Court Square-23 St
23 St-Ely Avenue, renamed Court Square-21 Street officially when the perminant transfer from the G train to the 7 opened on June 3, 2011 although the tiling wasn't changed on the platforms. The station is the last (or first) station in Queens before the IND 53 Street tunnel. The station has two side platforms for the two track line. Each has a maroon trim, with black boarder. The name tablets that spell out 23rd St-Ely Ave, have a maroon boarder, with a background composed of a mix and of black and brown tiles. The station has two exits, one at either end of the station, each on on its own little mezzanine with a crossover. Each of these consist of a single staircase up from each platform to that lead to an intermediate landing (where the actual exit to the street is) followed by more steps over and forming the actual crossover.
At the eastern (Queens Blvd-bound, northern end), is the exit to the 23 Street & 44 Drive. Until 2018 it conisisted of a streetstair near the NE corner in the shadow of the northern end of the 7 train's elevated platform that leads down to two high entrance turnstiles. As part of the construction of new apartment tower, Skyline Tower (the tallest buliding on Long Island when it was topped out in October 2019) this streetstair was closed in 2018 (and the area has been turned into an ancilary room with a couple of doors on the mezzanine). A new $16 million entrance, that made the Manhattan-bound platform ADA accessible, was built inside the streetfront of this new tower. This entrance is located directly on the Manhattan-bound platform, just beyond where trains actually stop. 3 steps, along with a ramp, lead Down to a fare control area lower than the platform, after a bank of turnstiles and two MVMs, a staircase winds its way around via two intermediate landings around a modern glass elevator to a new entrance inside this building out to the street.
The subway station crosses beneath the elevated station so passengers transfering from the E, M to the 7, if there at the ends of the platform opposite the transfer passageways complete a full circle loop to make the in-system transfer. The Queens-bound side has the entrance to the passageway to the G train, and continuing to the 7 train. This was passageway added recently in about 1990 by Citibank when they built their tower, 1 Court Square in Long Island City.
At the western (towards Manhattan, southern) end of the platform. The overpass has a fence going down the middle of it, so its both within and outside of fare control. Above the Queens-bound platform are simply to high exit only turnstiles, the Manhattan-bound platform has a bank of turnstiles and a token booth. Streetstairs lead out to the NE and SE corners of 21 Street & 44 Drive.
Photos 1-11: August 14, 2008; 12-16: December 28, 2008; 17 & 18: December 30, 2010; 19-23: June 8, 2011; 24: December 12, 2012; 25-34: May 26, 2013; 35: July 14, 2013; 36-58: September 3, 2023;
Station Subway Lines (2001-2010)
Station Subway Lines (1940-2001)
