The Q35 bus route constitutes a public transit line in southeast Brooklyn as well as the Rockaway Peninsula of southern Queens in New York City. The Q35 is operated by MTA Regional Bus Operations under the MTA Bus Company brand, but was formerly privately operated by Green Bus Lines. The bus provides service between Midwood in central Brooklyn to Rockaway Park on the Rockaway Peninsula, running mainly along Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn and Rockaway Beach Boulevard on the Rockaway Peninsula. The route utilizes the Marine Parkway–Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge to cross between Brooklyn and Queens. The Q35 runs as a "Rush" route, making limited stops on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn and local stops in Queens.
The Q35 began operations under Green Bus Lines on July 3, 1937, the day the Marine Parkway Bridge was opened, to connect Brooklyn with the newly renovated Jacob Riis Park in the Rockaways. In August 1937, the route was extended east to its current terminus at Beach 116th Street subway station. Due to franchise restrictions with the city government, buses originally made no stops in Brooklyn between Flatbush Avenue station and the bridge. Additional stops in Brooklyn were added by 1940, and by 1976 buses were allowed to pick up and drop off passengers in both directions in Brooklyn. Following the MTA takeover in 2006, several stops in Brooklyn were eliminated to streamline service, so that the Q35 makes limited stops in Brooklyn while operating as a local route in Queens. Service in Queens was rerouted from Newport Avenue to Rockaway Beach Boulevard on August 31, 2025, and it was simultaneously extended east to Scholars' Academy at Beach 108th Street.
Route description
The Q35 bus route operates between Midwood, Brooklyn at the Flatbush Avenue–Brooklyn College subway station, served by the , and Rockaway Park, Queens at the Beach 108th Street ferry landing. The route primarily operates on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, and Rockaway Beach Boulevard in the western Rockaways. It uses the Marine Parkway–Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge to travel across the Rockaway Inlet of Jamaica Bay between Brooklyn and the Rockaway peninsula. In Brooklyn, the Q35 makes limited stops on Flatbush Avenue up to its terminus. The Q35 makes additional local stops in Brooklyn during late-night hours. Due to the limited-stop section in Brooklyn, the Q35 is classified as a Rush route.
The Q35 route serves several sections of the Gateway National Recreation Area around Jamaica Bay, including Floyd Bennett Field and Dead Horse Bay in Brooklyn, and Fort Tilden and Jacob Riis Park in Queens.
Rockaway-bound Queens-bound Q35 buses enter service at Avenue H between Nostrand Avenue and Flatbush Avenue in Midwood, Brooklyn, just east of the Brooklyn College campus, and one block south of the entrance to the Flatbush Avenue subway station at "The Junction" of Flatbush and Nostrand Avenues. Buses proceed south along Flatbush Avenue through the Flatlands and Marine Park neighborhoods to Avenue U at the Kings Plaza shopping mall, where several bus routes, including the B41, terminate. South of Avenue U the route continues down Flatbush Avenue, passing the Marine Park Golf Course and the former Floyd Bennett Field airport (now part of the Gateway National Recreation Area) to the south end of the street, before entering the Marine Parkway–Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge towards Rockaway, Queens. The Q35 is the only route to travel on Flatbush south of Avenue U and cross the bridge between Brooklyn and Queens.
Upon entering the Rockaways, the Q35 route makes its first stop on the off-ramp of the Marine Parkway Bridge, in order to access Fort Tilden, the Riis Landing ferry terminal, and the Roxbury and Breezy Point neighborhoods at the west end of the peninsula. This stop is considered dangerous, exposing passengers to the traffic entering and exiting the bridge. Normal service continues east on the off-ramp which becomes Beach Channel Drive, passing the parking lot of Jacob Riis Park. The route then turns south and east onto Rockaway Beach Boulevard near the park's bathhouse and Neponsit Beach Hospital. The route proceeds east through Neponsit, Belle Harbor, and Rockaway Park before ending service at Scholars’ Academy on Beach 108th Street.
Brooklyn-bound Brooklyn-bound Q35 buses begin service at Beach Channel Drive & Beach 108th Street and follow the same route west via Rockaway Beach Boulevard and Beach Channel Drive. At the foot of the Marine Park Bridge, the route runs past the bridge onto what becomes Rockaway Point Boulevard in Roxbury, and turns south onto Beach 169th Street at Fort Tilden and at the far west end of Riis Park. Buses then u-turn back onto the bridge and cross into Brooklyn. The route then travels north on Flatbush Avenue serving Floyd Bennett Field and Kings Plaza. At Avenue I near the Flatbush−Nostrand terminal, buses turn west then north onto Nostrand Avenue, and finally terminate at Avenue H.
Jacob Riis Park service
During the summer season, from late May to early September, Q35 buses are rerouted to directly serve Jacob Riis Park, with buses in both directions using a stop on Rockaway Beach Boulevard in front of the Riis Park historic bathhouse. Rockaway Park-bound buses access the stop via a normally-closed access road, which branches off from Beach Channel Drive near the end of the Marine Park Bridge at the west end of the park. Brooklyn-bound buses make a U-turn on Rockaway Beach Boulevard at the bathhouse to access the stop, then proceed onto Beach Channel Drive towards Fort Tilden and Brooklyn. During non-summer months, the closest stop to the park is on Rockaway Beach Boulevard west of Beach 149th Street, in front of Neponsit Beach Hospital.
