SSG 15: Underbelly 2 - Utica Av Upper

Awaken NYC May 4, 2020

S 4th St station shell, AKA “The Underbelly Project”

As we move deeper into the IND Second System plans, it becomes apparent that the IND had big ideas for Brooklyn. One of these plans remains relevant to this day: the Utica Av line. Recently, the MTA began reviewing the feasibility of a Utica Av line as an extension of the IRT Eastern Parkway line (the 3 and 4). A subway going under Utica Av would serve an area which lacks good rapid transit option extremely well. The IND knew this even in the 1929 plan, and they planned accordingly. Several provisions were constructed to allow for other lines to feed into Utica Av, including provisions for the Worth St line, a new crossriver tunnel, and two station shells. The first station shell, built above the Broadway (G) station, was for the S 4th St station, now better known as “Underbelly,” due to the underground art installation titled the Underbelly Project.

This post is about the second of the two station shells, which was constructed at the Utica Ave station on the Fulton St line (the A and C). The station would have likely been renamed Fulton St—Utica Av upon completion of the Utica Av line, had it ever been built. Furthermore, the Utica Av station contains an enormous full length intermediate level mezzanine, now used as a storage and utility area.

The station shell itself is very dark and extremely hot and humid. There is barely any ventilation within the shell. It is somewhat dusty, though it is not nearly as bad as the “brown snow” in S 4th St. Completely unlike S 4th St, this spot has managed to remain clean for over 80 years, feeling like a sliver of untouched history in a system that has shown rather obvious signs of its age in recent years.

SSG 5: The Winfield Spur

Awaken NYC August 9, 2019

Looking at queens in terms of IND provisions, it would be impossible to neglect to mention this most notable of abandoned Second System relics: Roosevelt Ave Upper. This well known spot also may be known as the Winfield Spur. It includes a fully tiled station shell and a “spur” tunnel which runs above the Queens Blvd mainline and turns south at the east end of the provision. It was built during the original construction of the IND Queens Blvd line between 1933 and 1936, intended for full revenue service on a 2 track line going south through the neighborhoods of Maspeth, Ridgewood, and eventually the Rockaways. On the lower level, there are 2 provisional trackways hugging the mainline, which would have allowed Queens Blvd local trains coming from/going to Manhattan to run up through the Winfield Spur and join the line heading south.

The IND was serious about constructing this line—so serious, in fact, that the Roosevelt Av Upper station was actually fully tiled, unlike other IND station shells. The serious plans (from 1929) to use this station and the trackways beyond continued for nearly 10 years, dying out sometime in the late 1930s when it was decided that the new branch should extend from an area of Queens Blvd further east, near Rego Park.

The line was intended to run underground through much of Queens and Brooklyn, actually joining another line which was planned to run up Myrtle Ave, branching from the S 4th St hub. After running up Central Av, the line would have come above ground to run over an already built LIRR Right of Way (the Rockaway Beach Branch). This Right of Way actually largely lays in decay now, after being abandoned in 1962. Some of the Right of Way (the bridge over Jamaica Bay into the Rockaways and the line in the Rockaways) was converted for use by the Transit Authority in 1955, and in 1956 the IND Rockaway Line (coming from the IND Fulton St Line) began operation. The (A) train now uses this southeastern branch full time, along with the Rockaway Shuttle. However, a large section of the ROW is still abandoned, and it would have been much better put to use as a subway line than what it is now: a somewhat nice place to walk and a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

As for what it is now, the space has not gone to complete waste. Although its story in terms of helping the city and the commuter, and providing rapid transit to underserved neighborhoods came to an end the way most IND Second System stories did, with the Great Depression and World War II draining the city’s and country’s resources to build rail infrastructure, the station shell is now used for storage and office space for the MTA. The tunnel does lay rotting, however. One trackway is nearly completely filled with garbage and the rest lay dark and lonely, never seeing light except from the occasional MTA worker, graffiti artist, or explorer. The construction is the standard IND Cut and Cover still, looking as boxy as ever. Also like usual, the abandoned tunnel is pitch black and extremely dirty. It is a true shame it will never get to see train headlights.

