Forest Hills–71st Avenue (IND Queens Boulevard Line)

For other places with the same name, see Forest Hill station.
Forest Hills–71st Avenue
New York City Subway rapid transit station

Manhattan bound platform
Station statistics
Address 71st Avenue & Queens Boulevard
Queens, NY 11375
Borough Queens
Locale Forest Hills
Coordinates 40°43′17″N 73°50′38″W / 40.721404°N 73.844004°W / 40.721404; -73.844004Coordinates: 40°43′17″N 73°50′38″W / 40.721404°N 73.844004°W / 40.721404; -73.844004
Division B (IND)
Line IND Queens Boulevard Line
Services       E  (all times)
      F  (all times)
      M  (weekdays until 11:00 p.m.)
      R  (all hours except late nights)
Transit connections MTA Bus: Q23, Q60, Q64, QM11, QM12, QM18
Railway transportation LIRR: City Terminal Zone (at Forest Hills)
Structure Underground
Platforms 2 island platforms
cross-platform interchange
Tracks 4
Other information
Opened December 31, 1936 (1936-12-31)
Accessible
Wireless service [1][2]
Former/other names 71st–Continental Avenues–Forest Hills
Traffic
Passengers (2015) 8,654,547[3] Increase 0.8%
Rank 41 out of 422
Station succession
Next north 75th Avenue (local): E  F 
Kew Gardens–Union Turnpike (express): E 
(Terminal): M  R 
World's Fair (IND World's Fair Line; demolished)
Next south 67th Avenue (local): E  M  R 
Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue (express): E  F 
Next north Kew Gardens–Union Turnpike: E  F 
Next south Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue: E  F  M  R 

Forest Hills–71st Avenue (previously known as 71st–Continental Avenues) is an express station on the IND Queens Boulevard Line of the New York City Subway, located on Queens Boulevard at 71st (Continental) Avenue in Forest Hills, Queens. It is served by the E and F trains at all times, the R train at all times except late nights, and the M train on weekdays except late nights. It serves as the terminus for the latter two services.

History

Track layout
Legend
to Union Tpke
to 75 Av
 to Jamaica Yard
to 67 Av
to Roosevelt Av
A Manhattan-bound R train arriving at the station.

The Queens Boulevard Line was one of the first lines built by the city-owned Independent Subway System (IND),[4][5][6] and stretches between the IND Eighth Avenue Line in Manhattan and 179th Street and Hillside Avenue in Jamaica, Queens.[4][6][7] The Queens Boulevard Line was in part financed by a Public Works Administration (PWA) loan and grant of $25,000,000.[8] One of the proposed stations would have been located at 71st Avenue. In the late 1920s, with the news of the subway extension, real estate prices soared, and older buildings were demolished in order to make way for new development.[9] In 1930, in anticipation of growth due to the building of the Queens Boulevard Line, several blocks of land along Queens Boulevard were rezoned so that fifteen-story apartment buildings could be built.[10]

Queens Borough President George Harvey predicted that the introduction of the subway to Forest Hills would turn Queens Boulevard into the "Park Avenue of Queens". The construction of the subway encouraged the development of apartments, which after the line's completion would lure residents from Midtown Manhattan. There was even more development at the location surrounding this station location because it offered an affordable express route to Manhattan, making Forest Hills a more desirable place to live.[9]

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 71st Avenue station opened as part of this extension.[11][12][13][14][15][16]

The station was proposed as a transfer station between the never-built Queens Super-Express Bypass as part of the 1968 Program for Action, which would have significantly expanded railway and subway service in the five boroughs.[17] Under a 1984 plan, the new express station would have been one of three stops on the 63rd Street Line extension east of 21st Street–Queensbridge, the other two stops being at Northern Boulevard and Woodside.[17] The bypass station would have had a mezzanine, two platform levels (an upper platform for Jamaica- and Southeast Queens-bound trains; a lower platform for Manhattan-bound trains), a new elevator entrance, and an expanded mezzanine, with escalators and stairs connecting the new platform levels to the existing platforms.[17][18] The new station would have been built on the south side of Queens Boulevard, south of the existing station.[17][18]

