The 1913 Dual Contracts called for the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) and Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT; later Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation, or BMT) to build new lines in Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. Queens did not receive many new IRT and BRT lines compared to Brooklyn and the Bronx, since the city's Public Service Commission (PSC) wanted to alleviate subway crowding in the other two boroughs first before building in Queens, which was relatively undeveloped. The IRT Flushing Line was to be one of two Dual Contracts lines in the borough, along with the Astoria Line; it would connect Flushing and Long Island City, two of Queens's oldest settlements, to Manhattan via the Steinway Tunnel. When the majority of the line was built in the early 1910s, most of the route went through undeveloped land, and Roosevelt Avenue had not been constructed.[3]: 47 Community leaders advocated for more Dual Contracts lines to be built in Queens to allow development there.[4]
The Flushing Line was opened from Queensboro Plaza to Alburtis Avenue (now 103rd Street–Corona Plaza) on April 21, 1917, with a local station at 52nd Street.[5]
Later years
The city government took over the IRT's operations on June 12, 1940.[6][7] The IRT routes were given numbered designations in 1948 with the introduction of "R-type" rolling stock, which contained rollsigns with numbered designations for each service.[8] The route from Times Square to Flushing became known as the 7.[9] On October 17, 1949, the joint BMT/IRT operation of the Flushing Line ended, and the line became the responsibility of the IRT.[10] After the end of BMT/IRT dual service, the New York City Board of Transportation announced that the Flushing Line platforms would be lengthened to 11 IRT car lengths; the platforms were only able to fit nine 51-foot-long IRT cars beforehand.[11][12] The platforms at the station were extended in 1955–1956 to accommodate 11-car trains.[13] However, nine-car trains continued to run on the 7 route until 1962, when they were extended to ten cars.[14] With the opening of the 1964 New York World's Fair, trains were lengthened to eleven cars.[15][16]
As part of the 2015–2019 Capital Program, the MTA announced plans to renovate the 52nd, 61st, 69th, 82nd, 103rd and 111th Streets stations, a project that had been delayed for several years. Conditions at these stations were reported to be among the worst of all stations in the subway system.[17] The Manhattan-bound platform at the 52nd Street station will close for renovation starting winter 2025, followed by the closure of the Flushing-bound platform.[18][19]
Fare control, station agent, MetroCard and OMNY machines
Ground
Street level
Entrances/exits
Street stair
This elevated station has two side platforms and three tracks. The center express track is used by the rush hour peak direction <7> express train. Both platforms have beige windscreens and brown canopies with green roofs along the entire length except for a small section at the south end, which has only a windscreen on the eastbound side and a waist-high steel fence on the westbound side.[20][21]
This is the southernmost (geographical west) station on the IRT Flushing Line that is on a steel viaduct above Roosevelt Avenue. West of this station, the line curves and becomes a concrete viaduct above Queens Boulevard until 32nd Place.
Exits
This station has two entrances. The full-time one is a wooden elevated station house beneath the tracks at the south end. It has a single staircase to each platform, waiting area that allows free transfer between directions, turnstile bank, token booth, and two staircases to the street, one to each western corner of 52nd Street and Roosevelt Avenue.[20][21]
The other entrance is at the station's extreme north (geographical east) end. A single canopied staircase from each platform goes down a landing outside of a now-closed elevated station house beneath the tracks. A single HEET turnstile provides entrance/exit from the station before a street stair goes down 53rd Street and Roosevelt Avenue. The Manhattan-bound staircase is at the northeast corner while the Flushing-bound one is at the southeast corner.[20][21]
^"Transit Unification Completed As City Takes Over I. R. T. Lines: Systems Come Under Single Control After Efforts Begun in 1921; Mayor Is Jubilant at City Hall Ceremony Recalling 1904 Celebration". New York Herald Tribune. June 13, 1940. p. 25. ProQuest1248134780.
^Friedlander, Alex; Lonto, Arthur; Raudenbush, Henry (April 1960). "A Summary of Services on the IRT Division, NYCTA"(PDF). New York Division Bulletin. 3 (1). Electric Railroaders' Association: 2–3. Archived(PDF) from the original on September 14, 2020. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
^"37 Platforms On Subways To Be Lengthened: All Stations of B. M. T. and I.R.T.in Queens Included in $5,000,000 Program". New York Herald Tribune. November 20, 1949. p. 32. ISSN1941-0646. ProQuest1325174459.
Note: Service variations, station closures, and reroutes are not reflected here. Stations with asterisks have no regular peak, reverse peak, or midday service on that route. See linked articles for more information.
Stations and line segments in italics are closed, demolished, or planned (temporary closures are marked with asterisks). Track connections to other lines' terminals are displayed in brackets. Struck through passenger track connections are closed or unused in regular service.
