Though the official name of the station is Willets Point Boulevard (for the LIRR, it’s Mets-Willets Point) Shea Stadium lives on in leftover 1964-era signage. Shea Stadium, of course, was torn down after the 2008 season. The stadium was originally named for attorney William Shea, who championed a new New York City NL team after the Giants and Dodgers moved west.
Many people believe the neighborhood and local ‘iron triangle’ scrap metal shops are actually Willets Point, but the actual Willets Point is where Fort Totten is situated in Bayside. The stations are named for Willets Point Boulevard, which runs in two pieces here and in Whitestone.
2 comments
1) The #7 station is also called Mets-Willets Point – not just the LIRR station.
2) Shea Stadium also lives through the station’s Metrocard vending machines, where receipts generated from those machines still identify the place of purchase as “WILLETS PT-SHEA.”
I thought the MTA didn’t rename this LIRR station, because I haven’t heard of it, just the subway stop.