WELCOME TO BEAUTIFUL LONG ISLAND CITY!- wait, waht? it’s just a railyard? Ugh…..duty calls, I guess.
Long Island City is located in the heart of, well, Long Island City in Queens, and is a stone’s throw from the #7 subway line (at Vernon/Jackson). There’s also a ferry connection at the Hunters Point South ferry terminal. However, I am not going to cover that on this blog (presently). As for the station itself, however, it is essentially a bunch of platforms built in a rail yard. In fact, platforms B and C (serving tracks 6-9) aren’t in regular use and if they ARE used, ARE IN THE SECURE AREA OF THE YARD. I REPEAT – IF YOUR TRAIN IS BOARDING ON TRACKS 6, 7, 8, OR 9, YOU HAVE TO HAVE A SECURITY ESCORT. Anyways, the ticketing machines broke when Honaj tried using them to buy the LIC-Jamaica offpeak CityTicket. There’s not really any amenities here otherwise, and I don’t think there’s even any benches. There was a wastebasket though! Now, Honaj and I were here to buy a ticket, so where did the train board? Well…..IT BOARDED FROM THE SECURE AREA!!! WOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! And, yes, security was watching. This was a moment of all time. Meanwhile, amid all this, the platform couldn’t even fit all the cars (only the last two cars platformed). Lovely!
It turns out, though, the reason this station even exists to begin with when Penn Station exists, is this was the original terminus of the LIRR mainline between here and Greenport, and the Montauk Branch to Montauk. However, while the East River Tunnels opened in the early 1900s, the LIRR still continued to operate out of here, albeit in a limited manner.
The good: It exists, I guess. It serves LI City giving a one-seat ride towards Port Jeff, Oyster Bay, and …Patchogue??? It’s also an accessible station (can’t say the same about Hunterspoint Ave., however…) and has water transportation connections.
The bad: UNLESS YOU HAVE ACCESSIBILITY NEEDS, WHY WOULD YOU USE THIS OVER HUNTERSPOINT AVENUE OR PENN STATION?! JUST, WHY?! THE TRAINS CRAWL SO SLOWLY THAT IT ALLOWS FOR THE ONLY SMOKE BREAK I KNOW OF ON A COMMUTER RAILROAD, WHAT WENT WRONG?! I COULD CARE LESS ABOUT THE GRADE CROSSING – YES IT MAKES FOR COOL PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES AND WHILE THE LIRR ENGIS ARE SCARED TO USE THE HORN I DON’T CARE. BUT LIKE, WHY?! THE TICKET MACHINES BROKE OR DON’T EXIST. TRACKS 6, 7, 8, AND 9 ARE IN SECURE SECTIONS OF THE YARD SO GOOD LUCK BOARDING IF IT ISN’T UNLOCKED. THE TRAINS GO ALMOST AS SLOW AS THE GREEN LINE HERITAGE RAILWAY. AND THEY COULD ALSO USE F*CKING ELECTRICS THROUGH HERE TOO TO GIVE THIS PLACE MORE FREQUENT SERVICE – SEND HEMPSTEAD LINE TRAINS HERE OR SMTH IDK. HELL, YOU CAN PROBABLY WALK FASTER THAN THE DAMN TRAIN!
Nearby points of interest: There’s a bagel shop (Bricktown Bagels & Cafe) nearby! There’s also a ventilation shaft for the Lincoln Tunnel, various offices and apartment buildings, and also some skyscrapers (but none as iconic as those in Manhattan).
Transit connections:
LIRR (Oyster Bay, Port Jefferson, Montauk)
MTA bus (Q103)
Overall, why? Just, why? Run more trains, run offpeak trains, and Jesus knows what they were thinking as time has NOT treated this place well.
Rating: 3/10
