5. Montauk Cutoff

Montauk Cutoff
A portion of the Montauk Cutoff, which was abandoned completely in the 1990s.

A haven for urban explorers, the Montauk Cutoff was a railroad line built in the 1900s and located in Long Island City. The Montauk Cutoff helped transport trains in and out of Sunnyside Yard and turned locomotives on weekdays, operating frequently until the 1970s when freight traffic in Long Island City declined. Since there was no turntable in Long Island City, trains were gathered and reversed in the evening.

Abandoned completely in the 1990s, the Montauk Cutoff was used by Sextantworks (Wanderlust Projects) for a speakeasy and urban exploration mixed event. In 2011, urban farm collective Smiling Hogshead Ranch formed a guerrilla garden on the abandoned tracks. The Montauk Cutoff was officially decommissioned in 2015, though there have been revitalization plans to transform it into an elevated park.