Beach 98th Street station

 Beach 98 Street
 "A" train​Rockaway Park Shuttle
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
View of Rockaway Park-bound platform
Station statistics
AddressBeach 98th Street & Rockaway Freeway
Queens, New York
BoroughQueens
LocaleRockaway Beach
Coordinates40°35′08″N 73°49′13″W / 40.585441°N 73.820186°W / 40.585441; -73.820186
DivisionB (IND, formerly LIRR Rockaway Beach Branch)[1]
LineIND Rockaway Line
Services   A rush hours, peak direction (rush hours, peak direction)
​   S all times (all times)
TransitBus transport MTA Bus: Q22, Q53 SBS, QM16
StructureElevated
Platforms2 side platforms
Tracks2
Other information
OpenedApril 1903; 121 years ago (1903-04) (LIRR station)
RebuiltJune 28, 1956; 68 years ago (1956-06-28) (as a Subway station)
Opposite-
direction
transfer		Yes
Former/other namesSteeplechase (1903–May 15, 1933[2])
Playland
Beach 98th Street–Playland
Traffic
202397,689[3] Increase 4.6%
Rank421 out of 423[3]
Services
Preceding station New York City Subway New York City Subway Following station
Beach 105th Street
A rush hours, peak direction ​S all times
toward Rockaway Park–Beach 116th Street
 Rockaway Park Beach 90th Street
A rush hours, peak direction ​S all times
toward Broad Channel
Location
Beach 98th Street station is located in New York City Subway
Beach 98th Street station
Beach 98th Street station is located in New York City
Beach 98th Street station
Beach 98th Street station is located in New York
Beach 98th Street station
Track layout

Legend
to Beach 90th Street
to Beach 105th Street
Street map

Map

Station service legend
Symbol Description
Stops all times Stops all times
Stops rush hours in the peak direction only Stops rush hours in the peak direction only

The Beach 98th Street station (signed as the Beach 98th Street–Playland station) is a station on the IND Rockaway Line of the New York City Subway. It is served by the Rockaway Park Shuttle at all times and ten daily rush-hour only A trains.

History

The station was originally built by the Long Island Rail Road in April 1903 as Steeplechase on the Rockaway Beach Branch, and was also a trolley stop of the Ocean Electric Railway. It was renamed Playland on May 15, 1933,[2] for the former Rockaways' Playland, which was closed in 1985. No trace of the park remains other than the station name. The station was rebuilt as an elevated station, which opened on April 10, 1942.[4] The station was purchased by New York City on October 3, 1955, along with the rest of the Rockaway Beach Branch and Far Rockaway Branch west of Far Rockaway, after a fire on the line's crossing over Jamaica Bay in 1950.[5] Now operated by the New York City Transit Authority, it reopened as a subway station along the IND Rockaway Line on June 28, 1956.[5][6]

Station layout

Platform level Side platform
Southbound ← Rockaway Park Shuttle toward Rockaway Park–Beach 116th Street (Beach 105th Street)
← "A" train PM rush toward Rockaway Park–Beach 116th Street (Beach 105th Street)
Northbound → Rockaway Park Shuttle toward Broad Channel (Beach 90th Street) →
→ "A" train AM rush toward Inwood–207th Street (Beach 90th Street) →
Side platform
Mezzanine Fare control, station agent, MetroCard and OMNY vending machines
Ground Street level Entrances/exits
Eastern stairs

The station is built on a concrete viaduct. There are two tracks and two side platforms.[7] The station is served by the Rockaway Park Shuttle at all times and limited A trains during rush hours in the peak direction (toward Manhattan in the morning and toward the Rockaways in the afternoon).[8][9] It is between Beach 90th Street to the east (railroad north) and Beach 105th Street to the west (railroad south).[10] New lights have been installed. Canopies, mezzanine, and side walls are similar to Beach 90th Street.

Exits

There is a crossunder to the tiled mezzanine. The southbound platform is longer than the northbound one, and had an exit at the north end of the Rockaway Park bound platform which has been removed. Outside of fare control, there are stairs to either eastern corner of Rockaway Freeway and Beach 99th Street.[11]

References

  1. ^ "Glossary". Second Avenue Subway Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) (PDF). Vol. 1. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. March 4, 2003. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 26, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Baer, Christopher T. (April 2015). "A General Chronology of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company Its Predecessors and Successors and Its Historical Context: 1933" (PDF). Pennsylvania Railroad Technical Historical Society. p. 36. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Annual Subway Ridership (2018–2023)". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
  4. ^ "Last Grade Crossing In Rockaways Ends" (PDF). The New York Times. April 11, 1942. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  5. ^ a b Freeman, Ira Henry (June 28, 1956). "Rockaway Trains to Operate Today". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 20, 2022. Retrieved June 29, 2015.
  6. ^ "First Train On Rockaway Line Runs This Afternoon". Wave of Long Island. Fultonhistory.com. June 28, 1956. p. 1. Archived from the original on October 13, 2021. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  7. ^ "Tracks of the New York City Subway". Tracks of the New York City Subway. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  8. ^ "S Subway Timetable, Rockaway Park Shuttle, Effective December 17, 2023". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved December 16, 2024.
  9. ^ "A Subway Timetable, Effective December 17, 2023". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved December 16, 2024.
  10. ^ "Subway Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. September 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
  11. ^ "MTA Neighborhood Maps: The Rockaways" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2015. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
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