We know you guys love to read about New York City’s abandoned subway stations, reveling most recently in a Fun Map of these subterranean fascinations. But what about subway stations that were built but never used? An article today about from Second Avenue Sagas about the 7 line extension station at Hudson Yards, awaiting passengers as the rest of the mega development is completed, reminded us of these. Here are 5 never completed or barely used subway stations in New York City:
5. The 63rd Street Tunnel
The tunnel here, previously unused, will soon come to life with the opening of the Second Avenue Subway. Long separated from public view by a wall, we had the opportunity to traverse that wall in 2012 to get a glimpse into the construction of the Second Avenue Subway line. At the time, that tunnel was being retrofitted for a connection to the Q line. Previously, the tracks were used to store out-of-service trains.
The New York Times calls this the “Roswell” for “devoted subway buffs.” Its existence is hotly debated and the Times writes that “If it exists, in fact, it is nothing more than a dark four-track IND subway station with blue tiles, on the A line near Ozone Park, Queens.” And if it exists, it was part of plan to extend the A line to 229th Street in Cambria Heights, one of many proposed subway lines that never came to be. According to Joseph Brennan of Abandoned Stations, the station did exist and was in operation for less than a month in 1948. But even then, officials were denying its existence but unions at the time suspected cover up of non-union work.
Brennan contends that the station is still there, but today like in 1948, the official stance is that the station doesn’t exist. The tunnel to the station was sealed off in 1952. Brennan has maps and photographs showing the station’s existence, including one of a train at the platform and one of a subway board at Euclid Station, provided accidentally by the Transit Authority for the book Under the Sidewalks of New York. But all this may be part of an elaborate April Fool’s Joke (not by us)–see the comment below from Benjamin Kabak of Second Avenue Sagas.
We we’ve detailed in our article on the Top 12 Secrets of the NYC Subway, the Echo Vault has held one of the more incredible urban stunts of recent memory. Led by Wanderlust Projects, the same group of underground events responsible for the Night Heron Speakeasy in a watertower, 200 people climbed down through a hatch in the midst of a busy area of Manhattan and entered an unused station. Lines of what would have become tracks became places to run around and explore. Staircases led to openings that looked down on a central “Echo Vault” on which performances by the Extra Action Marching Band took place. We’re keeping this location mum but all urban explorers know where this is.
1. South 4th Street, Williamsburg–The Underbelly Project
Photo by Vic Invades
Underneath Williamsburg at South 4th Street there’s a 6-track station of the IND line that was never opened. In 2009, over the course of a year, street artists PAC and Workhorse invited 100 street artists in and out of the station to create work there overnight. Dubbed The Underbelly Project, the idea was to create an underground gallery, but as PAC describes, apart from recruiting artists they could trust from pre-existing relationships, everything “happened organically along the way.” This video tells the story and shows the art well, and the project went on to be replicated in Paris. Whether the art still exists in the NYC subway station remains a question, but most we’ve spoken to feel that the MTA sealed off the station and it has remained relatively untouched. Second Avenue Sagas has a great explanation of the unused subway station. Discover more secrets of the subway and ride through abandoned stations on our underground tour! Underground Tour of the NYC Subway
Michelle is the founder of Untapped New York and the author of The Art Spy (HarperOne, forthcoming) Secret Brooklyn, Secret New York Hidden Bars & Restaurants, and Broadway. michelleyoungwriter.com
