Long Island City station

The Long Island City station is a rail terminal of the Long Island Rail Road in the Hunters Point and Long Island City neighborhoods of Queens, New York City. Located within the City Terminal Zone at Borden Avenue and Second Street, it is the westernmost LIRR station in Queens and the end of both the Main Line and Montauk Branch. The station consists of one high-level passenger platform located at ground level and is wheelchair accessible.

Service The Long Island City station is served only during weekday rush hours in the peak direction by select diesel trains on the Oyster Bay, Montauk, or Port Jefferson Branches via the Main Line. Due to this limited service, it gets only 101 riders per weekday, making it the second least used LIRR station in New York City (after Mets–Willets Point).

All trains serving the station reach the station via the Main Line. Until November 2012, some LIRR trains also ran via the Lower Montauk Branch to and from this station, despite all Lower Montauk Branch stations being shuttered and losing service in March 1998.

History The Long Island City station was first built on June 26, 1854, and rebuilt seven times during the 19th century. On December 18, 1902, both the two-story station building and office building owned by the LIRR burned down. The rebuilt, and fire-proof, station opened on April 26, 1903. Electric service to the station began on June 16, 1910.

Before the East River Tunnels were built, the Long Island City station served as the terminus for Manhattan-bound passengers from points east on Long Island, who took ferries to the East Side of Manhattan – specifically to the East 34th Street Ferry Landing in Murray Hill, and the James Slip Ferry Port in what is today part of the Two Bridges section of Lower Manhattan. The passenger ferry service was abandoned on March 3, 1925. A track spur split from the Montauk Branch east – and running along the southern border – of the Long Island City station, before curving north to the North Shore Freight Branch running between 48th and 49th Avenues, where there were connections to car floats at what is today the Gantry Plaza State Park. These car floats carried freight trains to and from Manhattan and New Jersey until the mid-20th century. As of 2026, passenger ferry service is operated by NYC Ferry.

The station house was torn down again in 1939 for construction of the Queens–Midtown Tunnel, but continued to operate as an active station throughout the tunnel's construction and opening.

Station layout This station has 13 tracks and three concrete high-level island platforms. The northernmost platform, Platform A, is two cars long and is accessible from Borden Avenue just west of Fifth Street. Platforms B and C are located within the secure area of the rail yard.

All tracks without platforms are used for train storage. The southernmost six tracks are powered by third rail, while the remaining are only used by diesel-powered trains.

PPlatform levelStreet levelExit/entrance, ticket machine, access to ferry, buses, and subwayTrack 0Storage track →Track 1Storage track →Track 2 PM rush hours toward → PM rush hours toward → PM rush hours toward , or →Track 3 PM rush hours toward → PM rush hours toward → PM rush hours toward , or →Track 4Storage track →Track 5Storage track →Track 6Storage track →Track 7Storage track →Track 8Storage track →Track 9Storage track →Track 10Storage track →Track 11Storage track →Track 12Storage track →

Gallery

Long Island City station

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