Howard Beach–JFK Airport station

The station originally opened in April 1913 as a Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) station, which replaced the former 1899-built Ramblersville station that was built to the south. In 1923, the station was retrofitted with sheltered sheds on both sides of the tracks. On May 8, 1950, a fire broke out between The Raunt and Broad Channel stations, destroying the trestle over Jamaica Bay, cutting service between Hamilton Beach and the Rockaways. The LIRR was bankrupt and unwilling to rebuild the trestle. As a result, the line was sold to the New York City Transit Authority in 1952. On June 28, 1956, the station reopened as a subway station along with the rest of the line. The previous Long Island Rail Road station at this location was razed. Inauguration ceremonies were held at the station as well as at Euclid Avenue in Brooklyn. In June 1978, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced plans for an "experimental" subway-bus service between Manhattan and JFK Airport, terminating at the Howard Beach subway station where passengers could transfer to a free shuttle bus to the airport. The JFK Express began operation on September 23, 1978, operating as a premium service, with riders paying the additional fare on board. The service ran express on the IND Sixth Avenue Line to West Fourth Street–Washington Square, where it switched to the IND Eighth Avenue Line and ran express to Jay Street–Borough Hall in Downtown Brooklyn. From that point on, it ran non-stop on the IND Fulton Street Line and IND Rockaway Line to Howard Beach–JFK Airport. The bus service, connecting the station and JFK, continued after JFK Express service ended, and was the only link between the airport and the Howard Beach station at the time. The station was extensively reconstructed in the early 2000s, undergoing a $50 million overhaul to connect the subway station to the new AirTrain JFK. The project was designed by STV Group and financed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. During the reconstruction of the station, the original subway platforms were demolished and temporary platforms were erected in the center trackways while the new platforms and mezzanine were built. During off-peak hours, trains utilized a single track. The AirTrain structure around the station was completed in 2001, and the AirTrain station opened and began charging fares on December 17, 2003, at which time the free shuttle bus was discontinued. The AirTrain was designed with the same track height and track gauge as those of the subway, to facilitate a future extension of the subway over the AirTrain system. Due to extensive damage to the IND Rockaway Line by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, this was the southern terminal for A trains that normally traveled to the Rockaways while the line south of the station was being repaired. Full service to the Rockaways was restored on May 30, 2013. Starting in January 2025, southbound A service to the Rockaways was again truncated to Howard Beach–JFK Airport for four months. ==Station layout==

The subway station is served by the A train at all times and is between Broad Channel to the south and Aqueduct–North Conduit Avenue to the north. During the summertime on weekends during the day, the Rockaway Park Shuttle is extended four stations beyond its normal northern terminus at Broad Channel to Rockaway Boulevard, so the shuttle also serves this station. The AirTrain station is the terminus of the AirTrain's Howard Beach route; the next stop to the east is Lefferts Boulevard. The station's mezzanine is located in a modern, temperature-controlled, glass-enclosed building above the subway platforms and tracks, with a large stainless steel sign on either side reading "Howard Beach JFK." The mezzanine building contains a small token booth and three turnstile banks between the subway, the AirTrain JFK, and the unpaid area. The two-track line then crosses Jamaica Bay to Broad Channel, which is to the south. The crossing is the longest stretch of line between two consecutive stations in the system. North of the station, the line ascends on an embankment to crossover Belt Parkway and Conduit Avenue. Both platforms have concrete windscreens on either end and steel canopies at the portions underneath the center station building. The platforms are offset, with the southbound platform extending slightly to the north, and the northbound platform extending slightly further south. A set of staircases and escalators from each subway platform go up to the station building. There are also two elevators from each platform to the station building. Outside the subway's and AirTrain's fare control, two elevators lead from the station building to street level. The Rockaway-bound platform has two High Entry/Exit Turnstiles and one exit-only turnstile leading to a short staircase that goes down to the intersection of 159th Road and 103rd Street. The Brooklyn-bound platform has a set of emergency doors leading to the parking lot just north of the AirTrain JFK station; they are normally locked, but were in use from December 2012 to May 2013 as a connection to a temporary shuttle bus service instituted after Hurricane Sandy. Prior to the 2000s reconstruction, the design of the station and overpass resembled that of the Broad Channel station. AirTrain JFK platform The AirTrain JFK portion of this station has two tracks and one island platform on the upper level of the station complex. The next stop to the southeast is Lefferts Boulevard. there are no free transfers between AirTrain JFK and the subway. Exits The exit from the complex to the Howard Beach neighborhood is on the west side, with a twisting staircase and two elevators going down to the east side of 103rd Street/Coleman Square by the T-intersection with 159th Avenue. A connecting bridge on the east side of the station leads into the AirTrain JFK station. Two High Entry-Exit Turnstiles and one exit-only turnstile are located on the southbound subway platform and leads directly to Coleman Square. The exit on the northbound platform is exit-only, and two emergency gates lead to the parking lot for the Howard Beach–JFK Airport complex. == Gallery ==

File:Howard Beach-JFK Airport Entrance.jpg|A view of the entrance to the station File:Howard Beach JFK.jpg|View of subway platforms, with the transfer building above the platforms File:E2K3 BeginningJFKStart.jpg|The station as it appeared as it was being reconstructed to allow for a transfer to AirTrain JFK in 2003; note the temporary platform (left) File:Howard Beach-JFK Airport.jpg|The building housing the AirTrain platforms as seen from the outside of the station File:Old Howard Beach, Queens, NY, USA - panoramio (2).jpg|JFK AirTrain arriving at the station File:Howard Bch JFK 04 - AirTrain JFK.jpg|Interior of the AirTrain station File:New Howard Beach-JFK Airport entrance.jpg|New Howard Beach–JFK Airport entrance which opened for the Rockaway Rehabilitation Project in 2025 File:Q121 shuttle bus dropping off.jpg|A Q121 A train shuttle bus dropping off people at the Howard Beach–JFK Airport station in 2025 == References ==