Pesantez)
Nov. 4, 2017 by Nathaly Pesantez
WOODSIDE — Three train stations running through Woodside are slated for upgrades, and are currently in their design phases.
The stations, 52nd Street, Woodside—61st Street, and 69th Street, are slated for renewal projects by the MTA, according to Denise Keehan-Smith, chairwoman of Community Board 2 and its Transportation Committee, who made the announcement at the Nov. 2 monthly meeting.
69th Street station in Woodside (Photo: Nathaly Pesantez)
The MTA notified the committee that plans for the three 7-line stations will be presented to the community board after the design phase concludes, which is pegged for the end of 2018.
The three stations have been on the MTA’s radar for several years for repairs, Keehan-Smith said, prior to 2015. The last time the transportation committee received an update on the project was about a year ago, she said.
Details on the types of repairs and changes coming to the stations, along with a construction timeline, are not yet known. A representative from the MTA is set to attend the transportation committee’s Dec. 4 meeting to discuss the project, along with other items.
The community has expressed concerns over the years about a number of issues with the three stations, including stairs that are falling apart at the 52nd Street and 69th Street stations, and out-of-order escalators and elevators on 61st Street, Keehan-Smith said.
All three stations appeared on a 2015 list by the Citizens Budget Commission on subway stations with more than half of its structural components, which the MTA defines as elements that relate to a station’s functionality and safety, like stairs, platform edges, and ventilators, in deteriorated conditions. Using data from the MTA, the report showed that 79 percent of the 52nd Street station’s structural components were not in a state of good repair, the most for any station on the list.
52nd Street station in Woodside. (Photo: Nathaly Pesantez)
Woodside-61st Street showed a station with 64 percent of its structural components found to be compromised. The 69th Street station came in at 52 percent of the station “not in state of good repair”.
The 61st street station also came under scrutiny in 2013, when then-Long Island Rain Road president Helena Williams said one of the elevators at the station was experiencing a “vertical urinal problem”—the elevator was urinated on so much, that it was only in operation 58 percent of the time due to the urine rusting the floor and seeping into the lift’s system.
Renewal projects across the city’s stations in recent years have seen repaired street and platform stairs, new walls and floors, improved lighting, and countdown clocks.
The MTA did not immediately return a request for comment on the renewal projects.
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33 Comments
So they should call you Ronnie Rails
French Connection’s famous chase was actually filmed under the “West End” elevated line in Brooklyn, Now the route of the D train, it was filmed south of 62 Street Brooklyn heading south toward 77 Street using a then new 1969 vintage R-42 class subway train signed up as an “N” train. The first 2 cars of that train (#4572-4573), are now part of NY Transit Museum’s “nostalgia train” that makes occasional runs around the subway system for special occasions or events. Yes, I’m a bit of a subway buff.
61st Street/Woodside is a shared station with the LIRR, which should share some of the responsibility for repair. But total shutdown while work is done would cause chaos and inconvenience for the many thousands who pass through there daily using the #7 and/or LIRR.
El Loco, Doesn’t take much more than being observant while being a regular rider on the #7 for decades. I live in Woodside and use the 61 St & 52 St stations depending if I catch an local or express out of Manhattan on the way home. I know these stations well from being a regular rider on the 7. Watched the progress of the Court Square rebuilding project riding to/from work daily during Winter 2012. Have friends in Brooklyn on the R and the F lines that had station shutdowns for rehab work during the past year so I have personally seen the renovated stations after the work was completed. They look great.
I had the high score on Ms Pac-Man at The Pinball Bar but Neil from 39 Place just beat me.
Debozo will probably put Jason the Crappy Street Painter in charge of painting the stations.
Ron Y do you have a job? How do you know all of this stuff?
The best way to get this degree of badly needed repair done is to close the station continuously for 6 months. NYCT did that with Court Square, during that period, they replaced everything, including the platforms. We riders all know the concrete platforms are rotting away, staircases have very little steel left under many of the steps (the patchwork repairs have left the steps uneven), the mezzanine floors at 52 and 69 St are old and lumpy, the corrugated steel walls up on the platforms there are rusting out at the bases. This work desperately needs to be done. 52 St is 5 blocks from the 47 St exit of 46 St station, put the displaced 52 St station agent at that mezzanine; 69 St is 5 blocks from the #7 exit at 74 St. Just relocate the 69 St station agent there. There’s also a 73 St exit from the E,F,R,M station. As for 61 St, they will have to figure some way to stage the platform replacement. It’s a busy Express and transfer stop to the LIRR. Can’t totally close that one. The elevators are already going out for repair one at a time. The one on the Flushing bound platform’s been out for 3+ months. Due back in January. The NY bound platform elevator is probably next. The elevator to the street level was just replaced with a new one. You ought to see how nice the stations that have been thoroughly rebuilt look on the R in Brooklyn. The elevated stations on the F line in Brooklyn from Ditmas Ave to Ave X are almost done. The side that’s been completed looks great. Go ride and have a look for yourselves! Our 52, 61 and 69 St stations will look like that after the overhaul too! It’ll be worth it.
Yes but it will disrupt my sleeping with all the racket!
I hope that doesn’t mean a total shutdown of those stations while work is being done. That is currently the case for two stations on the Astoria “N” and “W” lines, which is expected to take at least a year.
Whatever about Van Bramer ,hey hey, ho ho, Deblasio has got to go .
The 7 line has some of the worst stations in the city. You can refilm the French Connection there and people would still think it’s 1970.
The French Connection car chase scene was filmed under the el in Astoria.
Oh dear. 79% of the 52nd St station structural components are compromised. Is it safe? I ride that train every day. I wish the article had covered the implications of that statement a little more clearly.
Oh dear? That’s the line Mr Smith used from Lost in Space. Now pick yourself up from your IPA beer hangover and get on with your pathetic scaredy-cat life. Vote for OJJ and he will have that station fixed up lickity split.
20 year/over budget project in the making.
Indeed, get ready to see a bunch of MTA workers standing around.
Don’t blame the 61 Street urine problem mentioned in article on me…I use the bathroom at The Woodside Deli. I’ve seen Bruno peeing in that elevator.
??????
Is anyone doing something about this “homeless people” living in the park of 51st and 43rd ave?? It’s plus the drug situation in daylight right there. There must be a limit for everything. >:/
Find them homes is the obvious solution
Set up temporary housing for them so they can get back on their feet?
Oh wait, Sunnyside Post commenters are against that too.
I guess say disparaging things about them on the internet and hope it solves the problem?
Woodside is about to get gentrification upgrades
They don’t need it they are beautiful.
The city council or individual city councilman do not control the MTA. The state controls the MTA.
thank you JVB for NOT doing anything about all of this — even when told about this mess he did nothing
How do you know he did nothing?
Jimmy put recordings of squawking birds at 52nd st to scare away the pigeons about 3 years ago. Thats something.
Unfortunately we learned that the pigeons are smarter than the politicians and it was a waste of cash. Pigeons didnt fall for it.
for those who dont remember… this brilliant waste of money
http://sunnysidepost.com/pigeon-mitigation-system-at-52nd-street-sounds-like-the-amazon
Not even the mayor controls the MTA, let alone JVB. Give it a rest, you dummy.
sorry, but there is absolutely no way of making the above ground 7 train subway stations any less ugly and revolting.
I’m now convinced all the obsessive JVB comments are from his opponent. Sad
Why don’t JVB drive the 7 train? He’d rather do nothing. He could at least rebuild the stations single handedly. Why?