Friday, January 18, 2008

The crappiest el stations in Queens?

If I had to choose the nominee for the crappiest elevated stations in Queens, the Astoria Line (N, W trains) would get the designation. Not only do the stations lack artwork, but the windscreen walls do not even have any advertising on them, unless you count graffiti tags as unauthorized advertising. The Astoria Line has so much potential- remove the windscreen walls, and panoramic views of Manhattan are revealed.

Attached is an image of the Broadway station- no artworks, no billboards, no views. I've seen communist-designed stations that are more inviting and inspiring to the traveler.

-mazeartist

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

The stations were beautiful when they were put up, but all the decor is covered by sheet metal.

The least they could do is to restore them.

Anonymous said...

"but the windscreen walls do not even have any advertising on them"

And that's a bad thing?

Anonymous said...

After completing renovations of Manhattan stations with all the fancy art work - Warhol anyone?

Wow - the MTA hired designers from post Soviet era to ply their magic on the Astoria and Flushing lines to give us the edgy, grainy gritty look to attract the hipsters and illegals folks to crowd into our neck of the woods.

Anonymous said...

C-mon "mazeartist"....
you're being naive again.

Those wind screens are there because
you don't want any of Astoria's "new citizens"
(or the after 3:00 school's out crowd)
pelting people on the sidewalks below
with spitballs and other objects.

And I, for one, don't want to
freeze my cojunes off on a frigid day.

However in a much more civilized time......
those windscreens once contained windows
you could look through.

But the MTA felt that their new steel fences required less upkeep!

You'll just have to accept these eyesores along with the steel roll down gates on most retail stores.

Anonymous said...

"but the windscreen walls do not even have any advertising on them"

And that's a bad thing?


If they had advertising on them, at least they would raise revenue for the MTA...

Anonymous said...

You should check out Beach 105 Street on the Rockaway Park shuttle.

It will take the cake. Come on out this weekend in fact so you can see it yourself!

Anonymous said...

funny how this is never raised at www.astorians.com.

ok boys and girls, lets go on a taco crawl!

Anonymous said...

CB1, the community board from hell.

Anonymous said...

With all of the "increased revenue"
provided by such adverts.....
the MTA will still screw the public
with fare increases
for decreasing level of service.

You must be dreaming or on something !

Anonymous said...

I vote for Court Square on the 7 line. As far as I know, all of the other elevated station platforms were renovated -- except Court Sq.

Anonymous said...

I like the undertone at astorians.com;

negative nods

gloomy talk by the mods on limited free speech and debate

suggestions on how to tune people out.

my my my It sounds like a bunch of clubhouse wannabes.

Lets groan and moan every time someone says the word 'community preservation' or fires a shot over the bow of a local politician.

(Meanwhile, Astorians merrily send material to Crappy all the time.)

Anonymous said...

what communist-designed stations? the moscow metro is the ugliest piece of crap in the world. It makes the MTA look like Versailles in comparison.

Anonymous said...

The stations on the "M" train easily beat any other stations in Queens as the worst. The problem is no one considers Ridgewood to be Queens anymore.

Anonymous said...

With one thing or another that line is an on going disaster.

The whole structure, even after its first paint job in decades, looks dingy and dismal.

Anonymous said...

I grimmice whenever I think of all that new development a few feet from those trains.

You have to be desperate to live next to all that noise.

I think if they wanted to send a message about the improved neighborhood the first thing to do is to fix the line getting in and out of it.

Some beautification, instead of crappification, can do wonders to a area.

Anonymous said...

I usually agree with your point of view, but not this time. Let the TA focus on running the trains, not providing an art exhibit. Also, anonymous #4 is right about the windscreens - w/o them pedestrians and cars would be pelted with bottles, rocks, bricks and who knows what else? It's a reflection of the times.

Anonymous said...

I'd rather the trains run than have something pretty to look at on the walls. TImes Square is getting a facelift with all the new mosaics being put in the walls (which is ridiculously expensive BTW) , meanwhile there's a flood on the 2 line every time it rains. And we're supposed to pay a fare increase?
Why can't this city get it's priorities in order?

Anonymous said...

I'm with the last 2 posters. Has anyone taken a ride on the 7 line lately. In the past 3 weeks, Service was interupted at least 3 times, and this is not counting the fact that there is no express train service. And lets not even mention a little rain fall. Lets get more trains running with less problems, then we can worry about expensive rehabs to get stations looking like they did in the 40's.

Anonymous said...

Listen here people... The J is the absolute worst elevated line in Queens. The worst elevated station in the system, though, would be 225th or 238th Streets on the 1. The stairs there are made out of WOOD, the paint is peeling everywhere, and it reminds you of the grime of the 1970s... The worst SUBWAY stations would probably be on the G. The G is a complete tragedy in comparison to the N or R!