Inside Manhattan's Hiding-In-Plain Sight Abandoned Trolley Station

We may earn a commission from links on this page.

In Manhattan, even the abandoned historic underground trolley stations are getting gentrified.

If you've ever gone from the Lower East Side to Brooklyn, you've probably seen it, but you probably just didn't realize it. It's the MTA's 60,000 sq-ft trolley station from 1903 hiding in plain sight from the Lower East Side's Essex Street subway stop.

Advertisement

The Essex Street Trolley Terminal was built in 1903 and retired in 1948, and the old tracks (floor and ceiling) are still there.

Advertisement

It's one of those things that hip New York development types call an 'remarkable space,' and as Gothamist points out, it may yet end up developed into a proposed 'Low Line' counterpart to the High Line. Or a really pretentious nightclub. Either way, it's very cool, and it deserves to be something more than some old columns ignored by dazed subway commuters.

Advertisement

More info on the station can be found right here.