Second Ave. Sagas

Photo of the Day: At 63rd St., tearing down a wall

Written by

Benjamin Kabak

in

At 63rd Street, contractors have built a blue construction wall as they ready the station for Second Avenue Subway Service. (Photo via Ben Heckscher at The Launch Box)

Many straphangers who frequent the F train into and out of Queens have no idea that the part of the 63rd St. station they see is only half of it. Behind the ugly, bright orange wall is an unused and unfinished platform that sometimes serves as a lay-up for out-of-service trains. The tracks connect to the 57th St. station along the BMT Broadway line and will one day serve as a stop on the Second Ave. Subway.

Some preparatory work on the station has already begun, and contractors are starting to tear down the false wall between the Queens Boulevard tracks and the eventual Second Ave. Subway side. Ben Heckscher from The Launch Box took some photos of station recently. Already, contractors are working on street-level infrastructure while beginning the arduous process of remodeling a 20-year-old station that looks architecturally dated already. This part of the Second Ave. Subway project is supposed to wrap in late 2014. For a glimpse of the unused platform as it exists today, browse on over to this NYCSubway.org page.

Comments

27 responses to “Photo of the Day: At 63rd St., tearing down a wall”

  1. R. Graham

    Late 2014!?!?! All it is, is just an unfinished platform. Projects that used to take a year, years ago now seemingly take double the time to completion date.

    Reply
    1. Scott E

      There’s an entire entrance on the 3rd Avenue side to construct (it’s now a massive cavern with just an emergency exit), and a tunnel ventilation system similar to what will be on 2nd Avenue. There had been discussion about ripping out and replacing the existing escalators (which always break down) once the new entrance is open, but I don’t know if that’s happening or not.

      But what does “done” mean? I’d imagine there would be a wall, of some sort, in the middle of the platform up until the Q train (or W, or whatever it may be) starts to venture up 2nd Ave.

      Reply
      1. R. Graham

        I’m with ferryboi on this one. I say that blue plywood is going to become a staple of the station. It may get moved back some, but it’s not going anywhere for 5 or 6 years.

        Reply
        1. Benjamin Kabak

          Then it will look like the Lex IRT platform at Fulton St. That thing’s been encased in blue plywood for years.

          Reply
      2. Jerrold

        Will they ACTUALLY have to keep some kind of wall in the middle there until Second Ave. service begins?
        Wouldn’t a WIDE platform, be much beeter, especially at rush hours?
        Once the work on those two platforms is done, all they will really need is signs on the F train side of the platorms saying “All Service on this Track” and signs on the other side saying “All Service on the other Track”.

        Reply
        1. Jerrold

          Times like this are when I wish it were possible to EDIT your own posts here.
          Then I would be able to fix up the two typos that I have already noticed in my message above.

          Reply
        2. R. Graham

          To my understand this is supposed to be an open island platform on both levels to allow for cross platform transfers between 6th Avenue and Broadway service as well as Queens Blvd and 2nd Avenue service.

          Reply
          1. Benjamin Kabak

            That’s correct. I think Jerrold is suggesting that, when work is done on the platform but prior to the start of SAS service, the MTA keep the wider platform open with no plywood but no service on the other tracks a la 2nd Ave. on the F.

            Reply
            1. R. Graham

              Ah yes I see now. As much as I would love to see the boards come down prior to service beginning I’m on the side of leaving them up. The last thing we need is kids running the rails just because they believe a train won’t come down the track and somehow getting themselves killed, only to watch their kin sue the MTA afterwards.

              I have just talked myself into becoming a fan of blue plywood!

              Reply
              1. Alex C

                They could keep the blue wall, but have it be on the very edge of the platforms on the 2-Ave-bound side to increase space. That way you get the extra platform space and keep the tracks closed off.

                Reply
                1. Clarke

                  Additionally, platform-screen doors would provide a similar function.

