In the 1970s, New York built a subway tunnel under Manhattan that was never used
Construction was halted in 1975 by the city's financial crisis and remained sealed for decades; now the MTA will reuse part of that structure for the future 116th Street station
They built it for trains to pass through, but it never carried passengers . Beneath Manhattan's Second Avenue there is a stretch of tunnel built in the 1970s that was sealed off before the line could enter service. It was not a station that closed nor a line that lost riders: the subway never ran there.
Construction began in 1972 as part of the Second Avenue Subway project , a line that had been on the drawing board for decades. But in 1975, New York's severe financial crisis forced work to stop. By then, several sections had already been built, including a tunnel approximately 1,000 feet long between 110th and 120th Streets.
The tunnel that New York decided to preserve
For decades, the structure remained closed, although the MTA never stopped monitoring it. Its workers periodically went down to inspect the concrete and the leaks . In 2018, Janno Lieber argued that the space could still be put to use: “This is not a relic,” he said during a visit by NY1.
And it finally found a use. The second phase of the Second Avenue Subway will reuse the tunnel built in the 1970s, instead of demolishing it and putting up a new structure. The MTA estimates that this decision will save at least $500 million on the project.
The extension will extend the Q line from 96th Street to 125th Street and add three stations: 106th, 116th, and 125th. The old structure will become part of the 116th Street station, while the new tunnels will continue northward.
The first phase of the Second Avenue Subway opened in 2017 and extended the Q line to 96th Street. The second will make it possible to complete the segment to East Harlem and connect the new 125th Street station with the Lexington Avenue Line and Metro-North.
The MTA's schedule places the completion of the second phase in the third quarter of 2032 . If that happens, 57 years will have passed since construction was halted in 1975. For that tunnel, it will not be a reopening: it will finally be its first passenger service.
