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While the abandoned subway stations of New York City are well-documented, there are also numerous rarely seen abandoned station entrances and mezzanines – many of which are located within active stations. Here’s a compilation of these lesser-known spots:
At the active 63rd street F line station, there is an abandoned station entrance at 3rd Avenue that was a mirror image of the active entrance on the west end of the station (under Lexington avenue). This huge entrance was built when the 63rd street subway was originally constructed, though it was never used. It was a very dark space with no tiles on the walls or escalators. The stairs to the street dead-ended at concrete slabs.
Much of this entrance has been gutted and will be opened when service on the 2nd avenue subway begins. You can read about our previous visit down with the MTA into this station to view the latest construction on the Second Avenue Subway.
The 21st Van Alst stop on the G train is a lightly used station with an abandoned full length mezzanine (which was never open to the public) and closed entranceway. The abandoned entrance contains an original wooden token booth, and a small corner of a map was left on one wall, showing double letter subway routes that were phased out in 1985. The entrance was likely closed in the 1970s during a round of budget cuts.
The Bowery station on the J/Z line is notorious for being one of the subway systems more neglected stations. While the abandoned platform here is well documented, there is a lesser known closed entrance above the west end of the station. Just like 21st Van Alst, it too contains an original wooden token booth. You can see the stairs up to the entrance from the active platform, though the space is locked and gated.
Just like its neighbor station at Bowery, The Canal Street J/Z station also contains an abandoned entrance. This one contains a token booth that is curiously covered in the same glazed tiles found at the 49th street station on the N/R/Q route. This entrance closed when the former Queens bound platform was closed in 2002.
The Cortlandt street 1 train station is the only subway station to still be closed after the terrorism attack on 9/11. The station was located under the World Trade Center site, and much of the nearby tunnel leading to the station needed to be completely rebuilt after being crushed by debris. The station and its entranceway survived, and have been closed ever since. When we visited, the walls still contained spray painted markings left by first responders who searched the station on September 15th, 2001.
For decades, the abandoned Myrtle avenue station wasn’t just home to the Masstransiscope – there was an abandoned mezzanine with stairs leading up to an entrance on the front of a building. This entrance was destroyed when a new building was built above it.
Next, read about 7 abandoned subway stations in NYC, the city’s abandoned platforms, or the city’s secret tunnels. Joseph Anastasio runs the urban exploration site, LTVSquad. he can be followed on Instagram & Twitter
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