21st Street station (IND Crosstown Line)

The 21st Street station (signed as 21st Street–Van Alst[2]) is a station on the IND Crosstown Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of 21st Street and Jackson Avenue in the Hunters Point section of Long Island City, Queens, it is served by the G train at all times.

For the station actually at 21st Street & 41st Avenue, see 21st Street–Queensbridge (IND 63rd Street Line).

 21 Street
 "G" train
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Platform view, looking south
Station statistics
Address21st Street & Jackson Avenue
Queens, NY 11101
BoroughQueens
LocaleLong Island City
Coordinates40.744591°N 73.948674°W / 40.744591; -73.948674
DivisionB (IND)[1]
Line   IND Crosstown Line
Services   G all times (all times)
Transit
StructureUnderground
Platforms1 island platform
Tracks2
Other information
OpenedAugust 19, 1933 (1933-08-19)[2]
Opposite-
direction
transfer		Yes
Traffic
2019535,536[3] Decrease 2.7%
Rank407 out of 424[3]
Services
Preceding station New York City Subway New York City Subway Following station
Court Square
Terminus
 Greenpoint Avenue
toward Church Avenue
Location
21st Street station (IND Crosstown Line) is located in New York City Subway
21st Street station (IND Crosstown Line)
21st Street station (IND Crosstown Line) is located in New York City
21st Street station (IND Crosstown Line)
21st Street station (IND Crosstown Line) is located in New York
21st Street station (IND Crosstown Line)
Track layout

to Court Square
to Greenpoint Avenue
Street map

Station service legend
Symbol Description
Stops all times Stops all times

History

21st Street was part of the first phase of the IND Crosstown Line, with service south to Nassau Avenue in Brooklyn.[2] The site of the station was excavated by April 1929.[4] The station opened on August 19, 1933.[2] The secondary name "Van Alst" refers to Van Alst Avenue, the former name of 21st Street.[5][6] The patriarch of the Van Alst family was Belgian Dutch sailor Joris Stevensen, who settled in what was then New Amsterdam in 1652, and purchased land in Long Island City in 1670. Stevensen was known as "de Caper van Alst" (“the sailor from Aalst"), leading future members of the family to assume the surname "Van Alst".[5][7]: 2 [8]: 4 [9]: 7–2  The family later constructed a private cemetery (now an empty lot at the former site of the West Disinfecting Company facility) on Jackson Avenue and Orchard Street near modern Queens Plaza.[5][7][10]: 12–13, 16, 19–22  The Van Alst name is shared with the Van Alst Playground, on 21st Street and 30th Avenue in Astoria.[5]

Station layout
Ground Street level Exit/entrance
Mezzanine Fare control, station agent
Platform level Northbound ← "G" train toward Court Square (Terminus)
Island platform
Southbound → "G" train toward Church Avenue (Greenpoint Avenue) →
Tile caption below trim line
Stair on Jackson Avenue

The station has two tracks and one island platform, built with a slight curve, as is Jackson Avenue at this location.[11][12] The G stops at the station at all times.[13] The station is between Court Square to the north and Greenpoint Avenue to the south.[14]

The trackside wall trim line is green with a black border and small "21" tile captions run underneath in white numbering on a black background.[2] The tiles were part of a color-coded tile system used throughout the IND.[15] The tile colors were designed to facilitate navigation for travelers going away from Lower Manhattan. Because the Crosstown Line does not merge into a line that enters Manhattan at either end, all stations on the line had green tiles.[16][17] The platform and mezzanine columns are Hunter green (previously they were violet) with every other platform column having the standard black station name plate with white lettering. A booth for NYPD Transit Police District 20 is located at the southern end of the platform.[11] There is a full-length mezzanine above the platform; however, only the northern half is open and has two staircases from the platform.[11][18] The southern half had three staircases to the platform and is used for storage and employee offices.[18][19]

Like many stations on the Crosstown Line, this station is in poor condition as the wall tile has been damaged by underground springs, particularly on the southbound side.[18][19][20][21][22] Despite this damage, there are no plans to make repairs.

North of this station, a center track briefly forms between the two main tracks of the Crosstown Line. This track allows trains to terminate on either track at Court Square. As a result, there is a train route selection panel at the north end of the northbound track.[11][22]

Exits

The station's only entrance/exit, from the northern mezzanine, has a turnstile bank, token booth, and three street stairs to the three-way intersection of 21st Street, Jackson Avenue, and 47th Avenue, at the point where New York State Route 25A turns from 21st Street to Jackson Avenue.[12][18][20]

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. "Two Subway Units Open at Midnight – Links in City-Owned System in Queens and Brooklyn to Have 15 Stations" (PDF). The New York Times. August 18, 1933. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
  3. "Facts and Figures: Annual Subway Ridership 2014–2019". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  4. Snapp, Fletcher G. (April 24, 1929). "Newtown Creek Tunnel First Tube of Kind Bored Without Compressed Air". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Newspapers.com. p. 3. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  5. Roberts, Sam (November 3, 2014). "Long in Repose, Last Remnants of a Founding Family Will Leave Long Island City". The New York Times. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
  6. "Ely Subway Stop to Open – Queens Station on City-Owned Line Begins Service Tomorrow" (PDF). The New York Times. August 26, 1939. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
  7. LaVigne, Elisabeth A.; Catts, Wade P. (April 2016). "Archeological Monitoring at the Site of the Van Alst Family Cemetery" (PDF). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
  8. Roberts, William I. IV (May 1991). "Archaeological and Historical Sensitivity Evaluation of the Korea News Project" (PDF). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
  9. "Final Environmental Impact Statement for Dutch KILLS Rezoning and Related Actions; Chapter 7: Historic Resources" (PDF). New York City Planning Commission. August 29, 2008. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
  10. Kearns, Betsy; Saunders, Cece; Schneiderman-Fox, Faline; Historical Perspectives, Inc. "Long Island City Rezoning: Preliminary Archaeological Assessment" (PDF). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
  11. Review of the G Line: Appendices (PDF) (Report). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. July 10, 2013. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 16, 2020. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
  12. "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Long Island City" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2015. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  13. "G Subway Timetable, Effective July 2, 2023". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
  14. "Subway Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. September 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
  15. "Tile Colors a Guide in the New Subway; Decoration Scheme Changes at Each Express Stop to Tell Riders Where They Are". The New York Times. August 22, 1932. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 1, 2022. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  16. Carlson, Jen (February 18, 2016). "Map: These Color Tiles In The Subway System Used To Mean Something". Gothamist. Archived from the original on May 10, 2023. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  17. Gleason, Will (February 18, 2016). "The hidden meaning behind the New York subway's colored tiles". Time Out New York. Archived from the original on May 10, 2023. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
  18. "Abandoned Station Entrance: 21st Van Alst". ltvsquad.com. October 21, 2015. Archived from the original on August 16, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  19. "G Train". stationreporter.net. February 4, 2012. Archived from the original on February 4, 2012. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  20. Cox, Jeremiah. "21 St-Van Alst (G) - The SubwayNut". www.subwaynut.com. Archived from the original on July 6, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  21. Cohen, Billie (January 10, 2008). "The G Train From Smith-9th Streets to Long Island City". The New York Times. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
  22. "www.nycsubway.org: IND Crosstown Line". www.nycsubway.org. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
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