SSG 4: The East Broadway Provision

Awaken NYC July 29, 2019

Continuing down what would have been the IND Worth St Line, one crosses the East Broadway (F) station. East Broadway would have run nearly directly perpendicular to the Second System line heading toward Brooklyn. As such, East Broadway was originally planned to serve as a convenient transfer point and a station twice its current size. One may notice while walking through the station that there are numerous dark and dirty staircases locked behind gates, and many locked doors in the public mezzanine. This is because the public station is but a husk of what was constructed.

The station was actually built with a full length intermediate level mezzanine which is also a provision for a station for the Worth St line. Tracks and a platform would have extended West-East in the middle of this intermediate level, perpendicular to the active station. As stated in the previous post, the line would have been highly beneficial to Brooklyn commuters, bringing full subway service to “transportation deserts” and also taking pressure off of elevated lines and more unreliable two track lines such as the (L). From this station, trains would have continued through a new crossriver tunnel into Williamsburg, into the S 4th St hub.

Below the provision, the East Broadway station is heavily deteriorating and will probably be due for a Station Renovation or Enhanced Station Initiative soon. Like other (F) line stations, especially on the Lower East Side, the station is regularly inhabited by the homeless and overwhelmingly reeks of urine in many areas.

The provision itself is rather dark and dirty, covered in “brown snow”. A portion is tiled like any plain IND mezzanine would be. The space is now used for storage and break rooms by Stations personnel. While this area will probably never see revenue service or customers, it is certainly cool to look at, especially being rarely photographed.

Second System Gems 1: The Underbelly

Awaken NYC July 1, 2019

South 4th St, better known as the Underbelly Project, is a “station shell” built by the IND during the construction of the Crosstown Line, completed in 1937. Station shells are provisions for future expansions of the subway system, mostly built by the IND, which was the original subway company run by the city. They are all built somewhere in the vicinity of an active station, and were built in anticipation of plans for the future, so that active subway stations wouldn’t have to be completely gutted while building new intersecting lines.

Historically, this spot has some significance. It was built to eventually be integrated as an enormous hub into the IND Second System, a plan which would have doubled the size of the city’s subway system, but the city continued to run out of money and almost the entire plan was scrapped. To this day, we see what the benefits could’ve been for developing neighborhoods that would be on lines branching from here, along with various other Second System provisions. Now, spots like this lay decaying and covered in “brown snow”, our name for the subway dirt mostly composed of steel dust. The only plans from the Second System that actually materialized in some form were the 63rd St Tunnel, the stub of the Second Avenue Subway that opened several years ago and that construction will continue on for the foreseeable future, the Chrystie St Connection, the Jamaica Archer Av Extension, and the 6th Avenue express tracks.

More recently, the Underbelly Project was completed by 2010. This art installation was a covert operation, involving over 100 artists being escorted into the station shell in the middle of the night. Everyone involved swore secrecy, creating a sort of secret forbidden art gallery underground. Upon completion, the “curators” removed their means of access and sealed up the spot, but word soon got out and hipster photographers flocked to the spot.

I always found interesting the lengths people have gone to and continue to go to in order to get inside this place. The MTA and NYPD have repeatedly cracked down on people visiting this place, resulting in arrests and heightened security (the peak being the installation of a cinder block wall over the old passageway leading in and a metal gate over the old doorway, along with motion sensors within). I personally am of the opinion that this spot is overrated, while there are many other great tunnels, but it may have been a better call by the MTA to try to preserve this place, possibly making it an underground gallery of sorts open to the public. People have flocked to this place since the Underbelly Project became publicized, for reasons ranging from a lack of creativity when taking photos to clout chasing to just trying to find an easier spot to get into that serves as a “cool” underground urban photo studio. Some have even come to the spot in order to destroy the artwork on the walls. However, there are some who are curious about the history of places like this, and I am thankful to those, as they help keep the history alive. Even by reading this and hearing what I have to say, you help to continue the story of this spot. Enjoy the photos.