Prior to the construction of the station, Rockaway Beach Branch service north of Ozone Park traveled via the Atlantic Branch to Flatbush Terminal, or via the Montauk Branch to Long Island City. Between 1908 and 1911, the branch was extended north past the Montauk Branch to the Main Line; this new grade-separated section was known as the Glendale Cut-off, and allowed service from the branch to operate to Penn Station in Manhattan. On March 24, 1927, the New York State Transit Commission ordered the LIRR to construct a new station at Metropolitan Avenue along the cut-off to alleviate congestion at the Forest Hills station on the Main Line, and to replace the nearby Glendale and Atlas Yard stations on the Montauk Branch. The station was opened on September 15, 1927. It was originally named "Glendale" as a substitute for the former station on the Montauk Branch. It was renamed "Parkside" on October 23, 1927, due to its proximity to Forest Park, after protests over the station name from the local community. The Parkside name is shared with a nearby post office at Metropolitan Avenue and Continental Avenue. The opening of the Parkside station helped spawn development in the area, which previously consisted of empty lots and farmland. Over 100 homes were constructed to form the Forest Hills Crest community. The block immediately to the south of the station, bounded by Metropolitan Avenue, Woodhaven Boulevard, and Union Turnpike, became an industrial superblock. In the early expansion plans of the city's Independent Subway System in the 1930s, Parkside was one of the stations that would have been absorbed into the new subway, connecting to the IND Queens Boulevard Line at its 63rd Drive station in Rego Park, north of the junction with the LIRR Main Line.
Closure
In 1950, the Rockaway Beach Branch south of Ozone Park closed after the trestle across Jamaica Bay between The Raunt and Broad Channel stations was destroyed by a fire. The city purchased the entire line in 1955, but only the portion south of Liberty Avenue was reactivated for subway service as the IND Rockaway Line. Ridership declined on the remaining portion of the branch and service was reduced. Due to vandalism, the railroad removed the station's southbound track and put both platforms out of service in 1958. The platforms were replaced with a low-level concrete platform in the former trackbed. The Rockaway Beach Branch ceased operations on June 8, 1962, and all stations along the line, including Parkside, were closed.
Station layout
The station had two tracks and two wooden high-level side platforms, with four small wooden shelters on both platforms. Exit stairs were located on Metropolitan Avenue. No trace of the station exists today. North of the station, the line veered west to merge with the LIRR Main Line at Whitepot Junction. Just south of the station, near the Union Turnpike overpass, was a junction with the Montauk Branch, which was known as Glendale Junction. A wye from the westbound Montauk Branch track merged with the Rockaway Beach Branch going north, and another from the eastbound Montauk Branch track going south. The Rockaway Beach Branch passed over the Montauk Branch on a wooden trestle.
Current condition
The Forest Hills Volunteer Ambulance Corps is located in the vicinity of the former station. The former industrial block west of the line is currently a shopping center. The land east of the line south of Metropolitan Avenue where the Parkside-Montauk spur used to be is currently the site of the Metropolitan Avenue Public School Campus built from 2006 to 2010; the northern entrance to the campus is on Metropolitan Avenue, and the school building sits on the former right-of-way of the northern Montauk connection. The southern wye is used by baseball fields. The overpass above the Montauk Branch has been demolished. Shortly after the opening of the Metropolitan campus in 2010, the trestle and overpass over Metropolitan Avenue near the school were deemed to be structurally unsound. However, no action was taken, and in 2014, a study of the condition of the line found that 20% of the underside of the bridge had exposed reinforcement bars.
