Nassau station
{{Short description|Railway station on Staten Island, New York}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2017}}
{{Infobox station
| name = Nassau
| style = Staten Island Railway
| type = Former Staten Island Railway station
| image = Nassau Station.jpg
| image_caption = Nassau station from the St. George-bound platform in July 2014
| platforms = 2 side platforms
| tracks = 2
| address = Saint Andrews Place and Bethel Avenue
Tottenville; Charleston, Staten Island
| coordinates = {{coord|40.5178|-74.2384|display=inline,title|type:railwaystation_region:US-NY}}
| structure = At-grade
| code = 520
| opened = after 1924{{efn|name=fn1}}
| closed = January 21, 2017{{cite press release|url=http://web.mta.info/nyct/service/New_Arthur_Kill_Station/index.htm|title=New Arthur Kill Station|date=January 20, 2017|publisher=Metropolitan Transportation Authority|access-date=January 20, 2017}}
| other_services_header = Former services
| other_services = {{Adjacent stations|system=Staten Island Railway|line=Main|left=Richmond Valley|right=Atlantic}}
| map_state = collapsed
| route_map = {{NYCS 2-tracked side platform station|Richmond Valley|Arthur Kill|closed=y|inline=y|3r=y}}
| mapframe = yes
| mapframe-custom = {{Infobox mapframe |shape=none |line=none |marker=rail-metro |marker-color=#888 |zoom=15 }}
}}
The Nassau station was a Staten Island Railway station located roughly between the neighborhoods of Tottenville (to the south) and Charleston (to the north), in Staten Island, New York. The station was built sometime after 1924 in order to serve the Nassau Smelting & Refining Company, and had a siding so that freight could be transferred to and from the factory. The station platforms were extended in 1971 as part of the modernization of the rail line. However, the condition of the station deteriorated after the 1990s, and this station, along with the Atlantic station to the south, were replaced by a new station at Arthur Kill Road. When that station opened in January 2017, Nassau station closed. The station was subsequently demolished.
History
File:Bell telephone magazine (1922) (14775950433).jpg
Nassau station opened sometime after 1924,{{efn|name=fn1}} over sixty years after the 1860 opening of the Staten Island Railway from Annadale to Tottenville.{{cite web| url = http://www.thethirdrail.net/0201/sirt5.html| title = SIRT The Essential History| author = Irvin Leigh and Paul Matus| page = 5| date = December 23, 2001| access-date = March 3, 2009}} The station was named after and built to serve the nearby Nassau Smelting & Refining Company, which was located directly to the west of the southbound platform.{{cite web|last1=Stein|first1=Mark D.|title=It's official: New Staten Island Railway access for Tottenville|url=http://www.silive.com/southshore/index.ssf/2012/09/its_official_new_staten_island.html|newspaper=Staten Island Advance|access-date=July 28, 2015|date=September 27, 2012}} The station allowed workers of the company easy transportation access while also providing freight service to the company via a rail siding located to the west of the southbound platform. The factory opened in 1882 as the Tottenville Copper Works and changed its name in 1931 to the Nassau Smelting & Refining Company. As a subsidiary of Bell Telephone System's Western Electric division, the factory recycled obsolete telephone equipment and manufactured copper wire and solder. It would later be called AT&T Nassau Metals. For more than 20 years, the site was a vacant brownfield, until the land was cleaned up in 2007 and became environmentally safe for future development.{{cite news|last=Nyback|first=Glenn|url=http://www.silive.com/news/advance/index.ssf?/base/news/11597095027680.xml&coll=1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070316120302/http://www.silive.com/news/advance/index.ssf?%2Fbase%2Fnews%2F11597095027680.xml&coll=1|archive-date=March 16, 2007|url-status=dead|title=Cleanup of former Nassau Smelting site to begin|newspaper=Staten Island Advance|date=October 1, 2006|df=mdy-all}}{{cite web|last1=Yates|first1=Maura|title=Railway marking 150 years|url=http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/06/railway_marking_150_years.html|newspaper=Staten Island Advance|access-date=October 30, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100619081013/http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/06/railway_marking_150_years.html|archive-date=June 19, 2010|url-status=live|date=June 2, 2010}}
File:Nassau Station (14377220604).jpg
