History
Kew Gardens station originally opened in May 1879(although some claim it was opened on December 6, 1879 ) as Maple Grove, a flag stop for Maple Grove Cemetery. The station was closed in 1882, reopened in 1883, and removed in 1909 as part of a track realignment project. The new Kew station was moved approximately 600 feet south alongside and perpendicular to the tracks for use as a real estate office of developers of Kew on September 8, 1910. The former station was razed a short time later, and the existing station was renamed Kew Gardens in 1912.
The Kew Gardens station has the unfortunate distinction of being the site of the worst accident in Long Island Rail Road history, as well as the worst in New York state history. On November 22, 1950, a collision between two Long Island Rail Road commuter trains killed 79 people and injured hundreds. This occurred nine months after a collision at Rockville Centre station on February 17, 1950 that resulted in the deaths of 32 people, and serious injury of 158 people. A far more notorious historical aspect is the 1964 murder of Kitty Genovese, which occurred near this station, and it was this station's parking lot that was used by Genovese prior to the murder.
Read more about this topic: Kew Gardens (LIRR Station)
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—Ishmael Reed (b. 1938)
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