82nd Street–Jackson Heights station

The 1913 Dual Contracts called for the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) and Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT; later Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation, or BMT) to build new lines in Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. Queens did not receive many new IRT and BRT lines compared to Brooklyn and the Bronx, since the city's Public Service Commission (PSC) wanted to alleviate subway crowding in the other two boroughs first before building in Queens, which was relatively undeveloped. The IRT Flushing Line was to be one of two Dual Contracts lines in the borough, along with the Astoria Line; it would connect Flushing and Long Island City, two of Queens' oldest settlements, to Manhattan via the Steinway Tunnel. When the majority of the line was built in the early 1910s, most of the route went through undeveloped land, and Roosevelt Avenue had not been constructed.[7]^: 47 Community leaders advocated for more Dual Contracts lines to be built in Queens to allow development there.[8]

The Flushing Line was opened from Queensboro Plaza to Alburtis Avenue (now 103rd Street–Corona Plaza) on April 21, 1917, with a local station at what is now 82nd Street.[9] The current 82nd Street station was known as "25th Street" from its opening until March 10, 1921, when it was renamed "25th Street (Jackson Heights)".[2] The station was again renamed on April 2, 1925, to "82nd Street–Jackson Heights".[3][10]

The city government took over the IRT's operations on June 12, 1940.[11][12] The IRT routes were given numbered designations in 1948 with the introduction of "R-type" rolling stock, which contained rollsigns with numbered designations for each service.[13] The route from Times Square to Flushing became known as the 7.[14] On October 17, 1949, the joint BMT/IRT operation of the Flushing Line ended, and the line became the responsibility of the IRT.[15] After the end of BMT/IRT dual service, the New York City Board of Transportation announced that the Flushing Line platforms would be lengthened to 11 IRT car lengths; the platforms were only able to fit nine 51-foot-long IRT cars beforehand.[16][17] The platforms at the station were extended in 1955–1956 to accommodate 11-car trains.[18] However, nine-car trains continued to run on the 7 route until 1962, when they were extended to ten cars.[19] With the opening of the 1964 New York World's Fair, trains were lengthened to eleven cars.[20][21]

In 1981, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) listed the station among the 69 most deteriorated stations in the subway system.[22] A renovation of the 82nd Street station was funded as part of the MTA's 1980–1984 capital plan.[23] The MTA received a $106 million grant from the Urban Mass Transit Administration in October 1983; most of the grant would fund the renovation of eleven stations,[24][25] including 82nd Street.[24]

As part of the 2015–2019 Capital Program, the MTA announced plans to renovate the 52nd, 61st, 69th, 82nd, 103rd and 111th Streets stations, a project that had been delayed for several years. Conditions at these stations were reported to be among the worst of all stations in the subway system.[26] The Manhattan-bound platform at the 82nd Street–Jackson Heights station will be closed for renovation from May 15, 2023 until spring 2024, and then the Flushing-bound platform at this station will be closed for renovation from spring 2024.[27][28]

Under 82nd Street station in the mid-to-late-1980s. Note the staircase on the corner of the intersection with Roosevelt Avenue.

This station's one entrance/exit is an elevated station house beneath the tracks. It is built of wood and bricks and has a concrete flooring. It has three staircases from all corners of 82nd Street and Roosevelt Avenue except the southeast one and a token booth in the center.[33] Two turnstile banks at either ends lead to a waiting area/crossunder and one staircase to each platform at the center.[34]