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority purchased and gained control of the Staten Island Rapid Transit in 1971, and started to modernize the rail line. In 1971, the station platforms were extended to {{Convert|300|feet|meters}} as part of the improvements program. The extensions were funded in part by the Nassau Smelting Plant. The station extension was built on timber covered with asphalt, and was located to the east of the original platforms. The stations on the line were modernized again in the 1990s, with the exception of Nassau, and the nearby Atlantic station, which also was built to serve a factory. Instead, these two stations were set to be replaced with a station in between the two at Arthur Kill Road.{{Cite web|url=http://forgotten-ny.com/1999/07/staten-island-railway/|title=STATEN ISLAND RAILWAY|date=July 20, 1999|website=forgotten-ny.com|language=en-US|access-date=December 17, 2017}} However, the funds required for the construction of the project were not available, pushing back the construction of the project to 2013. In the meantime, with the lack of maintenance, the platform extension deteriorated, forcing the MTA to close the platform extensions on September 2, 2010.{{cite press release |publisher=MTA New York City Transit |date=August 30, 2010 |title=Partial Closure of the Staten Island Railway Nassau Station |url=http://www.mta.info/press-release/nyc-transit/partial-closure-staten-island-railway-nassau-station |access-date=January 4, 2015}}{{cite web|last1=Yates|first1=Maura|title=Nassau S.I. Railway station platform gets shorter|url=http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/09/nassau_si_railway_station_plat.html|newspaper=Staten Island Advance|access-date=October 30, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100903025435/http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/09/nassau_si_railway_station_plat.html|archive-date=September 3, 2010|url-status=live|date=September 1, 2010}} Construction on the replacement Arthur Kill station commenced in October 2013,{{Cite web|url=http://web.mta.info/capitaldashboard/allframenew_head.html?PROJNUM=s6070108&PLTYPE=1|title=Project Details}} and after several delays was opened on January 21, 2017.{{Cite web|url=http://web.mta.info/nyct/service/New_Arthur_Kill_Station/index.htm|title=New Arthur Kill Station|date=January 20, 2017|publisher=Metropolitan Transportation Authority|access-date=January 20, 2017}} Once the new station opened, Nassau closed, and in May 2017, it was demolished.{{Cite web|url=http://web.mta.info/mta/news/books/pdf/160623_1345_CPOC.pdf|title=Capital Program Oversight Committee Meeting June 2016|date=June 17, 2016|publisher=Metropolitan Transportation Authority|access-date=June 17, 2016}}{{Cite web|url=http://web.mta.info/mta/news/books/pdf/170724_1345_CPOC.pdf|title=Capital Program Oversight Committee Meeting July 2017|date=July 24, 2017|website=mta.info|publisher=Metropolitan Transportation Authority|page=88|access-date=December 17, 2017}} The station was used by approximately 350 daily passengers prior to its closure.{{Cite journal|date=October 2010|title=Partial Closure of Staten Island Railway's Nassau Station|url=https://issuu.com/erausa/docs/the_era_bulletin_2010-10|journal=New York Division Bulletin|publisher=Electric Railroaders' Association|volume=53|issue=10|pages=16|via=Issu}}
{{clear left}}
Station layout
File:Sign blocking the entrance to the now-closed Nassau stop on the Staten Island Railway.jpg station]]
Prior to its demolition, the Nassau station consisted of two four-car length (300 foot) side platforms, of which three-fourths towards the station's east (railroad north) end were closed and walled-off. Only {{convert|80|ft|m}} of the platforms could be used, and therefore, like the nearby Atlantic station, only the last door of the last car of a train could serve the station.{{Cite web|url=http://www.mta.info/news-staten-island-new-york-city-transit-railway-station-tottenville-arthur-kill/2013/10/18|title=Groundbreaking for New MTA Staten Island Railway Arthur Kill Station in Tottenville|date=October 18, 2013|publisher=Metropolitan Transportation Authority|access-date=January 21, 2017}}{{cite web|title=Service Changes: Nassau|url=http://web.mta.info/nyct/service/ServChanges_Nassau.htm|publisher=Metropolitan Transportation Authority|access-date=July 28, 2015}}
