Flushing–Main Street is a
station
Station may refer to:
Agriculture
* Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production
* Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle
** Cattle stati ...
on the
Long Island Rail Road's
Port Washington Branch
The Port Washington Branch is an electrified two-track rail line and service owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. It branches north from the Main Line at the former Winfield Junction station, just ...
in the
Flushing
Flushing may refer to:
Places
* Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom
* Flushing, Queens, New York City
** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens
** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens
** Flushing ...
neighborhood of
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
. The station is part of the LIRR's
CityTicket, and is in Zone 3. The station is located at
Main Street and 41st Avenue, off Kissena Boulevard and is 9.5 miles (15.3 km) from
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 (Cinc ...
in
Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...
and 10.4 miles (16.73 km) southwest of
Port Washington.
History

The Flushing–Main Street station was originally built in December 1853 as the Flushing station by the
New York and Flushing Railroad
The Flushing and North Side Railroad was a former railroad on Long Island built by Conrad Poppenhusen as a replacement for the former New York and Flushing Railroad. The railroad was established in 1868, was merged with the Central Railroad of L ...
, but not opened until June 26, 1854. Flushing served as the terminus of the NY&F until October 30, 1864 when a subsidiary known as the
North Shore Railroad extended it to
Great Neck
Great Neck is a region on Long Island, New York, that covers a peninsula on the North Shore and includes nine villages, among them Great Neck, Great Neck Estates, Great Neck Plaza, Kings Point, and Russell Gardens, and a number of unincorpo ...
, and it was burned in order to prepare for a second station that was built between January and February 1865. In 1868, the station and the rest of the line were acquired by the
Flushing and North Side Railroad
The Flushing and North Side Railroad was a former railroad on Long Island built by Conrad Poppenhusen as a replacement for the former New York and Flushing Railroad. The railroad was established in 1868, was merged with the Central Railroad of Lon ...
, which razed the second station in 1870 and built a third station between October and November 1870. The station was renamed after both Flushing and Main Street, in order to distinguish itself from the former Flushing Bridge Street station that ran along the F&NS's
Whitestone Branch
The Whitestone Branch was a branch of the Long Island Rail Road, running north and east along the left bank of the Flushing River from the Port Washington Branch near the modern Willets Point/ Flushing sections of Queens, New York. It crossed t ...
, which was abandoned by the LIRR in 1932.
During the mid-1870s, the station and the rest of the line merged with the
Central Railroad of Long Island
Central Railroad of Long Island was built on Long Island, New York (state), New York, by Alexander Turney Stewart, who was also the founder of Garden City, New York, Garden City. The railroad was established in 1871, then merged with the Flushing ...
to form the Flushing, North Shore and Central Railroad, and then became part of the Port Washington Branch of the
Long Island Rail Road, which also used the station as the eastern terminus of the
White Line between 1873 and 1876. Shortly after the line was electrified on October 22, 1912, the station was abandoned on November 11, 1912, as part of an effort by the Long Island Rail Road to bring the Port Washington Branch above and below street level depending on the location.
In Flushing, the station was elevated along with the rest of the tracks on October 4, 1913. Until that point, the line used to run at grade and went through a tunnel under a girls' school just east of where the Main Street overpass stands today. The tunnel and the school were torn down to build the overpass and the open cut through which the line now runs. In 1958, the elevated track level building was razed and replaced with a street level ticket office. Sheltered platforms exist on both sides of the tracks in the former station's place, and the sidewalks beneath the bridge serve local businesses.
Accessibility
The
Metropolitan Transportation Authority
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the New York City metropolitan area of the U.S. state of New York. The MTA is the largest public transit authority in t ...
renovated the station in the 2010s, bringing it into compliance with the 1990
Americans With Disabilities Act
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA () is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 19 ...
. According to a description of the $24.6 million project, one elevator was built from each platform to street level, and various components of the station were renovated. A one-story commercial building on the west side of Main Street was demolished and replaced by a station house with an elevator, which provided more direct access to the westbound platform.
On October 28, 2013, the MTA held a public hearing on the proposed acquisition of private property at 40-36 Main Street in Flushing for the purpose of adding an elevator intended for the rebuilt station. By June 2015, design had been completed and one of the two parcels of private property, a food stall, had been acquired. The MTA expected to complete the eminent domain acquisition of Ou-Jang Supermarket's 40-36 Main Street property by summer 2015; the supermarket objected to the amount MTA offered, $974,592. On January 6, 2016, filings in Queens County Superior Court showed that MTA and the supermarket reached a settlement of $2,236,600, of which $1.9 million was the cash purchase price and the remainder represented rent to be paid by MTA on behalf of the supermarket at its new location. The MTA began in July 2016 and planned to complete the project by the 4th quarter of 2017. In December 2015, the MTA had put the project out for competitive bidding with a proposal due date of December 9, 2015.
On July 22, 2016, the ticket office was closed as part of the two-year renovation project along with the staircase to the eastbound platform with a temporary staircase and platform extension providing access. The current staircase to the city-bound platform was closed for renovation upon the opening of a new staircase and elevator.
Completion of the project was set for early 2018; as of summer 2018, the elevators had been completed.
The rebuilt station was designed by Urbahn Architects.
Station layout
The station has two high-level
side platform
A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a railway platform, platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or bus rapid transit, transitway. ...
s, each 10 cars long.
Bus service
In addition to connecting with the nearby
subway station of the same name, Flushing–Main Street serves as a major bus-to-rail interchange in Queens, with over 20 bus routes running through or terminating in the area .
Gallery
File:Entrance of Flushing Main Street station (LIRR) - March 2019.jpg, Entrance of Flushing Main Street station (LIRR) - March 2019
File:Help Point at Flushing Main Street (LIRR) station.jpg, Help Point at Flushing Main Street (LIRR) station
File:Flushing LIRR elevator rendering street.jpg, Rendering for planned elevator at Flushing station (street view)
File:Flushing LIRR elevator rendering platform.jpg, Rendering for planned elevator at Flushing station (platform view)
File:Bombardier M7 7799 enters Flushing.jpg, A Port Washington Branch train enters the station
References
External links
*Unofficial LIRR Website Photos.
Views ofMain Street Ticket Booth
Embankment on south side of the tracks
Views ofPlatform B (To Port Washington)
Shelter for
an
Staircase to Port Washington-bound Platform
Staircase toPlatform A (To Manhattan)
Main Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
Platforms from Google Maps Street View (2016)
East end of platforms from Google Maps Street View (2018)
Middle of platforms from Google Maps Street View (2018)
West end of platforms from Google Maps Street View (2018)
Alleyway Entrance from Google Maps Street View (2018)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flushing-Main Street station (LIRR)
Railway stations in Queens, New York
Long Island Rail Road stations in New York City
Railway stations in the United States opened in 1854
Flushing, Queens