The provisions vary widely, with massive unused station mezzanines, platforms, and trackways/bellmouths spread throughout the IND First System. If the Second System were built, these provisions would be used to supplement the capacity of current lines and connect to new lines without having to rebuild existing infrastructure. The Second System would have more than doubled the size of the existing system, introducing lines which would have served some of the city’s biggest “transit deserts” of today. Neighborhoods bound by cars and bus service would have been able to seize the benefits of subways, such as greater convenience, decreased travel times, and increased property values. Unfortunately, entering the era of Robert Moses, the city was all but completely disinterested in the expansion of rapid transit service.

Following the boom of subway construction marked by the first half of the twentieth century, the city hit a time of relative stagnation following the war, with only the 6th Ave express tracks and Chrystie St Connection being built over the next couple decades. In the ‘60s, when the Transit Authority (TA) constructed the Chrystie St Connection, they released a plan known as the Program for Action. The Chrystie St Connection connected the IND and BMT systems at the Manhattan Bridge, and was the first real sign that the three transit systems had been merged into one. With this revolutionary expansion for subway capacity in lower Manhattan, the TA decided it was time to put some of those original Second System plans to action, with the new 63rd St Tunnel, Second Avenue Subway (SAS), and Archer Avenue Extension. These were all adaptations of a few of the original Second System plans, and the city intended on making good on their promises of the ‘20s and ‘30s.

With construction starting in the early ‘70s, it seemed as though some of the plans may finally come to be. Unfortunately, as is often the story with NYC Transit, the money ran out when the Fiscal Crisis hit. The SAS plan was abandoned, with constructed segments sealed for future use. Meanwhile, the 63rd St Tunnel and Archer Ave Extension dragged on, plagued by issues and delays. Finally, in the late ‘80s, those latter two projects were “completed.” I wouldn’t really consider the 63rd St Tunnel to be fully completed until either 2001 (when the connection to the Queens Blvd Line was made), or 2017 (when SAS, Phase I opened).

In the early 2000s, the will to build SAS materialized again, and plans were drawn for a full length SAS to be built in four phases. Phase I would connect to the 63rd St Tunnel (to the BMT Broadway Line) and go up to 96th St, Phase II would extend SAS from 96th St to 125th St, Phase III would extend SAS south from near 63rd St to Houston St, and Phase IV would complete the line from Houston St to Hanover Sq at the southern tip of Manhattan. In 2016, Phase I of SAS was completed, and with it, several provisions were constructed to accommodate the eventual extension south of 63rd. Additionally, large segments required for Phase II were actually completed in the ‘70s, and they will be utilized (and rebuilt in one area) for Phase II, whenever it eventually starts.

Today, and for the foreseeable future, all of these provisions sit deep below the city collecting dust, unbeknownst to the average commuter. While the city would have benefitted immensely from the construction of the Second System, for now we can admire the forward-thinking and ambition of the transit planners from a century ago. And hey—they make great places for photo ops!