The US Open is the one two weeks a year when Queens is the center of the sports world, and from up here it's an easy trip. We're at 341 East 62nd Street, and we send guests out to Flushing most days of the tournament. Here's exactly how we tell them to do it.
The simplest route from East 62nd Street
Walk to Lexington Avenue and 59th Street, take the 6 downtown two stops to Grand Central-42nd Street, then follow the signs in the station to the 7 train and ride it east to Mets-Willets Point. From the platform there, signs walk you through Flushing Meadows Corona Park to the National Tennis Center. Budget about an hour door to gate, a little more on a big Saturday when the 7 is packed.
The 7 is the train the tournament itself points people to, and it's the one that gets you closest. If you'd rather start from the station eight minutes west of us, the F and Q at Lexington Avenue and 63rd Street work too, but you'll still end up transferring to the 7 at Grand Central or 42nd Street, so the 6 is fewer moving parts.
The faster option: the LIRR from Grand Central Madison
If you want to shave 20 minutes off the trip, take the Long Island Rail Road. Trains on the Port Washington Branch run direct from Grand Central Madison (the deep LIRR level underneath Grand Central) to Mets-Willets Point in about 19 minutes, and the MTA adds extra subway and LIRR service for the Open, including during Fan Week. It costs more than a subway swipe and it runs on a timetable rather than every few minutes, so check the schedule before you leave rather than showing up and hoping.
Our rule of thumb: LIRR out in the morning when you want to be on the grounds for the first serve, subway back at night when trains run constantly and you don't want to watch a departure board.
When to leave for your session
Leave two hours before a day session and 90 minutes before a night session. Day sessions generally start late morning, night sessions in the evening, and your ticket will say exactly. That sounds like a lot of padding for an hour-long trip, but the security line at the gates, the walk from the 7 platform through the park, and the time it takes to actually find your court all add up. The first hour on the grounds is also the best hour, when the outer courts have real matches on them and nobody's queuing for food yet.
If you have grounds passes rather than stadium tickets, go earlier and go on a weekday in the first week. That's when you can stand two rows from a top-20 player on a side court, which is the thing people remember long after they've forgotten a third-set tiebreak in Ashe.
Fan Week and the first week
Qualifying and Fan Week run the week before the main draw, from around August 23, with the main draw starting August 30 and finals on September 13. Fan Week is the sleeper pick: fewer people, players practicing at close range, and the same grounds. If your trip lands in late August rather than September, don't assume you've missed it.
Coming back at night
The 7 runs all night, so a late finish is not a problem. Expect the platform at Mets-Willets Point to be full after a night session and expect to stand until Manhattan. From Grand Central it's the 6 uptown two stops and a ten-minute walk east, or a short cab ride if you're done being a commuter for the day.
Why staying up here works during the Open
Our block is quiet in a way that midtown isn't, which matters when you get home at 11:30 p.m. and have to do it again the next day. The apartments have kitchens, so breakfast happens on your schedule before an early start. And if you want a run before a day session, the closest Central Park entrance is at Fifth Avenue and 60th Street, about eight minutes from our door, with the reservoir loop north of that.
Check-in is usually after 4 p.m. and checkout is by 11 a.m. If you're arriving on a match day and want to drop bags early, text us and we'll tell you what's possible. Early check-in depends on availability and comes with a fee, so it's worth asking before you land, not after.
Two weeks in Flushing, evenings on a quiet block in the East 60s. It's a good pairing. Text us anytime, we're a real person on the other end.