Here’s an interesting tableau from 1962 on the south side of Roosevelt Avenue just east of Main Street in Flushing. It was, then as now, the terminal of the IRT #7 Flushing Line. The Transit Museum twitter post says that “[a]lthough they never came to fruition, plans once existed to continue the line in two branches, to Bayside and to College Point.” The IRT turned down the Long Island Rail Road’s offer to sell them the old Whitestone Branch in 1932.
As far as expansion to Bayside, I imagine it would have meant using the Port Washington LIRR branch as a right of way, but I wonder how the city could have ran both services there, and why would commuters settle for the less-comfortable IRT? The point is moot these days.
At left a cop is using one of the once ubiquitous police call boxes, before the days of two-way radios.
It’s weird seeing Roosevelt Avenue with such wide open spaces. A series of small buildings have been torn down to make way for the large department store currently home to Macy’s.
On the right we see some Victorian-era buildings, once of which hosts Spivak’s Liquor Store. By the time I arrived in Flushing in 1993 the liquor store had long gone but amazingly, the buildings were still there as well as a painted sign for Spivak’s. Both were demolished before we got too far into the 21st Century.
MTA employee Jason Brown:
Those staircases featured in the photo were closed in the mid-to-late 90s, in order to facilitate the construction of the new ADA-compliant elevator and escalator entrance that opened in 1999, further up Roosevelt Avenue.
The staircases in the photo are still there, but have an open grate over them. They currently house HVAC equipment for the new employee facility that was built on the old mezzanine.
If you’re a twitterer, the Transit Museum has a post here.
Check out the ForgottenBook, take a look at the gift shop, and as always, “comment…as you see fit.”
1/2/20