Who says the No. 7 line is boring?
For starters, it’s the only subway line where can you see the studio where Woody Allen made two films, the courthouse where crowds battled to see one of the city’s most sensational murder trials, and the tallest building in Queens.
As it wends its way 9.43 miles from Main Street in Flushing to Times Square, the line derided by loudmouthed lefty John Rocker passes landmarks revered by the residents of the sprawling borough.
Take, for example, the Citicorp Center at the Court Square stop.
At 50 stories it’s the tallest building in Queens.
“I pass it every day and I never knew that,” said Maurice Williams, a postal worker. “I don’t even care really. It’s not the Empire State Building.”
Not exactly a ringing endorsement, but then listen to Warren Traynor, a 29-year-old cook: “What’s the big deal. A 50-story building is nothing compared to the skyscrapers in Manhattan. That building’s in the minor leagues.”
Oh, well. Across the street from Citicorp is the Long Island City courthouse.
It was there that in 1927, Ruth Snyder and her lover, Judd Gray, were convicted of killing her husband, Albert, in a case that electrified the city – and the next year, Snyder and Gray.
And it was there that the notorious Willie Sutton, asked why he robs banks, uttered that immortal line, “Because that’s where the money is.”
Lauren Harmon, a 37-year-old law clerk, said there are rumors that Snyder haunts the courthouse. “Rocker should come here because he’s a nightmare,” she said.
Leaving Court House Square and heading toward Shea Stadium, one can look into the windows of the Silvercup Studios, where Allen filmed “Broadway Danny Rose” and “The Purple Rose of Cairo.”
Alan Gottlieb, 33, an investment planner, looked through those windows and saw Adam Sandler filming “Big Daddy.”
“It’s just like a Hollywood studio,” he exclaimed.
Marcia Williams, a 33-year-old secretary, disagreed. “It’s not Hollywood,” she said. “I didn’t even know that studio existed. I couldn’t care less because I sleep the whole time I’m on the train, anyway.”