All Aboard The Seven Line

Our second stop on the “International Express” brings us to the first elevated express stop on the line, Willets Point–Shea Stadium, located in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. This park has great historical, recreational and environmental significance. Formerly known as the “valley of ashes,” because it served as the city’s ash heap, it was completely made over for the 1939 World’s Fair. It was again neglected until the 1964 World’s Fair, but after that, has since become the largest park in Queens.

Home to the New York Mets, Shea Stadium was the site of their 1969 and 1986 World Series victories. It is also the site of the US Open Tennis Championships, held at the USTA National Tennis Center at the end of summer since 1978. Even though well over 25,000 people attend this event, especially if you’re interested in people this is the best time to visit the park, even if you can’t get tickets to the tennis events.

During the two weeks of the tennis tournament and at other times of the year, a mixture of Asians from Flushing and Hispanics from Corona come together to enjoy days playing team sports, primarily soccer, recreational activities, relaxation and the various pushcarts that sell everything anyone could want. Whether visiting the park to watch a baseball game, a tennis match or just to relax, there is so much to do that we’ll need to use the next in the series of these columns to provide a more in-depth analysis of the many activities Flushing Meadows-Corona Park has to offer.

Next week we’ll explore the rest of the park, its activities and the people that are all brought together by the means of the No. 7 line.