An abandoned siding sits next to the southbound (geographically northern) platform, which used to serve the Nassau Smelting & Refining Company. The overpass was designed to allow for enough clearance for trains to pass over the siding.{{cite web|last1=Zaffarano|first1=Steve|title=Vintage photos of the 1980s on Staten Island: Nassau Smelting circa 1984 for Memories in Sunday News.|url=http://photos.silive.com/advance/2015/05/vintage_photos_of_the_1980s_on_28.html|newspaper=Staten Island Advance|access-date=October 30, 2015|date=May 8, 2015}}
The St. George-bound platform was accessed from the intersection of Bethel Avenue and Saint Andrews Place, while the Tottenville-bound platform led to the end of Nassau Place. At the west (railroad south) end of the station, an overpass connected the two platforms, and had an exit at Nassau Place. This would allow people to cross the railway.{{Cite web|url=https://www.google.com/maps/@40.5175637,-74.2389207,3a,60y,0.57h,83.26t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s3sTJydXeQBll_5Kc-rjm9g!2e0!7i16384!8i8192|title = Google Maps}} The staircase to St. Andrews Place has no canopy, while the staircase to Nassau Place has one.{{NYCS const|exits}} The staircase to the Tottenville-bound platform from the overpass, and the staircase down from St. Andrews Place to the St. George-bound platform, were demolished.{{Citation|last=Lexington|title=60fps Staten Island Railway: Demolition Complete of Nassau & Atlantic Stations - 5/2017|date=May 23, 2017|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3fhSt5eFbg |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/q3fhSt5eFbg| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|access-date=December 17, 2017}}{{cbignore}}
| border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3
|style="border-top:solid 1px gray;border-bottom:solid 1px gray;" width=50|M |style="border-top:solid 1px gray;border-bottom:solid 1px gray;" width=100|Mezzanine |style="border-top:solid 1px gray;border-bottom:solid 1px gray;" width=400|Former exit/entrance and crossover between platforms |
| style="border-bottom:solid 1px gray;" rowspan=4 valign=top|P Platform level |style="border-right:solid 2px black;border-left:solid 2px black;border-bottom:solid 2px black;text-align:center;" colspan=2|{{small|Side platform, demolished}} |
| Southbound
|← {{rint|newyork|sir}} does not stop here ({{stl|Staten Island Railway|Arthur Kill}}) |
| style="border-top:solid 1px gray;"|Northbound
|style="border-top:solid 1px gray;"|{{0|→}} {{rint|newyork|sir}} does not stop here ({{stl|Staten Island Railway|Richmond Valley}}) → |
| style="border-bottom:solid 1px gray;border-right:solid 2px black;border-left:solid 2px black;border-top:solid 2px black;text-align:center;" colspan=2|{{small|Side platform, demolished}} |
References
{{notelist|refs=
{{efn|name=fn1|Nassau did not appear in a SIRT timetable from 1921 according to {{cite web|url=http://gretschviking.net/SIRTTimeTable1921.bmp|title=Time-Table No. 8 October 16, 1921|access-date=March 23, 2009}} A map from 1922 also did not list the station.{{cite web|url=http://michaelminn.net/newyork/infrastructure/north_shore_railroad/north-shore-web.pdf|title=Staten Island Railway Office of Valuation Engineer|access-date=October 11, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150601011108/http://michaelminn.net/newyork/infrastructure/north_shore_railroad/north-shore-web.pdf|archive-date=June 1, 2015|df=mdy-all}} A map from May 25, 1924 also doesn't show the station.{{cite web|title=May 25, 1924 SIRT Timetable 13|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/127872292@N06/22206672249/in/photostream/|website=Flickr|publisher=Staten Island Rapid Transit Railway Company|access-date=December 26, 2017|date=May 25, 1924}}
}}
}}
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
{{Commons category|Nassau (Staten Island Railway station)}}
- [http://mta.info/nyct/sir/sirmap.htm Staten Island Railway station list]
- [http://mta.info/nyct/sir/sirinfo.htm Staten Island Railway general information]
- [https://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=40.517551,-74.238849&spn=0.00385,0.013679&z=17&layer=c&cbll=40.517551,-74.238849&panoid=FbU_Z4sUFrs_ZWP14sj8Tg&cbp=12,316.72,,0,0.91 entrance from Google Maps Street View]
- Staten Island Advance − [http://photos.silive.com/advance/2015/05/vintage_photos_of_the_1980s_on_28.html Photo of the former Nassau Smelting facility c. 1984]
{{Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority}}
Category:Railway stations in the United States opened in 1921
Category:Railway stations in the United States closed in 2017
Category:2017 disestablishments in New York (state)