Two Astoria subway stations will close for repairs starting next month

The N/W subway line is slated for an overhaul, which means starting October 23rd, two Astoria stations will be shuttered for “up to eight months,” according to DNAInfo.

The 30th Avenue and 36th Avenue stations will close next month—let’s call it “going on hiatus”—for repair work, part of the MTA’s plan to modernize more than 30 stations across the city over the next four years.

And there’s more where that come from: another two N/W stations, Broadway and 39th Avenue, will get a similar tune-up starting in July of 2018 lasting for up to seven months. And to think, Astoria just got weekend N service again after being closed for track work for eight weekends this summer. It was nice while it lasted.

Part of Cuomo’s plan to “rapidly redesign and renew” many of the city’s subway stations, the N/W upgrades will include “structural repairs, new or revamped station entrances, improved mezzanines and train platforms, and additions like USB ports, digital screens and countdown clocks,” DNAInfo reports, though it will not include adding elevators to the stations.

The renewal has already begun at some Brooklyn R train stops—53rd Street, Bay Ridge, and Prospect Avenue—with more closures throughout the boroughs planned for the coming years.

Still, the MTA says, these total shut-downs allow repair work to be done significantly faster than would otherwise be possible; with nights-and-weekend closures, they say, the project could take “as long as three years.”

• 2 Astoria Subway Stations to Close for 8 Months on Oct. 23, MTA Says [DNAInfo]
• MTA Will Completely Close 30 Subway Stations For Months-Long "Revamp" [Gothamist]