In 2014, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority built a new signal tower for the Manhattan-bound platform. The agency also upgraded the station to compliance with the 1990 Americans With Disabilities Act; the upgrade included passenger elevators to serve the street level, mezzanine and platforms. This project, after a three-month delay,[19] was completed by March 2014.[20][21] A ribbon-cutting for the new elevators, however, wasn't held until May 2014.[22]

Station layout

G Street Level Exit/Entrance
M Mezzanine Fare control, station agent
(Elevator on south side of Queens Boulevard between 70th Road and 71st Avenue)
P
Platform level		 Southbound local ← toward World Trade Center late nights (67th Avenue)
← (boarding passengers only) toward Middle Village–Metropolitan Avenue weekdays (67th Avenue)
← (boarding passengers only) toward Bay Ridge–95th Street all times except nights (67th Avenue)
Island platform, doors will open on the left, right
Southbound express ← toward World Trade Center (Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue)
← toward Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue (Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue)
Northbound express → toward Jamaica Center (Kew Gardens–Union Turnpike weekdays or 75th Avenue weekends) →
→ toward Jamaica–179th Street (75th Avenue) →
Island platform, doors will open on the left, right
Northbound local → toward Jamaica Center late nights (75th Avenue) →
→ termination track →
Stairs

The station has four tracks and two island platforms. It is the northern terminal for the local M and R trains, which stop on the outer tracks. To the east, the line widens to six tracks, with two tracks starting between the local and express tracks in each direction, then ramping down to a lower level, where they widen to four tracks and run under the 75th Avenue station to Jamaica Yard. F trains stop on the express track at all times, but switch to the local track to the east and continue on to Jamaica–179th Street. E trains stop on the express tracks at all times except late nights, when they make local stops along the Queens Boulevard Line. To the east, they continue on the express tracks (except evenings and weekends when they switch to the local track like the F) to Jamaica Center–Parsons/Archer, with limited rush-hour express service to 179th Street.

Both outer track walls have a lime green tile band with a black border and small "71st AVE" signs below them, in white lettering on black tiles. The station's columns are painted in lime green with signs reading "71 - Forest Hills", while older signs on the black columns between the express tracks read "CONTINENTAL AVENUE - Forest Hills" in black lettering on a white border.

There are three fare control areas on the full width mezzanine above the platforms and tracks. The full-time booth is near the east end of the station and is closest to the southern staircase going up to 71st Avenue and Queens Boulevard. One of the part-time booths is in the same area in the middle of the mezzanine and is closest to 108th Street and 71st Avenue. The other part-time booth is at the west end by 70th Road and Queens Blvd and has only one street stair. There are seven staircases to each platform.[23][24]

A signal tower and dispatchers' office is at the extreme eastern end of the northbound platform. A second smaller dispatcher's booth sits on the center of the Manhattan-bound platform.

Signage

On the current MTA map[25] and published timetables,[26] the station name is "Forest Hills–71st Avenue." In the past, "Continental Avenue" (the alternative name of 71st Avenue used in nearby Forest Hills Gardens) has been included in the name[27] and is used on the rollsigns of older rolling stock such as the R32. As of 2011, the platform signage reads 71–Continental Av–Forest Hills.

