The new connection between the 7 and G at 23rd Street and Jackson Avenue opened this morning. (Photo by Benjamin Kabak)
With 7 trains clanking past on its elevated tracks, Transit officials and local politicians gathered in Long Island City this morning to celebrate a long-awaited station opening. Shortly after 10:30 a.m., state Assembly member Catherine Nolan cut the ribbon to mark the official opening of the Court Square Station and the new ADA-compliant and fully covered connection between the 7 and G trains. The long rumored dispute between Citi and the MTA has finally been resolved.
Noting that the connection should see 20,000 passengers per day who can now avoid an out-of-system transfer, Transit President Thomas Prendergast spoke of the ways in which the authority is connecting key station. “The creation of this complex will facilitate travel for customers heading to and from Queens and give choices in the case of a disruption on any of the lines,” he said. “This is very similar to our project in Downtown Brooklyn, where we linked two stations, Jay Street and Lawrence Street into the Jay Street-MetroTech complex and improved travel options for thousands of subway riders from day one. There is also a project underway to provide a free transfer between the Sixth Avenue Line to the uptown 6 at the Broadway-Lafayette and Bleecker Street stations.”
A glimpse down the walkway connecting the G platform to the elevated 7 tracks. (Photo by Benjamin Kabak)
The new transfer area features a variety of upgrades for customers. There are two protected escalators, three elevators and a new staircase and passageway. The entire station complex has also been renamed as Court Square.
Overall, the project cost a total of $47.6 million, and Transit picked up $13.9 million, most of which went toward ADA compliancy. Later this month, the TA will award a contract that will overhaul the 7 platform as well. That work will include full platform replacement, new windscreens and ADA-compliant boarding areas. For now, the saga of Court Square has come to an end, then, many months later than it should have.
After the jump, a full slideshow of photos from the ribbon-cutting.
25 comments
Great! So happy this is finally open.
Good! Mexico City really, really does transfers well with its Metro system — stations are connected by clean, well-lit and interesting tunnels/passageways that reduce crowding on trains between key transfer stations. It’s really quite impressive. And New York City can’t even clean up a few passageways in midtown Manhattan…
Just in time for this weekend’s L train closure! As a Williamsburg resident, I am planning on using the G train/7 train combination to travel between Brooklyn and Manhattan this weekend.
Good idea. Just remember good timing for catching the (G) train. In addition, if something’s going on with the (7), don’t hesitate to transfer to the (E) at Court Square as well.
Maybe they could hav sold the naming rights to Citi, and appended their name to Court Square to generate additional revenue.
Either way, I guess this is a better late than never story.
Citigroup didn’t even pay for CitiField, you think they would pay for this one?
Yes they did…$20 M/yr supposedly. The station itself does not bear the name CitiField b/c the MTA could not strike a deal.
Scratch that, misread your comment.
I was waiting on the 7 train platform this morning and I could still see workers putting the final touches behind yellow tape. Felt like they were teasing me!
It sure is ABOUT TIME!
That pic makes the station look very nice…like something out of Copenhagen…
Hallelujah!
[…] « Months late, Court Square entrance finally opens Jun […]
And… there’s already a new map up with the transfer included. Or did they put that up a while ago?
On the Flickr pictures, it looks like there’s a black decal on the sign above the elevator next to the 7. Would it have covered up a 7-Diamond symbol, and if so, why?
(I also notice that the PDF map on the MTA website hasn’t yet been updated).
What was the official reason for the delayed opening?
A nice touch is the “45th Street” sign in IRT-style mosaic.
And the countdown to the escalator being out of service starts now.
Peter
inklake
That sign was always there and it’s in IND style.
The sign I photographed is a new one that is part of the recently-opened addition to the station. It matches the IND-style signs from the rest of the station complex.
That is actually really cool.
How long until the elevator is out of service? A month?
“don’t invest all your eggs in 1 basket” = never depend on 1 MTA train. or you may be a very unhappy person.
The floor in the pic with the sign that shows the 7 connection looks so…old, like it’s dirty already!
[…] to non-IND lines in Downtown Brooklyn, and only one, difficult transfer in Queens, which opened just a month ago. The remainder simply paralleled existing elevated or subway lines, which were subsequently torn […]
[…] Queens residents along the Flushing line hoping for a quick trip into Manhattan are going to be out of luck until April. Starting next weekend and continuing through April 2, 2012, Transit is suspended weekend 7 service between Queensboro Plaza and Times Square. Furthermore, the Court Square station will be shuttered entirely from January 21-April 2. So much for that convenient new transfer. […]