page_title: Court Square–23rd Street station
section_title: IND Queens Boulevard Line platforms
hierarchical_section_title: Court Square–23rd Street station / IND Queens Boulevard Line platforms
caption_attribution_description: English: Forest Hills/Jamaica bound platform at Court Sq - 23rd Street
context_page_description: Court Square–23rd Street is a New York City Subway station complex on the IND Crosstown Line, the IRT Flushing Line and the IND Queens Boulevard Line. The complex is located in the vicinity of One Court Square in Hunters Point and Long Island City, Queens, and is served by the 7, E, and G trains at all times; the M train on weekdays; and the <7> express train during weekdays in the peak direction.
  The complex comprises three originally separate stations, formerly known as 23rd Street–Ely Avenue, Long Island City–Court Square, and 45th Road–Court House Square. The Flushing Line station was the first to open, in 1916. The Crosstown Line station opened in 1933, followed by the Queens Boulevard Line station in 1939.
  Two passageways were built to connect the three stations. The first was built in 1990, following the opening of the Citigroup office tower at One Court Square. In December 2001, this passageway came into greater use when G trains started to terminate at Court Square. A second passageway was completed between the Crosstown and Flushing Line stations in 2011. The Crosstown and Flushing Line stations were renamed "Court Square" with the latter being made fully ADA-accessible.
context_section_description: Court Square–23rd Street on the IND Queens Boulevard Line is an underground station with two tracks and two side platforms. It is located along 44th Drive between 21st and 23rd Streets and is the westernmost station on the line in Queens. Going by railroad directions, Court Square–23rd Street is the Queens Boulevard Line's southernmost station in Queens.
  Each platform has a scarlet lake trim line with a black border and name tablets reading "23RD ST. – ELY AVE." in white sans serif letting on a black and brown background and matching scarlet lake border. Below the trim line and name tablets are small directional signs and station signs alternating between "23RD" and "ELY" in white lettering on a black border. Red I-beam columns run along both platforms at regular intervals with alternating ones having the standard black station name plate in white lettering.
  The station, provisionally called "21st Street/Van Alst Avenue," was constructed between 1931 and 1933 along with the original section of the line east to Roosevelt Avenue. Although the station had been completed, it was not opened alongside the rest of the line due to lack of demand perceived by the city Board of Transportation, which called the station a "dead" station. This was in spite of protests from local civic and industry leaders, due to the numerous factories in the surrounding area. By December 1933, the station was referred to as "Ely Avenue", likely to avoid confusion with the nearby station on the Crosstown Line. In September 1936, it was decided to complete the station as an in-fill station due to expanding commercial and industrial operations in the area, with tilework, staircases, and other equipment installed. The station was finished by 1938, but its opening was delayed once again due to alleged lack of demand, with calls to open the station to serve the Long Island City Courthouse, St. John's Hospital (now the site of One Court Square), and the newly opened Queensbridge Houses.
  The station finally opened as 23rd Street–Ely Avenue on August 28, 1939, six years after the first section of the Queens Boulevard Line and the opening of Court Square station on the Crosstown line. Ely Avenue was the former name of 23rd Street until many named streets in the borough were given numbers by the Queens Topographical Bureau in 1915. Similarly, Van Alst Avenue is now 21st Street, while the former Nott Avenue is the present-day 44th Drive.
  There are four ceramic mosaic/relief murals on the two platforms and connecting mezzanines, made by Frank Olt in 1992. Each one has an individual title according to nearby plaques, but collectively they are the Temple Quad Reliefs.
caption: The Forest Hills and Jamaica-bound platform in August 2013
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