By Philip Newman
The New York Transit Authority plans to renovate the Rockaway Park station on the A train line in Queens as part of nearly $146 million in improvements at 10 rundown subway stations in four boroughs.
The TA has yet to determine the extent of improvements at Rockaway Park, an elevated station on the Far Rockaway line of the A-train, or the amount of money to be spent there, said Transit Authority spokesman Charles Seaton.
Along with the Queens station, the project includes five stations in Manhattan, three in Brooklyn and one in the Bronx.
The Transit Authority plan calls the stations to be renovated “all heavily congested and vital links to their respective communities,” but they are in a state of deterioration resulting from extensive use over many years.
Repair or replacement of stairways, installation of new lights and tiles along with repairs to platforms and improvements to turnstile areas are among renovations slated for all 10 stations, with an overall cost estimated at almost $146 million.
The list of renovation sites includes 103rd street, 110th street, 116th Street and 125th Street stations on the Broadway line and 110th Street on the Lexington Avenue line, all in Manhattan; 231st Street station in the Bronx; and Eastern Parkway station, West 8th Street station and Neptune Avenue station on the F line in Coney Island, all in Brooklyn.
The Transit Authority plans to complete the work on all 10 stations by April 2004, well in advance of the centenary observance of the opening of New York City's first subway on Oct. 27, 1904.
Subway service was first extended to Queens in 1915.
