The regular clatter of N and W trains used to reassure Mohammad Rahman that he had chosen the right spot in Queens for his fruit stand, a steady stream of customers supplied by the 36th Avenue subway station overhead.

Now the sound is a reminder of how bad business has become. Trains still rattle through the station, but they keep on going. The station has been closed since October for a renovation that is supposed to be finished in eight months.

“You see, no customers,” Mr. Rahman, 49, said, gesturing around his cart piled high with apples, persimmons and berries. He pointed to other businesses around the intersection of 36th Avenue and 31st Street in Astoria. “The Chinese restaurant, the pizza restaurant — everybody cries.”

He has sold fruit on the corner for more than eight years. “Before, never like this,” Mr. Rahman said.