Early years 168th Street was part of two Dual Contracts extensions of the BMT Broadway-Jamaica Line east of
Cypress Hills and the "S-Curve" from
Fulton Street to
Jamaica Avenue. replacing
111th Street as the line's terminus.
Decline and closure In 1937, the
Queens Boulevard Line of the city-owned
Independent Subway System was extended to a new terminal at
169th Street and
Hillside Avenue, four blocks away. The opening of the IND terminal drew passengers away from the BMT lines. Many groups had called for the removal of the extension in the Jamaica Business district since shortly after it opened, and by the 1960s the city planned to close the station and significant portions of the line in Jamaica. Many merchants blamed the line for causing blight and hurting business in the neighborhood. The line was also torn down in preparation for the completion of the
Archer Avenue Subway one block south, which would serve the Jamaica Line and a spur of the
IND Queens Boulevard Line, and due to political pressure in the area. still remains standing on the southeast corner of 165th Street and
Jamaica Avenue. It sits inactive atop a block of storefronts. The exit stairways for the station were purchased by a private citizen to be used on their estate in
Nissequogue on the
Long Island Sound. The
Archer Avenue Line was completed in 1988, nearly ten years after the closure of the station, but it does not extend east to 168th Street. The closest subway stations to this former station are
Jamaica Center–Parsons/Archer, at Parsons Boulevard and Archer Avenue, which is nine blocks west and one block south, == Station layout ==