88th Street station

History

88th Street was one of the six stations along Liberty Avenue in Queens, from 80th Street through Ozone Park–Lefferts Boulevard, as well as the current three track elevated structure, built for the BMT Fulton Street Line in 1915 as part of BMT's portion of the Dual Contracts. The connection to the BMT was severed on April 26, 1956, and the IND was extended east (railroad south) from Euclid Avenue via a connecting tunnel and new intermediate station at Grant Avenue, with the new service beginning on April 29, 1956.

The station was completely renovated in 2014. The project, which was part of a $39 million program to renovate five stations from 80th Street to 111th Street, involved closing each platform for several months at a time. As part of its 2025–2029 Capital Program, the MTA has proposed making the station wheelchair-accessible in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Station layout

This elevated station, opened on September 25, 1915, has two side platforms and three tracks with the center track not used in revenue service. The A train stops here at all times; a shuttle train from Euclid Avenue to Ozone Park–Lefferts Boulevard also serves the station during late nights. The station is between Rockaway Boulevard to the east (railroad south) and 80th Street to the west (railroad north).

Both platforms have beige windscreens for their length and brown canopies with green frames and support columns except for a small section at either ends. Station signs display Boyd Avenue, which was the original name of this station.

The 2015 artwork at this station, MORPHING88, was designed by Haresh Lalvani.

Exits

This station's only entrance/exit is an elevated station house below the platforms at the east (railroad south) end. Inside fare control, there is one staircase to each platform, a waiting area that allows a free transfer between directions, and a turnstile bank. Outside fare control, there is a token booth and two street stairs going down to either eastern corners of 88th Street and Liberty Avenue.

This station formerly had another entrance/exit at the west (railroad north) end that went down to 86th Street. Each platform still has a closed-off staircase to the station house beneath the tracks, but the station house has no staircases to the street.

References

References

1. (September 26, 1915). "New Elevated Line Opened for Queens". The New York Times.
2. Sparberg, Andrew J.. (October 1, 2014). "From a Nickel to a Token: The Journey from Board of Transportation to MTA". Fordham University Press.
3. (April 30, 1956). "First Leg of Rockaways Transit Opened at Cost of $10,154,702".
4. (June 28, 1956). "Rockaway Trains to Operate Today".
5. (May 8, 2014). "Queens-bound 88 St and 104 St a Line Stations to Close for Three Months for Renewal". Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
6. (2014-05-08). "Queens-bound service to temporarily shut down at two Ozone Park subway stops for station improvements – QNS".
7. Rahhal, Emily. (2025-04-29). "These 43 subway stations will get new elevators: MTA". PIX !!.
8. {{NYCS const. trackref. trackbook
9. {{NYCS const. timetable. a
10. {{NYCS const. map
11. "Artwork: "MORPHING88" (Haresh Lalvani)".
12. (2015). "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Woodhaven". [[Metropolitan Transportation Authority]].