Willets Point-Shea Stadium (IRT Flushing Line station)
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The Willets Point-Shea Stadium New York Subway station was built new for the 1939 World's Fair, replacing the former Willets Point Boulevard station which had been slightly further west (towards Main Street) at a position closer to Flushing Creek. The new station was built to accommodate crowds bound for the World's Fair, held twice on the site in Flushing Meadows south of the elevated track, and more frequently for events at the US Tennis Center on the south side and baseball games at Shea Stadium on the north side of the tracks.
The platform arrangement at Willets Point is unique in the system, arranged in this manner: north side platform, Manhattan-bound local track, bidirectional express track, island platform, Queens-bound local track, south side platform. Trains to Main Street-Flushing open up on the island platform; the south wall platform was used for the 1964 New York World's Fair special trains and during events at the U.S. Tennis Center. Local trains to Manhattan use the north side platform. Express trains use the island platform in each direction.
The platform ends have no windscreen protection giving a postcard view of Shea Stadium, the U.S. Tennis Center, and the Unisphere, left over from the 1964 World's Fair. Underneath the platforms, the station has a full-length wooden mezzanine. There are stairs and a ramp between the mezzanine and the north side platform for crowds heading back to Manhattan. A ramp provides access from the mezzanine to the Shea Stadium parking lots. On the south side, there are ramps connecting the mezzanine and south side wall platform to a foot bridge to the World's Fairgrounds. The foot bridge crosses over a subway yard and a set of Long Island Rail Road tracks.
Willets Point-Shea Stadium on the 7-Flushing Local is an express stop, the first elevated stop. It is of an unusual layout: 3 tracks, 3 platforms. This layout was for the increased traffic for the 1964 New York World's Fair.
Shea Stadium is on the north side of the station. This station can be really crowded during New York Mets games.
A ramp from the south side ot the station leads to the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, the USTA National Tennis Center and the 1964 World's Fair grounds.
The current station is not the original 1928 station. The 1928 station was closed down before the 1939 World's Fair and replaced with the larger station. It was rebuilt in 1964 to the arrangement we see today. You can see the remnants of the original 1928 station about 1 1/2 blocks east of the current station.