Kew Gardens — Local services in New York

========================== 25-May-20

Kew garden station is still the red-headed stepchild of the Long Island railroad in that there are big gaps like 2 hours long in the late afternoon early evening going from/to Manhattan and from/to Kew Gardens from Manhattan. So either way you can get screwed. They are working at the station and of course there's a station only on one side of the tracks, the other side you get to stand out in the freaking rain if you want to be at the back of the train when it's ready. Eastbound (to Long Island): The only shelter they provide is at front of the train. Shelter is provided by the bridge on Lefferts Boulevard going across the tracks. So you're going to be under a bridge which is on the verge of collapse. There is a good sign in that they have closed off the station building itself and or putting in new windows and/or renovating. I'd posted some photos of Anderson Windows and it looks like they're renovating. This station has had signs for years and years about renting it. I've called about 10 times and left messages and nobody's ever called me back so that was kind of bogus. Though the real estate's firm that has this listing didn't take this as a priority which probably making more bucks someplace else with the LIRR. The station is attractive, almost quaint. The waiting room is small and hardly ever used. There is no full-time person here so that it's not open all that often. And with the homeless problem, if it was open 24x7 you'd have people sleeping in there 10 deep.

Overall, this is an improvement for my review in June of 2024, so I'm upping it from one star to two stars. Hey Long Island railroad if you ever decide to get Kew Gardens onto your a-list of stations and make it work here, I'll raise it even more.

2024-June-14

Kew Gardens, AKA the forgotten step child of the MTA! Oh, we're doing track work so no problem, your LIRR ticket will be cross honored on the subway... So what if you have a bad knee, it's only a 1/2 mile walk. And when we're not doing track work we have a 2 hour gap inbound and outbound, so don't even try returning from Grand Central Madison between 6 to 8:00 PM. Between 6:05 p.m. and 8:09 p.m. there are no trains that stop at Kew Gardens. There are four that stop at Forest hills. It's a 2-minute ride away. The MTA could task one or two of these Forest Hills trains also to stop at Kew Gardens. And Google and Google maps isn't coordinated at all. Well miss track work going on now, Google shows trains running from two Gardens and Forest hills and there won't be any until after 3:00. Oh and Google map s thinks the track is track a if you look at the photos renown alphanumeric I'm sorry little alpha tracks.

So as far as rating on the Long Island railroad for their treatment of Kew Gardens, they got a one or a zero star. And as far as a rating from Google who should use the mtas API to deal with this stuff. They also get a one or zero star.

Excessive idling like for over an hour with deafening noise that impinges on the businesses that are serving food and what have you. This is due to the ongoing track work that has Kew Gardens and Forest hills closed for the late morning to the early afternoon. Other than that, I love the station. . There is parking there although not very much and I really don't know who...

For the life of me, i cannot figure out who is in charge of opening of the indoor waiting area at Kew Garden Station. The sign says it Charlie Garbowski Jr. Well, Charlie- it is inconsistent at best! 6:00 a.m. if it is a nice and warm and sunny. When u don't mind being outside waiting for the train. 6:30 or 7:00 or LATER if it is cold, rainy or other. Guess the keyholder doesn't like to come out in that weather. Commuters have to wait outside tho, because they...

Clean, quiet station in a residential neighborhood. Decent food options. Annoying, small station. Waiting room never seems open. Only one entrance in and out of westbound track. Moral of the story: Use ForestHills station or get off at jamaica and...