School trippers When school is in session, one bus departs at 2:55 from directly outside Scholars’ Academy, heading to its regular route via Beach Channel Drive, and terminates at Beach 169th Street/Rockaway Point Boulevard in Roxbury.
History
Creation Prior to the creation of the Q35 bus, during the summer of 1936, Green Bus Lines operated the Q21B route between Brooklyn and Jacob Riis Park via Cross Bay Boulevard. It began at the New Lots Avenue subway station in New Lots, Brooklyn, and served the Rockaways' Playland amusement park, Rockaway Park and Neponsit before terminating at Riis Park. In October 1936, citizens from Neponsit lobbied the city and Green Lines to add extra routes in the Rockaways west of Beach 117th Street, then known as the "West End". It was pointed out that much of the population lived north of Rockaway Beach Boulevard, and would have to walk several blocks south to access the route. It was also pointed out that the previous transportation in the area, the defunct Ocean Electric Railway streetcar line, operated on Newport Avenue west of Beach 116th Street. The Q21B route was discontinued in November 1936 due to lack of profitability. By January 1937, local residents continued to petition Green Lines for several extensions of service. This included the restoration of the Q21B route, and the extension of the normal route west from Beach 116th Street to Beach 149th Street via Newport Avenue.
On May 5, 1937, it was announced that Green Bus Lines would operate bus service between the Flatbush Avenue IRT subway station in Brooklyn and Riis Park in the Rockaways via the Marine Parkway Bridge, which was then-under construction. The Brooklyn Bus Corporation, a subsidiary of the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT), would also extend its route south over the bridge during summer months to serve the park. The park had recently underwent a major Works Progress Administration (WPA) expansion in conjunction with the bridge project; both projects were overseen by Robert Moses.
The Marine Parkway Bridge was opened July 3, 1937 providing direct access from Brooklyn to the Rockaways, including Jacob Riis Park at the foot of the bridge. That same day, Green Bus Lines inaugurated the Q35 service between the Flatbush Avenue station and Riis Park.The New York Times, Rockaway Bus Line Extends Service , July 3, 1937, page 17 Because Green Lines held the rights to bus service in the Rockaways, and the BMT for service in Brooklyn, the Q35 was mandated to run non-stop through Brooklyn. Only two stops were made in Brooklyn, on the Brooklyn side of the Marine Parkway Bridge, and at Flatbush and Nostrand Avenues. In addition, free transfers were provided for passengers traveling farther east up to Beach 84th Street. Travel solely within Brooklyn or solely within Queens charged five cents, while a double fare of ten cents was paid for crossing between boroughs. However, by August 1 of that year Green Lines considered ending the service because it was unprofitable even at a double fare. According to the company, high costs stemmed from the 25-cent toll to cross the Marine Parkway Bridge, and the additional buses required for the service that were rented from other companies at $60 per bus along with insurance. Service was suspended for a single day on August 1 due to the expiration of the route's temporary permit with the city, but the route was reinstated the next day.
By August 19, 1937, the route was extended east to its current terminal at Beach 116th Street, running via Cronston Avenue one block north of Newport Avenue. On October 13, 1937 at a meeting with the New York State Transit Commission, the president of Green Bus Lines stated that the route would remain in operation through the winter in spite of the low profitability during the summer months and the lower patronage predicted during the winter. At the meeting, various Queens civic organizations including the Rockaway Civic Club lodged complaints against the company over unsatisfactory service. In May 1938, 184 streets in the Rockaways were approved to be converted into one-way streets. This included Newport Avenue and Cronston Avenue, which would become eastbound and westbound streets respectively. Q35 buses would then operate on Cronston Avenue towards Brooklyn and Newport Avenue towards Rockaway Park. The street changes would go into effect upon the completion of the extension of Beach Channel Drive towards Riis Park and the Marine Parkway Bridge. In July 1938, however, Newport Avenue was changed back into a two-way street, and Q35 buses were rerouted onto the street. Ridership statistics from the end of 1938 showed that the new bus route had poached summer commuters away from the Long Island Rail Road's Rockaway Beach Branch.
On May 22, 1939, the Rockaway Chamber of Commerce announced that Green Lines would operate a bus route between the Rockaways and the 1939 New York World's Fair held in Flushing Meadows Park. At this time, the Chamber also requested that an additional stop on the Q35 route at Flatbush Avenue and Kings Highway be added, in order to connect with the BMT Brighton Line to the west. By this time, ridership on the Q35 route was increasing, and the route made a stop in Brooklyn at Floyd Bennett Field.
Permanent franchise After operating on temporary permits, in 1940 Green Lines sought a permanent franchise for the Q35 route. At this time, stops on the route were added at Avenue U (the future site of Kings Plaza), and at Kings Highway to connect with other bus lines and the BMT subway. The two new stops were added to increase patronage on the route. The exiting stops at the Marine Parkway Bridge and at Floyd Bennett Field were also maintained. In response to complaints from the Rockaway Civic Club, Green Lines would also increase the frequency of bus service, and would line up the bus schedule to meet trains at the Beach 116th Street station. The approval of the franchise was opposed by the Brooklyn Bus Corporation and the Brooklyn and Queens Transit Corporation, another BMT subsidiary. The route was approved by the New York City Board of Estimate in February 1940. The new franchise was approved by the city Transit Commissioner in July 1940.