Lower East Side – Second Avenue

Lower East Side – Second Avenue New York City Subway rapid transit station
Station statistics
Address	Second Avenue & East Houston Street New York, NY 10002
Borough	Manhattan
Locale	Lower East Side
Coordinates	40°43′25″N 73°59′28″W / 40.723616°N 73.991117°W / 40.723616; -73.991117Coordinates: 40°43′25″N 73°59′28″W / 40.723616°N 73.991117°W / 40.723616; -73.991117
Division	B (IND)
Line	IND Sixth Avenue Line
Services	F  (all times)      V  (weekdays until midnight)
Connection	New York City Bus: M15, M21
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2 island platforms
Tracks	4
Other information
Opened	January 1, 1936
Traffic
Passengers (2008)	5.845 million[1][2] ▲ 6.24%
Rank	69 out of 422
Station succession
Next north	Broadway – Lafayette Street: F  V
Next south	Delancey Street: F
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops in station at all times Stops all times except late nights Stops late nights only Stops late nights and weekends only Stops weekdays only Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction Stops all times except weekdays Stops rush hours only Stops rush hours in the peak direction only Station is closed (Details about time periods)

Lower East Side – Second Avenue is a station on the IND Sixth Avenue Line of the New York City Subway, located at the intersection of 2nd Avenue and Houston Street in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan.

The station has two island platforms and four tracks. The F trains run on the outer tracks while V trains terminate on the inner tracks. The wall tiling is purple with dark purple border and lacks name tablets; the columns are concrete, and there are especially large columns with built-in benches at the centers of the platforms. Despite the station's name, the exit and mezzanine at Second Avenue is only open part-time and is quite dim; a full-time booth is located at the 1st Avenue mezzanine. As part of the 1929 plans for the Second Avenue Subway—which would have run directly over Second Avenue station—room was left for the anticipated right-of-way above the Sixth Avenue trackways and between the two mezzanines. A large, open space is still visible over the tracks and platforms. When the Second Avenue Subway is built in Lower Manhattan, instead of using this space for its Houston Street station, it will be left unused. The new Houston Street station will be built below the existing Second Avenue station, with a free transfer between them. ^[3][4]

West of 2nd Avenue, the center tracks are connected by a scissors crossover before merging with the local tracks; this allows the station to be used as a terminal station for short runs such as the current V service, as well as E service when it is rerouted along Sixth Avenue during construction. East of the station, the local tracks continue along Houston Street before curving south into Essex Street and continuing through Delancey Street station. The express tracks also continue along Houston, but rises to an upper level, and stub-end at about Avenue A. Near the ending of the tail tracks, the tracks begin to separate and end at bumper blocks. At the end of the tracks at the bumper blocks, there is a provision of a center track which only extends about 10 or 15 feet and it stops at the bulkhead at the end of the tunnel. Just before the turn into Essex, it was planned that these tracks would continue under the East River to the South Fourth Street Line, part of a never-built system expansion.

Second Avenue opened on January 1, 1936, as part of the Houston/Essex Streets subway—the portion of the Sixth Avenue Line between West Fourth Street – Washington Square and East Broadway. At that time, all four Sixth Avenue tracks ran continuously from West Fourth Street through Second Avenue, as the local tracks still do. The inner tracks were used a terminal for various services after opening. During the construction of the Chrystie Street Connection in the 1950s and 1960s, the express tracks at Broadway – Lafayette Street were severed from the express tracks at Second Avenue and rerouted to the Chrystie Street subway, running through Grand Street station to the north side of the Manhattan Bridge. The remaining express tracks at Second Avenue were then tied into the local tracks just west of the station, to continue to be available for terminal tracks. The express trackage east of the station was previously used for train storage but became an oft-frequented spot for the homeless. The tracks were cleared out in 1990, and corrugated metal walls were installed at the east end of 2nd Avenue station to seal the tunnels.

References

External links

• nycsubway.org — IND 6th Avenue: 2nd Avenue
• Station Reporter — F Train
• Station Reporter — V Train
• Abandoned Stations — IND Second System unfinished stations