Grand Avenue/Newtown
What a weird station. Sure, its a hub, we’ll grant that. The stop serves the R and V lines (the G stopped running there a long time ago), and connects riders to several Queens Boulevard buses. For that reason alone, people have to use it. Otherwise, commuters would avoid it like the plague. There’s just too much underground real estate to deal with. After emerging from the train and climbing a set of stairs, you then have to navigate a long, caged-off passageway that could pass for some futuristic vision of hell, or at least prison. The train platforms themselves suffer from chronically overloaded garbage cans, missing train route signs and more. Getting off here actually makes one look forward to riding the bus. Imagine that.
First off, let’s get one thing straight: We don’t give a fig about Newtown. Secondly, that “caged-off passageway” you mention is a former hog chute, remaining from the days when Queens residents herded their swine to work (ca.1989). We thought commuters would appreciate the nod to the borough’s rustic past, but it appears you’re too “pig-headed,” if you will. Finally, hell has no past or future; it is eternal and unchanging.
Aqueduct Racetrack
This is one long and lonely outdoor subway station. Its paint-chipped walls are covered in graffiti. Rain and snow accumulate on the platform in foul weather. And to make things even worse, the station provides riders with a view of the nearby Aqueduct Racetrack- reminding them that while they spend the day at work, others are whiling the hours away gambling at the track. For some, like the Ozone Park straphangers who rely on the long and crowded A train for their commute into Manhattan, life just isn’t fair.
Please direct all your complaints regarding the condition of the Aqueduct station to its new owner and operator, Mohegan Sun.
Woodhaven Boulevard
The same scene plays out each year: politicians gather somewhere along Woodhaven Boulevard to demand that the MTA repaint the elevated J/Z train. And each year, at least in recent memory, the MTA ignores them. As a result, the elevated train line in that part of Queens continues looking terrible. The Woodhaven Boulevard station is a prime example. At least the eyesore station marks the intersection of Jamaica Avenue and Woodhaven Boulevards. Beyond that meager compliment, it’s all downhill from there. The whole place needs a serious paint job, and we’re not just talking about covering over all the graffiti. You’re just making up stations now. We’ll get right on that paint job, as soon as we’re done fixing the peppermint-bark shingles and caramel siding at East Lollipop Junction. 14 Spring 2010 www.itsqueens.com