AFTER 25 years of Forgotten New York…official on March 26th…I’ve begun to take note of IND signage from the 1930s. Not the large identification tablets seen on the station platforms, but the directional signs found in the mezzanines, some of which are as long as football fields. After a recent walk down Junction Boulevard, I found this one in the Woodhaven Boulevard-Slattery Plaza station. As you can see, the sign, made of hundreds if not thousands of blue and white mosaic pieces, echoes the cornflower blue color of the platform signs.
The type font, which to my knowledge isn’t named, is a smaller version of the font employed on those platform signs. Since they’re tiled into the wall, they would. be difficult to remove by the MTA; however, at times the MTA will install standard black and white metal signs with the same information alongside the older signs, which at times seems to me to be a spiteful assertion of who’s in charge down there these days.
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3/30/24
8 comments
What is that below it?A duct tape fix for smashed tiles?
The “60th Ave.” referenced in this sign has not existed at that location for over sixty years, when the Long Island Expressway was built and its ramps to Queens Blvd. wiped it out. 60th Ave. does exist about a block or two to the east. A corrected version could simply read, “92nd St. – North Side Queens Blvd.”
When this station opened in 1936, the surrounding area was still undeveloped. The Queens Center Mall , L.I. Expressway, Lefrak City and other apartment buildings, all came after the mid-1950s. A large Howard Johnson restaurant, with a large parking lot, existed for many years on the other side of the L.I.E. overpass on the westbound side of Queens Blvd.
Responding to my own post. Here’s a link to a long-forgotten Queens landmark at this station – the Howard Johnson restaurant I mentioned in my original post. When it opened in 1940, this part of Queens was very suburban and just getting built up – the IND subway had recently arrived. Building was razed in 1974 – half a century ago – and site is now an office building.
http://www.highwayhost.org/NewYork/Restaurants/RegoPark/regopark1.htm
I love these! The ones on the 179th St stop on the F are interesting!
I think the QB IND has more incorrect and outdated signage than any other section in the entire system. From the “VAN WYCK BLVD” tablets at the Briarwood station, to the “SLATTERY PLAZA” verbiage at the Woodhaven Blvd station, to the “ELY AVE.” signage at Court Sq, – 23rd Street, the QB IND is a time capsule of sorts, calling passengers to places that have been gone for decades, to parts of Queens that were once much more
residential and quiet than they are now.
The Howard Johnsons was not at this station but the preceding 63rd drive station.The Howard Johnson’s was built and opened for the 1939/40 World’s Fair to promote the chain outside of New England. In the late 50’s Alexander ‘s Dept store opened adjacent to the HJ. The real estate became to valuable to not develop by the early 1970’s.
The HJ was also close to. Horace Harding Blvd for auto access to the Fair grounds.HJ was surrounded by a large parking lot to attract auto traffic.
The Woodhaven station was near the Fairy Land children’s amusement park that succumbed to Queens Center Mall built circa 1972.Opened the following year.The amusement park closed circa 1964/65.
I remember taking the subway to Slattery Plaza when I was attending Pratt Institute. There was a really Long mezzanine and you could enter one of the department stores directly from the subway. Slattery Plaza was the forerunner of the Queens Center mall.
Fascinating! Thanks all for posting!