Points of interest

Nearby points of interest include:

References

  1. ↑ "NYC Subway Wireless – Active Stations". Transit Wireless Wifi. Retrieved 2016-05-18.
  2. ↑ More Subway Stations in Manhattan, Bronx in Line to Get Online, mta.info (March 25, 2015). "The first two phases included stations in Midtown Manhattan and all underground stations in Queens with the exception of the 7 Main St terminal."
  3. ↑ "Facts and Figures: Annual Subway Ridership". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
  4. 1 2 Duffus, R.L. (September 22, 1929). "OUR GREAT SUBWAY NETWORK SPREADS WIDER; New Plans of Board of Transportation Involve the Building of More Than One Hundred Miles of Additional Rapid Transit Routes for New York". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  5. ↑ "QUEENS SUBWAY WORK AHEAD OF SCHEDULE: Completion Will Lead to Big Apartrnent Building, Says William C. Speers.". The New York Times. April 7, 1929. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  6. 1 2 "Queens Lauded as Best Boro By Chamber Chief". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. September 23, 1929. p. 40. Retrieved 4 October 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ New York Times, New Subway Routes in Hylan Program to Cost $186,046,000, March 21, 1925, page 1
  8. ↑ "TEST TRAINS RUNNING IN QUEENS SUBWAY; Switch and Signal Equipment of New Independent Line Is Being Checked.". The New York Times. 1936-12-20. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-04-26.
  9. 1 2 Hirshon, Nicholas; Romano, Foreword by Ray (2013-01-01). Forest Hills. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9780738597850.
  10. ↑ "QUEENS TO HAVE 15-STORY HOUSE; Tall Structure for New Residential Development in ForestHills Area.NEAR BOULEVARD SUBWAYSeveral Blocks Rezoned for High Buildings Between Jamaicaand Kew Gardens. Apartment Height's Increase.". The New York Times. 1930-03-23. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-04-26.
  11. ↑ "NEW RETAIL AREA IN QUEENS BOROUGH; Sees Roosevelt Avenue Subway Station as Great Shopping Centre. ADVANTAGES POINTED OUT Accessibility to Many Home Communities Assures Potential Market.". The New York Times. 1933-07-09. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-04-26.
  12. ↑ "Reproduction Poster of Extension to Union Turnpike – Kew Gardens". Flickr – Photo Sharing!. Retrieved 2016-04-26.
  13. ↑ Roger P. Roess; Gene Sansone (23 August 2012). The Wheels That Drove New York: A History of the New York City Transit System. Springer Science & Business Media. pp. 416–417. ISBN 978-3-642-30484-2.
  14. ↑ "PWA Party Views New Subway Link: Queens Section to Be Opened Tomorrow Is Inspected by Tuttle and Others". nytimes.com. The New York Times. December 30, 1936. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  15. ↑ "CITY SUBWAY OPENS QUEENS LINK TODAY; Extension Brings Kew Gardens Within 36 Minutes of 42d St. on Frequent Trains.". The New York Times. 1936-12-31. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-04-26.
  16. ↑ "OPENING MOVED UP FOR NEW SUBWAY; Traffic to Be Started on the Extension of City's Line to Kew Gardens on Thursday. EIGHT STATIONS ARE ADDED La Guardia and Official Party Will Inspect New Queens Branch on Wednesday.". The New York Times. 1936-12-26. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-04-26.
  17. 1 2 3 4 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.
  18. 1 2 Erlitz, Jeffrey (February 2005). "Tech Talk". New York Division Bulletin. Electric Railroaders Association. 48 (2): 9–11. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  19. ↑ "Forest Hills Subway Station Project Delayed by Three Months". DNAinfo New York.
  20. ↑ "Forest Hills Subway Station Renovation to End in March, MTA Says". DNAinfo New York.
  21. ↑ "71st Avenue Station Renovation in Forest Hills will Wrap This Month". brownstoner.com.
  22. ↑ "Forest HIlls-71st Av. ADA Elevators". Flickr.
  23. 1 2 3 "SUBWAY-SIDEWALK INTERFACE PROJECT: 71ST/CONTINENTAL AVENUES STATION" (PDF). transalt.org. Transportation Alternatives, City of New York, New York City Department of City Planning, New York City Department of Transportation. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  24. 1 2 3 4 "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Forest Hills" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2015. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  25. ↑ "Subway Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. November 2016. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
  26. ↑ "E Subway Timetable, Effective November 7, 2016" (PDF). New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  27. ↑ "NYC Subway Historical Maps". Retrieved 2007-09-27.
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