Merillon Avenue (LIRR station)

Merillon Avenue
Merillon Avenue Station as seen from the eastbound platform.
Location	Nassau Boulevard & Merillon Avenue Garden City, NY
Coordinates
Owned by	MTA
Line(s)
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Connections	All-Island Transportation
Construction
Parking	Yes
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	4
History
Opened	1912
Rebuilt	1958
Electrified	October 1926 750 V (DC) third rail
Previous names	Clowesville (1837-1874) Garden City (1874-1876)
Traffic
Passengers (2006)	1,533
Services
Preceding station   LIRR   Following station New Hyde Park toward New York terminals Main Line (Port Jefferson Branch) (also Oyster Bay Branch and Ronkonkoma Branch) Mineola toward Greenport, Oyster Bay, or Port Jefferson

Merillon Avenue is a station on the Main Line (Port Jefferson Branch service) of the Long Island Rail Road. It is located at Nassau Boulevard and Merillon Avenue in Garden City. The station is wheelchair accessible with two side platforms and a crossunder at Nassau Boulevard.

History

Merillon Avenue station was established in 1911 near the former Clowesville station, which was established in June 1837 by the Brooklyn and Jamaica Railroad. It was the closest LIRR station to the old Queens County courthouse (Nassau County became a separate county in 1899, splitting off from Queens County) off Jericho Turnpike. By 1845, it was used only when courts were in session.

From 1874-1876, the station was named "Garden City" in order to mislead travele into thinking that the station served Alexander Turney Stewart's Garden City, which was already served by had already been served by a Garden City station along the Central Railroad of Long Island in 1872.The court moved away in 1877 and the station fell by the wayside, although some trains continued to stop there as late as June 1897. Though re-established as a station in 1911, the station house itself was not built until 1912. It was rebuilt in 1958 with a smaller structure and an 11'6" bridge under the tracks for Nassau Boulevard.

LIRR massacre

Main article: Long Island Rail Road massacre

The Merillon Avenue station was the final stop on the 5:33 train from Penn Station to Mineola (though a documentary about the shooting said it was New Hyde Park) on December 7, 1993, before Colin Ferguson opened gunfire at passengers who were white or Asian. Six people died and 19 others were wounded. Carolyn McCarthy, whose husband was killed and whose son was seriously injured in the tragedy, pressed for tougher gun control laws and was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1996. There are often memorial wreaths on the platform at the head of the eastbound tracks of the station on the anniversaries of the incident.

Platforms and tracks

1	■ Main Line	toward New York (New Hyde Park)
2	■ Main Line	toward Ronkonkoma, Oyster Bay, or Port Jefferson (Mineola)

This station has two high-level side platforms, each the length of ten railway cars. The northern platform, next to Track 1, is generally used by westbound or New York City-bound trains, but is sometimes used by eastbound trains during the PM rush hour. The southern platform, next to Track 2, is generally used by eastbound trains, but is sometimes used by westbound trains during the AM rush hour. The Main Line has two tracks, although there is a proposal to add a third track.

External links

Media related to at Wikimedia Commons

• Official LIRR station information page for Merillon Avenue
• Station timetable for Merillon Avenue
• New Hyde Park & Merillon Avenue Stations (Arrt's Arrchives)
• Merillon Avenue LIRR station (The Subway Nut)
• east end of station from Google Maps Street View