Rosa Parks Hempstead Transit Center

The Rosa Parks Hempstead Transit Center is an intermodal center and transportation hub in Hempstead, New York. It contains the Nassau Inter-County Express bus system's indoor customer facility between Jackson and West Columbia Streets – as well as the terminus for the Hempstead Branch of the Long Island Rail Road, located right across West Columbia Street from the bus terminal.

Serving 17 routes, the bus terminal is a major transfer point for customers using a second Nassau Inter-County Express route or the LIRR. It offers a waiting area, transit information, MetroCard vending machines, a newsstand, and restrooms.

History

Rail terminal

The Hempstead Long Island Railroad station was originally built as a Central Railroad of Long Island depot sometime between October and December 1872, on the corner of Main Street and Fulton Avenue. When the Long Island Rail Road acquired the CRRLI in 1878, this Hempstead Station and terminus came with it, replacing the former 1839-built Hempstead Station, which ran along the original Hempstead Branch, and was located on Main Street and Centre Street.

The station was remodeled in July 1881, and razed in 1913. A second brick station was built in February 1913, which was designed to have trains terminate behind the building rather than alongside of it. This was due to an accident from January 1912 involving a milk train that rear-ended a stationary passenger car, sending it across Fulton Avenue and crashing into a building across the street and resulting in two deaths. Between December 30, 1941 and 1943, service was suspended when the tracks were cut back and the station was moved to Columbia Street. A temporary station was installed west of its former location until work on this project was finished. Upon the completion of this move and track work, the second station reopened. The station was gutted in a fire on December 31, 1962 and remodeled in April 1963. This station was razed in 1998 and replaced with a much more elaborate, modern third depot, which was built between 1999 and 2002.

Bus terminal

In 1993, construction on the Hempstead Transit Center was completed, replacing an earlier one. In conjunction with the new railroad station, its construction was part of a plan by Mayor James A. Garner to redevelop Hempstead and help bring it back to prominence as "Long Island's hub." The original Hempstead bus terminal was located across Jackson Street on the corner of Jackson and Main streets. That area is now occupied by the Greyhound bus stop and various businesses. The new transit center can accommodate many more buses than the original terminal and allows almost half of the Nassau Inter-County Express (formerly MTA Long Island Bus) system's routes to run through Hempstead.

Renaming for Rosa Parks

On February 14, 2006, Thomas R. Suozzi, then the County Executive of Nassau County, announced that Hempstead Transit Center would be renamed in honor of civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks. At the dedication, Suozzi said, "To honor her memory and that of her important work, today we are renaming this vital transit hub for one of the most important figures in American history."

In addition to the renaming of the terminal, a permanent exhibit of the civil rights movement will be constructed, telling the story of the struggle for equality through the photographs of photojournalists and artists who covered the unrest of that era, including the late Moneta Sleet Jr., Jim Peppler, and Herbert Randall. A column in the back of the bus terminal has been renovated with black marble, engraved with a large image of Rosa Parks and her story.

Station layout

This station has two high-level island platforms, each eight cars long. The Hempstead Branch has eight tracks at this location. The four tracks to the east of – but not adjacent to – the platforms are used for train storage.

M	Mezzanine	Platform crossover, exit/entrance, buses, parking
P Platform level	Track 1	← Storage track
	Track 2	← Storage track
	Track 3	← Storage track
	Track 4	← Storage track
	Track 5	← Template:Rcb toward Template:Lirrs, Template:Lirrs, or Template:Lirrs (Template:Lirrs)
	Island platform, doors will open on the left or right Disabled access
	Track 6	← Template:Rcb toward Template:Lirrs, Template:Lirrs, or Template:Lirrs (Template:Lirrs)
	Track 7	← Template:Rcb toward Template:Lirrs, Template:Lirrs, or Template:Lirrs (Template:Lirrs)
	Island platform, doors will open on the left or right Disabled access
	Track 8	← Template:Rcb toward Template:Lirrs, Template:Lirrs, or Template:Lirrs (Template:Lirrs)

Bus connections

File:Hempstead Transit Center.jpg

The entrance to the Rosa Parks Hempstead Transit Center's bus terminal in 2007

There are 19 routes that serve the Hempstead Transit Center, those being the n6, n6X, n15, n16, n16X, n27, n31, n31X/MMCS, n32, n35, n40, n40X, n41, n48, n49, n54, n55, n70 and n88X. Summer weekend Jones Beach n88X trips along with n6X and n40X trips stop outside at Jackson Avenue. Departure assignments during the day are listed below, during late night hours when the terminal is closed, all buses stop on West Columbia Street at Station Plaza immediately north of the terminal.

Bay #	Route	Terminus	Service notes
1	n31, n31X/MMCS, n32	Far Rockaway	n31 does not operate on Sundays. n31X/MMCS only runs during weekday rush hours.
2
3	Template:LI bus link	Long Beach
4	Template:LI bus link, n41	Freeport	n41 only operates overnights between Hempstead and Freeport.
5
6	Template:LI bus link	Rockville Centre	Weekday service only.
7	Template:LI bus link	Baldwin
8	Template:LI bus link	Jamaica, Queens	Operates 24/7. Local service. Express service and trips operating using articulated buses stop outside the terminal on Jackson Avenue.
9
10
11	Unused
12	Template:LI bus link	Mineola
13
14	Unused
15	Template:LI bus link	Nassau Community College	Weekday rush hour service to Nassau Community College, only operates when classes are in session.
	Template:LI bus link	Nassau Community College	Weekday service only.
16	Template:LI bus link	Nassau Community College	Weekday rush hour service to Nassau Community College, only operates when classes are in session.
	Template:LI bus link	Roosevelt Field Mall Westbury
17	Template:LI bus link	Roosevelt Field Mall Mineola	Some weekday peak trips operate via County Seat Drive and end at Mineola.
18	Template:LI bus link	Amityville	No Sunday service.
	Template:LI bus link
19	Template:LI bus link	Farmingdale State College	Some trips may use articulated bus and stop outside the terminal on Jackson Avenue.
20
21
22	Template:LI bus link	Hicksville Broadway Mall	No Sunday service.
23	Template:LI bus link
24	Template:LI bus link	Glen Cove	n27 weekday service only.

Gallery

• Hempstead Rosa Parks Transit Center
• West side of the station
  West side of the station
• A train arrives at the station
  A train arrives at the station
• Commuters transfer from train to bus
  Commuters transfer from train to bus
• Greyhound Bus stopping outside the terminal
  Greyhound Bus stopping outside the terminal

See also

• List of Long Island Rail Road stations
• Mineola station (LIRR)
• Ronkonkoma station
• West Hempstead station

External links

• Hempstead Station History (Arrt's Arrchives)
• NICE Bus links
• Station House from Google Maps Street View (Interior)
• Platforms from Google Maps Street View
• South end of the platforms & tracks/ Exterior of the Station House from Google Maps Street View
• Overpass from Google Maps Street View
• West Side of the Bus Terminal's loading/drop off area from Google Maps Street View