Far Rockaway – Mott Avenue (IND Rockaway Line)

Far Rockaway – Mott Avenue
New York City Subway rapid transit station
Station statistics
Address	Mott Avenue & Beach 22nd Street Queens, NY 11691
Borough	Queens
Locale	Far Rockaway
Coordinates	40°36′14″N 73°45′20″W / 40.603983°N 73.755426°W / 40.603983; -73.755426Coordinates: 40°36′14″N 73°45′20″W / 40.603983°N 73.755426°W / 40.603983; -73.755426
Division	B (IND, formerly LIRR Far Rockaway Branch)
Line	IND Rockaway Line
Services	A  (all times)
Connection	MTA Bus: Q22, Q113, Q114, QM17 Nassau Inter-County Express: n31, n32, n33
Structure	Elevated
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2
Other information
Opened	July 29, 1869 (1869-07-29) (SSRRLI, then LIRR station)[1]
Rebuilt	January 16, 1958 (1958-01-16) (as a subway station)[2]
Accessible
Traffic
Passengers (2014)	1,486,147[3]  84.4%
Rank	306 out of 421
Station succession
Next north	Beach 25th Street: A
Next south	(Terminal): A
Next north	Howard Beach – JFK Airport (via Rockaway): A  Rockaway Park – Beach 116th Street (via Hammels Wye): no regular service
Next south	none: A
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops in station at all times Stops all times except late nights Stops late nights only Stops late nights and weekdays only Stops late nights and weekends only Stops weekends and weekend late nights Stops weekdays and weekday late nights Stops weekdays only Stops weekends only Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction Stops all times except weekdays in the peak direction Stops daily except rush hours in the peak direction Stops rush hours only Stops rush hours in the peak direction only Station is closed (Details about time periods)

Far Rockaway – Mott Avenue is the eastern terminal station on the New York City Subway's IND Rockaway Line.^[4] Originally a Long Island Rail Road station, it is the full-time southern terminal for the A train and the easternmost station on the New York City Subway. This station is the busiest of all subway stations in the Rockaway peninsula.^[3]

The station is built on a concrete viaduct. There are two tracks and an island platform. The tracks end at bumper blocks just beyond the northeast (railroad south) end of the platform. The doors at that end of the platform lead to the stairs down to the street level fare control area. A tower and crew offices are at the southwest end. The former track connection to the current LIRR's Far Rockaway station has been removed, and transferring now requires a short walk.

It is notably, the oldest station currently in operation in the New York City Subway having originally opened 144 years ago, on July 29, 1869 as a Long Island Rail Road station. However, Gates Avenue is the oldest station in the subway system to have been built as a rapid transit station, and has been in continuous operation for 128 years; The Far Rockaway station was converted from Long Island Rail Road trackage to subway loading gauge and has only operated for 56 years in this capacity; this actually makes Far Rockaway the eleventh newest station in the subway system (behind 57th Street; Grand Street; Harlem – 148th Street; the three Archer Avenue Line stations; the three IND 63rd Street Line stations; and South Ferry).

History

The Far Rockaway Branch of the Long Island Rail Road had originally been part of a loop that traveled along the existing route, continuing through the Rockaway Peninsula and heading on a trestle across Jamaica Bay through Queens where it reconnected with the Rockaway Beach Branch. Far Rockaway station itself was originally built by the South Side Railroad of Long Island on July 29, 1869, then converted into a freight house, when a 2nd station was moved from Ocean Point Station (a.k.a. Cedarhurst Station), remodeled, and opened on October 1, 1881. The 3rd depot opened on July 15, 1890, while the 2nd depot was sold and moved to a private location in October 1890. The Ocean Electric Railway terminated at the station between 1897 and September 2, 1926, and the station served as the headquarters for the Ocean Electric Railway. It also served as the terminus of a Long Island Electric Railway trolley line leading to Jamaica, at New York Avenue (now Guy R. Brewer Boulevard). High-level platforms were added to the station as with much of the Far Rockaway Branch on April 10, 1942.

Frequent fires and maintenance problems, the most notorious of which was in May 1950 between The Raunt and Broad Channel Stations, led the LIRR to abandon the Queens portion of the route, which was acquired by the city on October 3, 1955 when trackage to Rockaway Park became part of the IND Rockaway Line, with service provided by the A train beginning in 1956. The line was divided with the portions west of Mott Avenue becoming part of the subway system. The station was converted into a subway station on January 16, 1958, while the Far Rockaway LIRR station was moved to Nameoke Street on February 21, 1958,^[5] and became the terminus of the Far Rockaway branch.

Station layout

P Platform level	Northbound	← toward Inwood – 207th Street (Beach 25th Street)
	Island platform, doors will open on the left or right
	Northbound	← toward Inwood – 207th Street (Beach 25th Street)
G	Street level	Exits/Entrances
	Main building	Lobby, fare control, station agent (Elevators to platform level inside station house at NE corner of Mott Avenue and Beach 22nd Street)

Image gallery

• 

  On the platform

• 

  A pair of A trains

• 

  Jay Walder, then-chairman of the MTA, greets Hurricane Irene evacuees

• 

  Jason Rohlf's Respite piece in the station

References

External links

Media related to Far Rockaway – Mott Avenue (IND Rockaway Line) at Wikimedia Commons

• nycsubway.org—IND Rockaway: Mott Avenue/Far Rockaway
• Station Reporter — A Rockaway
• The Subway Nut — Far Rockaway – Mott Avenue Pictures
• Trains Are Fun — Former Far Rockaway LIRR Station
• Mott Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View