Kew Gardens is a LIRR station in, well, Kew Gardens, Queens. Located on the LIRR mainline, this station is a stone’s throw from the subway, being half a mile out. The neighborhood, while upscale, isn’t to the same extreme as Forest Hills. With that in mind, let’s look at this station.
The station consists of two high-level platforms, long enough to platform 6 cars each. As for the surroundings, you have a shopping area above the station on an overpass, a trailer for a waiting room, ticketing machines, the usual amenities, and all that. I suspect the trailer, however, is because the actual waiting room was being renovated or something. There’s also bus connections to the Q10 to the E/F and to the JFK AirTrain. There’s also the Q80, which also goes to the AirTrain, but takes a more direct route. There’s also an express bus that runs to 6th Avenue from here. Overall, it’s really not that awful a station.
I do have to ask though, WHO THE HELL IS PAYING $7.25 TO TAKE AN EXPRESS BUS FROM HERE TO MIDTOWN?! Not to mention the LIRR runs on weekends! The QM18, as far as I understand, doesn’t! AND express buses aren’t subject to farecapping. You’d genuinely get more for your money by taking advantage of fare capping on the subway alongside a LIRR monthly, rather than just taking the QM18. I digress. This post is about Kew Gardens LIRR, not the QM18.
The good: It’s accessible, has a waiting room that’s cold, and all the usual LIRR amenities! There’s also the Q10 to the JFK AirTrain. It’s also in a rather upscale, but still somewhat walkable, neighborhood.
The bad: The platforms are way too short. I would presume it’s not pleasant at rush hour, and this station should be on the shortlist for platform extensions.
Nearby points of interest: There’s some shops on Lefferts Blvd. There’s also a school and a cemetery. Aside from that, housing.
Transit connections:
LIRR (Hempstead, Ronkonkoma, Far Rockaway, Babylon, West Hempstead, Long Beach, Port Jefferson)
MTA bus (Q10, Q37, Q80, QM18)
Overall, it’s not a bad station, but it really needs extensions. Yeah, sorry, I don’t have a lot to say, but the short platforms aren’t good this close to Penn Station.
Rating: 6.5/10
Shoutout to the trailer waiting room, by the way.
