7. The Abandoned 101st Avenue Ozone Park Train Station
Hidden away on 101st Avenue in Ozone Park lies the ghost of a once bustling train station. This former Ozone Park Station was part of the Long Island Railroad’s Rockaway Beach Branch that fell slowly into bankruptcy and was put to bed indefinitely in 1962. The former station still exists above street level where many eager explorers have attempted to climb and see the dead tracks overcome with flora and scraps of once-used cables and dislodged rails.
While much of the old station is still viewable for those daunting enough to make the climb, two formerly notable additions to the abandoned tracks are sadly no longer there. One was a wooden model of the former Ozone control tower that was rumored to have been created by the NYPD so they could use spy cameras to watch over crime boss Gotti. Locals still claim that one Fourth of July the wooden tower was allegedly set on fire by anonymous vandals, destroying any evidence of the tower’s mysterious nature. Another dearly missed piece of the former 101st Ave Station was a giant spider that dangled eerily from an old signal tower. No one ever knew the origins of the street art, but it was beloved by many in the neighborhood until its eventual collapse and disappearance around 2004. Many long-time Ozone Park residents long for the day when it crawls back up and makes its elegant return. See images of the massive spider here.