Rockaway Park – Beach 116th Street (IND Rockaway Line)
Rockaway Park – Beach 116th Street  | |||||||||
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| New York City Subway rapid transit station | |||||||||
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| Station statistics | |||||||||
| Address |
Beach 116th Street between Rockaway Beach Boulevard & Newport Avenue Queens, NY 11694 | ||||||||
| Borough | Queens | ||||||||
| Locale | Rockaway Park | ||||||||
| Coordinates | 40°34′51″N 73°50′10″W / 40.580725°N 73.836180°WCoordinates: 40°34′51″N 73°50′10″W / 40.580725°N 73.836180°W | ||||||||
| Division | B (IND, formerly LIRR Rockaway Beach Branch) | ||||||||
| Line | IND Rockaway Line | ||||||||
| Services |
A  (rush hours, peak direction) S  (all times) | ||||||||
| Transit connections |
 MTA Bus: Q22, Q53, QM16 | ||||||||
| Structure | At-grade | ||||||||
| Platforms | 1 island platform | ||||||||
| Tracks | 2 (excludes 8 yard tracks adjacent to the station) | ||||||||
| Other information | |||||||||
| Opened | May 1882 (LIRR station) | ||||||||
| Rebuilt | June 28, 1956 (as a Subway station) | ||||||||
| Accessible |
 | ||||||||
| Traffic | |||||||||
| Passengers (2014) |
231,407[1]  70.2% | ||||||||
| Rank | 416 out of 421 | ||||||||
| Station succession | |||||||||
| Next north |
Beach 105th Street: A S | ||||||||
| Next south |
(Terminal): A S | ||||||||
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| Next north |
Howard Beach – JFK Airport: A Far Rockaway – Mott Avenue (via Hammels Wye): no regular service | ||||||||
| Next south |
none: A S | ||||||||
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Rockaway Park – Beach 116th Street is the western terminal station on the IND Rockaway Line of the New York City Subway, located on Beach 116th Street near Rockaway Beach Boulevard in Rockaway Beach, Queens. It is served by the Rockaway Park Shuttle at all times and ten daily rush-hour only A trains.
History
 Northern half of the platform |
The station was originally built in 1882 as a Long Island Rail Road station on the Rockaway Beach Branch, called Rockaway Beach station, and contained a trolley stop for the Ocean Electric Railway, which eventually expanded their line further west to Belle Harbor and Neponsit. In 1899, the station was enlarged in order to accommodate the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company cars, and the name was changed to Rockaway Park station.
In Spring 1917, a second station was built as a replacement for the former station, which was razed. After a 1950 fire at The Raunt destroyed the trestle across Jamaica Bay, the LIRR rerouted Rockaway Beach service along the Far Rockaway Branch, then abandoned the Rockaway Beach Branch. On October 3, 1955, the New York City Transit Authority acquired all stations and closed them to convert many of them into subway stations. The current Rockaway Park – Beach 116th Street opened on June 28, 1956, with all other stations on the Rockaway Line except Far Rockaway. Far Rockaway reopened in 1958 after being rebuilt for Subway use, and the LIRR opened a new Far Rockaway station on Nameoke Street. Plans to add a subway line to the Rockaway Peninsula actually date back to the 1920s and originally involved extending the western terminus along Newport Avenue to Beach 149th Street, rather than its current terminus at Rockway Park Station.
Starting in May 2007, the station building, platform and yard area underwent renovation. The new station building was unveiled in early November 2007.
Station layout
| P Platform level |
Yard tracks | No passenger service |
| Track 2 | toward Broad Channel ( toward Inwood – 207th Street AM rush hours only) (Beach 105th Street) → | |
| Island platform, doors will open on the left or right | ||
| Track 1 | toward Broad Channel ( toward Inwood – 207th Street AM rush hours only) (Beach 105th Street) → | |
| Yard track | No passenger service | |
| G | Street level | Exits/Entrances |
| Station house | Lobby, fare control, station agent, police precinct (Station at street level) | |
The station is at ground level. There are two tracks and an island platform. The tracks end at bumper blocks at the west (railroad south) end of the platform. Because the entrance is at street level, the station is ADA accessible without the use of an elevator. On either side of the station are tracks leading to the Rockaway Park Yard. The station house is made of concrete with windows and plywood walls. It also houses a police precinct and has an entrance leading to an adjacent restaurant. An examination of the station house shows the former ticket windows, which were used when the line was part of the LIRR. Originally, terminal tracks with low-level platforms occupied the yard area during the LIRR years. The area of the current high-level platform was part of the LIRR depot yard.
Gallery
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Mezzanine and police precinct
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Postcard, ca. 1917
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The platforms of Rockaway Park – Beach 116th Street Station while under reconstruction in 2007
References
- ↑ "Facts and Figures: Annual Subway Ridership". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved 2015-04-26.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rockaway Park – Beach 116th Street (IND Rockaway Line). |
- nycsubway.org—IND Rockaway: Rockaway Park/Beach 116th Street
- Station Reporter — Rockaway Park Shuttle
- Rockaway Park Station History (Arrt's Arrchives)
- The Subway Nut — Rockaway Park – Beach 116th Street Pictures
- MTA's Arts For Transit — Rockaway Park – Beach 116th Street (IND Rockaway Line)
- Beach 116th Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
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