‘Redbird’ Nests At Boro Hall
by linda j. wilson

One of the fleet of fabled “redbirds” subway cars which began life ferrying visitors to the 1964 World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park and which later traveled the Number 7 elevated train line from Times Square, Manhattan, to Main Street, Flushing, until 2001, has found a nest at Borough Hall. Originally slated to serve as part of an artificial reef for marine life in the Atlantic Ocean, the car was rescued from its watery fate by Borough President Helen Marshall, who asked the Transit Authority to spare one car out of the fleet in light of the redbirds’ historic significance for Queens.

“When I found out these car’s were being lowered into the Atlantic Ocean to form a barrier reef, I asked the Transit Authority if we could rescue one for use as a tourist information center,” Marshall said. “The agency complied with our request and I am grateful for their cooperation and assistance in moving this relic of Queens history to a suitable home.”

The car, Number 9075, underwent extensive refurbishment and restoration at the Transit Authority’s Coney Island yards in Brooklyn before it arrived at Queens Boulevard and 82nd Avenue at about 10 p.m. Tuesday, January 25 and was lowered into place on a section of track on a concrete slab. The 50-foot-long, 80,000-pound car, its undercarriage and the track section traveled to Queens Borough Hall in a convoy of three flatbed trucks. The transportation and installation operations were expected to be completed by about 5 a.m. Wednesday.

Later on Wednesday, January 26, Marshall formally announced that Car 9075 was ensconced in its new home at Borough Hall. She added that she hopes to include display cases and possibly Internet access so visitors can access attractions throughout the borough of Queens as part of the car’s function as a visitors’ center. She thanked the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the city Departments of Transportation and Citywide Administrative Services and all other agencies involved for their assistance in helping Car 9075 assume a new life as an official tourist center for visitors and residents of Queens.

Car 9075 will be ready to receive visitors in the spring, possibly in April, Marshall’s Press Information Officer, Daniel Andrews, said. “There will be discussions about what we’ll put in the car and how we’ll fund it,” Andrews said. “In any case, we have to put in a handicap access ramp before we can officially open the car as a visitors’ center.”

Marshall gives “thumbs up” for victory in securing one of the historic “redbirds”.