Friday, June 15, 2007

Union Turn-puke

"The Union Turnpike station is a major transit hub, connecting to the terminus of the Q46, Q10, and Q37 buses. The Q60 line, Queens Borough Hall, the Courthouse, and the Jet Blue HQ are all in close proximity as is the historic neighborhood of Kew Gardens.

Unfortunately, after more than 70 years of use, this functionalist IND station is only getting older and uglier. How about a renovation already? How about elevators? Artwork? Is this any way to welcome travelers to the County Seat of Queens?"

-mazeartist

Don't worry, mazey...We apparently don't have enough money to fix up the stations we have now, but the revenue generated from the congestion pricing plan will make this all better.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

There are elevators being installed at the Union Turnpike station right now.

Rochdalian said...

A project to install elevators at the Union Turnpike-Kew Gardens station is already underway. Check out the platforms and the sidewalk in front of 80-02 Kew Gardens Road.

Anonymous said...

Wow an elevator? Cool. Will the station still look like a pig sty?

Anonymous said...

It's funny how so many New Yorkers view their city as the greatest city in the world, when in some respects it's little more than a third-world country. I just spent some time in Sydney, Australia where a train station like this simply wouldn't be allowed to exist. The same in big cities in Europe and Canada. In Japan, this kind of station would be unthinkable. But New Yorkers just accept the squalor. And that's why it happens so much.

verdi said...

Borough Hall..... the seat of corruption in Queens......
is appropriately reflected in the crumbling condition of this subway stop!

It's a fitting symbol of decay along with the sadly dilapidated statue of "Civic Virtue" on the street level directly above the station!

Donald Manes would have preferred it this way !!!

Anonymous said...

Private opulence and public squalor has been an American tradition.

As long as stars are in our eyes every time a celebrity is mentioned, that will be a trait going forward.

Jennifer said...

Anonymous said...
"It's funny how so many New Yorkers view their city as the greatest city in the world, when in some respects it's little more than a third-world country . . . ."

EXCELLENT POST! I COULD NOT HAVE SAID IT BETTER MYSELF.

Anonymous said...

Obviously you have never been to Rome. Go there, and tell me the NYC subway is not 10x as clean.

Anonymous said...

Considering the successful restorations of Bryant Park and Central Park, I recommend that local businesses chip in to restore their local parks and train stations.

I'm sure Jet Blue can contribute to a good restoration, since their HQ is above the station.

Peter said...

They've been putting in glass block to wall off the Jackie Robinson (Interboro) Parkway. (I see if every day as I drive by - I haven't been in that station in years). That plus the elevators makes me assume that a station-wide renovation is underway. It'll probably take years, though.

Corgi, Dr. of Ursinity, Prattling Pasha of Positivity said...

Hey, them be FIGHTIN' words!

If you were among the oldest, the biggest, the busiest AND the only one to run 24/7/365 in the whole world, look so great you would not, either!

Sydney's CityRail is a pipsqueak kid by comparison. London, Paris, Tokyo are more comparable, but they shut down every night for 5-6 hours allowing for considerable maintenance to occur.

New York isn't just the greatest city in the world, it's the capitol of the world. Multi-racial, multi-ethnic, seat of the UN, and the center of the world of capitalism. Them's that don't like it can just go on back to whatever Podunk they came from in the first place ;)