                  Reply
                  1. R. Graham

                    That’s only if they install those right away. I have my doubts that they would install platform screen doors 2+ years prior to the opening of the line itself. Parts like that come with warranties that expire after an extended period of time. You would be for equipment to not use it for a long time and if something goes wrong you would be paying for the cost of repairs yourself since you let it sit unused collecting dust/vandalism.

                    Reply
                    1. Bolwerk

                      I seem to remember the cost on the 7 Train, if the new stations got them (and the MTA was seriously playing with the idea at one time) was something like $30k/door.

            2. Scott E

              Before the Q was rerouted to Astoria, they would use that space behind the wall to store trains during out-of-service times. I’m not so sure they’d want empty, unattended trains so accessible to the public (though I have seen that done before… Whitehall St. I think)

              Reply
    2. Redbird

      The work at 63rd and Lex is not merely cosmetic. The work on this contract includes major re-framing of the structural steel to support the new platform configuration. This will involve rigging all new steel beams in by hand tools and carefully replacing the existing steel (one old piece goes out, a new one comes in. The final configuration will have a completely different framing plan than what is there now.

      Reply
      1. Andrew

        Why wasn’t the station built to support the future SAS service plan from the start?

        Reply
      2. Jerrold

        If what you are saying about the steel is correct, then I wonder why nobody thought of that when the station was originally designed.
        After all, weren’t they assuming that eventually there would be a Second Avenue subway whose trains would be using that station?

        Reply
        1. R. Graham

          As much as I agree with your and Andrew. I have to reason myself to believe that the design standard of the 70s is not on par with the design standards of today and this being a two level station, very deep with close proximity to the river bed, I would have to believe that they might want to earthquake and blast proof the station prior to running full service due to unforeseen events of the future. This might also help keep overall structural maintenance to a minimum over the years due to the wear and tear of these heavy trains trafficking through the station for years on end.

          Reply
  2. ferryboi

    Cool. That blue plywood wall will last a good 10 years before the station is “finished.” Maybe it’ll turn black with soot like the temporary plywood wall slowly decaying on the old Shuttle platform at Bowling Green. The MTA’s answer to everything: blue plywood.

    Reply
    1. R. Graham

      Blue Plywood or Chambers Street station J/Z. Pick your poison!

      Reply
  3. Phil

    OMG! I LOVE BLUE PLYWOOD

    Reply
    1. John-2

      The blue plywood’s still a step up from the current wall tiles. It would be nice if the MTA could take advantage of the remodeling work and actually redo the entire color/wall sign layout of the station to lower the garish factor a notch or two (though I take back my request if they’re just going to repeat the lack of pretty much any platform tiling style at all at the new South Ferry station).

      Reply
  4. pete

    If you want to know what it looked like behind the fake wall,
    http://ltvsquad.com/Locations/…..php?ID=292

    http://www.satanslaundromat.co…..00367.html

    Reply
  5. AlexB

    Seems like they are starting on this one a bit early. How long before the first 3 stops on the SAS open? 6 years? At least the MTA is optimistic…

    Reply
    1. R. Graham

      Without debate this station is probably the most important one out of everything that’s going to happen on 2nd Avenue. Early is probably the best idea especially considering the sandhogs will be blasting through one level very soon and the TBM will chew towards the other.

      Out of all the things that can go wrong with 2nd Avenue I don’t think any bit of the construction on 2nd Avenue itself can see any future delays that can compete with the delays we can end up seeing coming out of the 63rd Street station. No service on 2nd Ave until 63rd is done and it still has to maintain service with Queens at least during the weekdays and holidays.

      Reply
  6. TaoTown

    very excited for the end of this construction!

    Reply
  7. anna

    I love that “ugly orange tile” – like a kiss of a fiery dragon for a train pulling into the station!
    Do you know if it is being reused – repurposed-0r even maybe sold as a “souvenir”?
    The white tile sections coming up on the walls now – similar (or even the exact same) as at 34th street Hudson Yards are just bland.

    Reply

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