21st Street – Queensbridge (IND 63rd Street Line)

21st Street–Queensbridge
New York City Subway rapid transit station
View of the station facing east
Station statistics
Address	21st Street & 41st Avenue Queens, NY 11101
Borough	Queens
Locale	Queensbridge and Long Island City
Coordinates	40°45′14″N 73°56′33″W / 40.753954°N 73.942451°W / 40.753954; -73.942451Coordinates: 40°45′14″N 73°56′33″W / 40.753954°N 73.942451°W / 40.753954; -73.942451
Division	B (IND)
Line	IND 63rd Street Line
Services	F  (all times)
Transit connections	MTA Bus: Q66, Q69, Q100, Q102, Q103
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Other information
Opened	October 29, 1989; 27 years ago (1989-10-29)
Accessible
Wireless service
Traffic
Passengers (2015)	2,884,831  7.5%
Rank	181 out of 425
Station succession
Next north	36th Street (local): no regular service Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue (express): F
Next south	Roosevelt Island: F
Next north	Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue: F
Next south	Roosevelt Island: F
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times
Location Show map of New York City Subway Show map of New York City Show map of New York Show map of the US

21st Street–Queensbridge is a station on the IND 63rd Street Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of 21st Street and 41st Avenue in the Queens neighborhood of Queensbridge, it is served by the F train at all times.

The current 63rd Street Line was the final version of proposals for a northern midtown tunnel from the IND Queens Boulevard Line to the Second and Sixth Avenue lines, which date back to the IND Second System of the 1920s and 1930s. The current plans were drawn up in the 1960s under the MTA's Program For Action. In the original 1960s plans, there would have been a station (in addition to or as an alternative to 21st Street–Queensbridge) located farther east at Northern Boulevard, one block north of the Queens Plaza station of the Queens Boulevard line. There would have been a pedestrian transfer passageway between the two stations.

The station was placed at 21st Street, serving the Queensbridge Houses to the west, and commercial and industrial buildings to the east. The station was added to the plans following lobbying from the local community. During construction, a large amount of disturbance was created along 41st Avenue, which runs through the heart of Queensbridge.

This station opened on October 29, 1989, along with the entire IND 63rd Street Line, serving as the line's northern terminal prior to the connection with the IND Queens Boulevard Line. The Q train served the station on weekdays and the B train stopped there on the weekends; both services used the Sixth Avenue Line. For the first couple of months after the station opened, the JFK Express to Kennedy Airport also served the station until it was discontinued in 1990. The tunnel had gained notoriety as the "tunnel to nowhere" both during its planning and after its opening, with 21st Street being the line's only stop in Queens. The connection to the Queens Boulevard Line began construction in 1994 and was completed and opened in 2001, almost thirty years after construction of the 63rd Street Tunnel began.