Broadway Station as seen a day prior to its opening. (Photo: QueensPost)
Jan. 24, 2019 By Meghan Sackman
Astoria’s Broadway station officially reopened today in what came as a surprise to many after nearly seven months of renovation work.
The station, according to MTA New York City Transit, reopened just before midday today, weeks earlier than its anticipated opening in February.
The station has been closed for work since July, and now features a repaired mezzanine and refurbished stairways, brand new countdown clocks, and customer information screens.
The station’s platform edges were also replaced, with repairs made to the platform’s structural steel and concrete, NYCT said, among other upgrades.
Straphangers have taken to posting videos of the renovated station, which had not seen extensive repairs since 1917, on social media.
The videos highlight the new colorful mural adorning much of the station’s walls, and also showcase the upgraded turnstiles and brighter look and feel of the station.
The Broadway station closed at the same time as the 39 Avenue station for renovation and repair work, and both were expected to open at the same time next month.
While the latter station’s opening is imminent, an exact date has not been provided, although NYCT has recently said that the station is expected to open in February.
The end of repair work at the Broadway station, with the 39 Avenue station soon to open, signals the next phase of work along the N/W line—the Astoria Boulevard station.
The MTA said in April that the Astoria Boulevard station would close for nine months after the Broadway and 39 Ave stations return to service. It is unclear when exactly the full closure will happen.
Work on the station, however, has been ongoing since last June, and includes bringing four elevators to the site.
Much of the work and timeline for the project centers on the elevators, which require the entire mezzanine to be demolished and replaced, and columns and foundation to be reinforced.
The opening of the Broadway station also follows renovations completed at the 30th and 36th Avenue stations in 2018, and are all part of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Enhanced Station Initiative launched in 2016 to fix dozens of stations citywide.
