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train of R46 cars at Second Avenue |
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| Station statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Address | East Houston Street & Second Avenue New York, NY 10002 |
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| Borough | Manhattan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Locale | East Village | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Division | B (IND) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Line | IND Sixth Avenue Line | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Services | F (all times) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Connection | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Structure | Underground | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Platforms | 2 island platforms | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tracks | 4 (2 in regular service) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opened | January 1, 1936 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former/other names | Lower East Side – Second Avenue | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traffic | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Passengers (2010) | 5,627,896[1] 1.9% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rank | 70 out of 422 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Station succession | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Next north | Broadway – Lafayette Street: F | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Next south | Delancey Street: F | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Second Avenue is a station on the IND Sixth Avenue Line of the New York City Subway, located at the intersection of Second Avenue and Houston Street in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan. It is served by the F at all times.
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The station has two island platforms and four tracks. The F trains run on the outer tracks while the inner tracks are currently unused. 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. The full-time booth is located at the First Avenue mezzanine.
West of the station, the center tracks are connected by a diamond crossover before merging with the local tracks; this allows the station to be used as a terminal if necessary. East of the station, the local tracks continue along Houston Street before curving south into Essex Street and continuing through Delancey Street station.
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 as a terminal for various services after opening. During the construction of the Chrystie Street Connection in the 1950s and 1960s, the center express tracks at Broadway – Lafayette Street were severed from the 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 center tracks at Second Avenue were then tied into the local tracks just west of the station, to continue to be available for terminal tracks.
This station had been renamed on transit maps and announced on digital announcements as Lower East Side – Second Avenue when it served as the southern terminal for the V train from December 2001 to June 2010, despite being located in the East Village. Station signs however remained unchanged throughout this renaming.
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.[2] Current plans for when the Second Avenue Subway is built to Lower Manhattan, instead of using this space for its Houston Street station, it will be left unused. Its new Houston Street station will be built below this station, with a free transfer between them.[3][4]
The center tracks also continue disused along Houston, but rise to an upper level and stub-end near Avenue A at bumper blocks. Near the end, the tracks begin to separate to create a provision for a center track which only extends about 10 or 15 feet and stops at the bulkhead at the end of the tunnel. 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. These tracks east of the station were previously used for train storage but became an oft-frequented spot for the homeless. The area was cleared out in 1990, and corrugated metal walls with bumper blocks were installed just past the east end of the platforms to seal the tunnels.
