Kew Gardens station (LIRR)

Kew Gardens
The Kew Gardens station and the Lefferts Boulevard Bridge as seen from the eastbound platform.
General information
Location	Austin Street and Lefferts Boulevard Kew Gardens, Queens, New York
Coordinates	40°42′35″N 73°49′50″W / 40.7096°N 73.83066°W / 40.7096; -73.83066
Owned by	Long Island Rail Road
Line(s)	Main Line
Distance	7.7 mi (12.4 km) from Long Island City[1]
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	4
Connections	MTA Bus: Q10, Q37, QM18 (Q37 at 80th Road and Austin Street)[2]
Construction
Parking	Yes
Bicycle facilities	Bike racks (westbound platform)
Other information
Fare zone	1[3]
History
Opened	1879, 1883
Closed	1882, 1909
Rebuilt	September 8, 1910[4]: 26 [5]
Electrified	June 23, 1910 750 V (DC) third rail[6]: 74
Previous names	Maple Grove (1879–1910) Kew (1910–1912)
Passengers
2017	1,778 (Daily)[7]
Services
Preceding station Long Island Rail Road Following station Forest Hills toward Penn Station or Grand Central Hempstead Branch Evening Hours Only Jamaica toward Hempstead Ronkonkoma Branch Peak periods only Jamaica toward Ronkonkoma Far Rockaway Branch Peak periods only Jamaica toward Far Rockaway Babylon Branch Peak periods only Jamaica toward Babylon West Hempstead Branch Peak periods only Jamaica toward West Hempstead Long Beach Branch Peak periods only Jamaica toward Long Beach Woodside toward Penn Station or Grand Central Port Jefferson Branch Jamaica toward Huntington      Oyster Bay Branch does not stop here      Montauk Branch does not stop here
Former services Preceding station Long Island Rail Road Following station Forest Hills toward Long Island City or Penn Station Main Line Westbridge toward Greenport
Legend to Forest Hills to Jamaica
Location

The Kew Gardens station is a station on the Main Line of the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR). It is located in the Kew Gardens neighborhood of Queens, New York City, near Austin Street and Lefferts Boulevard. The station is located within the City Terminal Zone, part of LIRR fare zone 1. It contains four tracks and two side platforms for the outermost tracks.

The Kew Gardens station was built on the site of a station named Hopedale, which operated from 1875 to 1884 and served the Maple Grove Cemetery nearby. Another station named Maple Grove was built even closer to the cemetery in 1879. The station closed in 1909 as the LIRR was rerouted onto a more direct alignment with the construction of the Maple Grove Cut-Off. Maple Grove was replaced by the current Kew Gardens station in 1910. The station's opening played an integral part in the construction of the community of Kew Gardens. The Kew Gardens train crash took place east of the station on November 22, 1950, which killed 78 people and injured 363 others in the worst crash in the LIRR's history.

One of the Kew Gardens station's unique features is the Lefferts Boulevard Bridge, which has one story commercial buildings on both sides for local businesses. The stores were built over the tracks in 1930. While the neighborhood's charm has been attributed to the bridge, it has been under threat of demolition multiple times. Since the bridge is deteriorating, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which operates the LIRR, had proposed demolishing the bridge. However, the bridge was saved after local residents and politicians strongly opposed demolition.