Parkside is a former elevated

Long Island Rail Road The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk Co ...

(LIRR) station on the north side of

Metropolitan Avenue Metropolitan Avenue is a major east-west street in Queens and northern Brooklyn, New York City. Its western end is at the East River in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and the eastern end at Jamaica Avenue in Jamaica, Queens. The avenue was construct ...

on the border of the

Rego Park Rego Park is a neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City. Rego Park is bordered to the north by Elmhurst and Corona, to the east and south by Forest Hills, and to the west by Middle Village. Rego Park's boundaries include Queens ...

, Forest Hills, and

Glendale Glendale is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Gleann Dail, which means ''valley of fertile, low-lying arable land''. It may refer to: Places Australia * Glendale, New South Wales ** Stockland Glendale, a shopping centre *Glendale, Queensland, ...

neighborhoods in Queens, New York City. Opened in 1927, the wooden station was part of the Rockaway Beach Branch and was the northernmost station on the branch before the junction with the

Main Line Mainline, ''Main line'', or ''Main Line'' may refer to: Transportation Railway * Main line (railway), the principal artery of a railway system * Main line railway preservation, the practice of operating preserved trains on an operational railw ...

at Rego Park Station and the terminus of the line at Grand Street station in Elmhurst. It also had a connecting spur to the Montauk Branch east towards Richmond Hill station. The station was closed in 1962, twelve years after the LIRR had abandoned the Rockaway portions of the line.

History

Opening

Prior to the construction of the station, Rockaway Beach Branch service north of

Ozone Park Ozone Park is a neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Queens, New York, United States. It is next to the Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, a popular spot for Thoroughbred racing and home to the Resorts Wor ...

traveled via the Atlantic Branch to

Flatbush Terminal Atlantic Terminal (formerly Flatbush Avenue) is the westernmost stop on the Long Island Rail Road's (LIRR) Atlantic Branch, located at Flatbush Avenue and Atlantic Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn, New York City. It is the primary terminal for the F ...

, or via the Montauk Branch to

Long Island City Long Island City (LIC) is a residential and commercial neighborhood on the extreme western tip of Queens, a borough in New York City. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; New Calvary Cemetery in Sunnyside to the ...

. Between 1908 and 1911, the branch was extended north past the Montauk Branch to the

; this new grade-separated section was known as the Glendale Cut-off, and allowed service from the branch to operate to

Penn Station Pennsylvania Station is a name applied by the Pennsylvania Railroad to several of its grand passenger terminals. Pennsylvania Station or Penn Station may also refer to Current train stations * Baltimore Penn Station * Pennsylvania Station (Cinci ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. On March 24, 1927, the New York State Transit Commission ordered the LIRR to construct a new station at Metropolitan Avenue along the cut-off to alleviate congestion at the Forest Hills station on the Main Line, and to replace the nearby

and Atlas Yard stations (the current site of The Shops at Atlas Park at Cooper Avenue) on the Montauk Branch. The station was opened on September 15, 1927. It was originally named "Glendale" as a substitute for the former station on the Montauk Branch. It was renamed "Parkside" on October 23, 1927, due to its proximity to

Forest Park A forest park is a park whose main theme is its forest of trees. Forest parks are found both in the mountains and in the urban environment. Examples Chile * Forest Park, Santiago China *Gongqing Forest Park, Shanghai * Mufushan National Fores ...

, after protests over the station name from the local community. The Parkside name is shared with a nearby

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

at Metropolitan Avenue and Continental (71st) Avenue. The opening of the Parkside station helped spawn development in the area, which previously consisted of empty lots and farmland. Over 100 homes were constructed to form the Forest Hills Crest community. The block immediately to the south of the station, bounded by Metropolitan Avenue,

Woodhaven Boulevard Woodhaven Boulevard and Cross Bay Boulevard (formerly Jamaica Bay Boulevard) are two parts of a major boulevard in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Queens. Woodhaven Boulevard runs roughly north–south in the central p ...

, and Union Turnpike, became an industrial superblock. In the early expansion plans of the city's Independent Subway System (IND) in the 1930s, Parkside was one of the stations that would have been absorbed into the new subway, connecting to the

IND Queens Boulevard Line The IND Queens Boulevard Line, sometimes abbreviated as QBL, is a line of the B Division of the New York City Subway in Manhattan and Queens, New York City, United States. The line, which is underground throughout its entire route, contains 23 s ...

at its 63rd Drive station in Rego Park, north of the junction with the LIRR Main Line.

Closure

In 1950, the Rockaway Beach Branch south of

closed after the trestle across

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between The Raunt and

Broad Channel Broad Channel is a neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City borough of Queens. It occupies the southern portion of Rulers Bar Hassock (known colloquially as "Broad Channel Island"), the only inhabited island in Jamaica Bay. The ...

stations was destroyed by a fire. The city purchased the entire line in 1955, but only the portion south of Liberty Avenue was reactivated for subway service as the

IND Rockaway Line The IND Rockaway Line is a rapid transit line of the IND Division of the New York City Subway, operating in Queens. It branches from the IND Fulton Street Line at Rockaway Boulevard, extending over the Jamaica Bay, into the Rockaways. The trai ...

. Ridership declined on the remaining portion of the branch and service was reduced. Due to vandalism, the railroad removed the station's southbound track and put both platforms out of service in 1958. The platforms were replaced with a low-level concrete platform in the former trackbed. The Rockaway Beach Branch ceased operations on June 8, 1962, and all stations along the line, including Parkside, were closed.

Station layout

The station had two tracks and two wooden high-level side platforms, with four small wooden shelters on both platforms. Exit stairs were located on Metropolitan Avenue. No trace of the station exists today. North of the station, the line veered west to merge with the LIRR

at Whitepot Junction. Just south of the station, near the Union Turnpike overpass, was a junction with the Montauk Branch, which was known as Glendale Junction. A wye from the westbound Montauk Branch track merged with the Rockaway Beach Branch going north, and another from the eastbound Montauk Branch track going south. The Rockaway Beach Branch passed over the Montauk Branch on a wooden trestle.

Current condition

The Forest Hills Volunteer Ambulance Corps is located in the vicinity of the former station. The former industrial block west of the line is currently a shopping center. The land east of the line south of Metropolitan Avenue where the Parkside-Montauk spur used to be is currently the site of the Metropolitan Avenue Public School Campus built from 2006 to 2010; the northern entrance to the campus is on Metropolitan Avenue, and the school building sits on the former right-of-way of the northern Montauk connection. The bridge above the Montauk Branch has been demolished. The right-of-way south of the demolished bridge, the southern wye and the Montauk branch define the border of a nearby

Little League Baseball Little League Baseball and Softball (officially, Little League Baseball Inc) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization However, no action was taken, and in 2014, a study of the condition of the line found that 20% of the underside of the bridge had exposed reinforcement bars.

References

External links

Site of former Parkside Station

LIRR History (TrainsAreFun.com)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parkside (Lirr Station) Former Long Island Rail Road stations in New York City Railway stations in Queens, New York Railway stations in the United States opened in 1927 Railway stations closed in 1962 1927 establishments in New York City 1962 disestablishments in New York (state)