The IND Second System was a plan for a major expansion of the city-owned Independent Subway System in New York, New York. Very little of it was built, though provisions were made for future expansion on lines that intersect the proposals. The core lines of the system were the Second Avenue Line (with an extension into the Bronx) and the South Fourth Street Line (connecting to the Rockaways ). The Second Avenue Line is still being planned.

Contents

1 Provisions 2 1929 plan details 3 Later plans 4 External links 5 References

Provisions

The following provisions were made for connections and transfers to the Second System:

• At Second Avenue on the Houston Street subway, a large open space was built above for the four-track Second Avenue Line.
• At East Broadway on the Houston Street subway (under Rutgers Street here), part of a two-track station was built for the line under East Broadway, above the existing line. This is now part of the mezzanine.
• At Broadway on the Crosstown Line, traces of stairways are visible going up to a six-track station on the line to the Rockaways.
• At Utica Avenue on the Fulton Street Line , a four-track station above can be seen in the ceiling of the existing station. The existing mezzanine passes over the unused space.
• At Roosevelt Avenue on the Queens Boulevard Line, a two-track upper level was built for the Winfield Spur towards the line to the Rockaways. Unlike the other stations, this one was completed, except for track.
• A junction was built on the Queens Boulevard Line for the line under Van Wyck Boulevard; it has since been connected to the IND Archer Avenue Line .
• The express tracks on the Houston Street subway end at the curve into Essex Street; these were planned to continue towards the Rockaways.
• A line to the Rockaways would have split from the Eighth Avenue Line (under Church Street here), east under Worth Street. The junction was built and is used by the local tracks to World Trade Center.
• The tracks that the IND 63rd Street Line uses to split from the Sixth Avenue Line were built for a similar line (under 61st Street) in the Second System.

1929 plan details

The first plan was made on September 15, 1929 (before the IND even opened), and is detailed in the table below. Cost is only for construction, and doesn't include land acqusition or other items.

Line	Streets	From	To	Tracks	Route miles	Track miles	Cost	Notes
Manhattan
East Manhattan trunk line (Second Avenue Line)	Water Street - New Bowery - Chrystie Street	Pine Street	Houston Street	2 from Pine Street to Chambers Street 4 to Houston Street	1.34	4.68	$11,300,000	subway
	Second Avenue	Houston Street	Harlem River	4 to 61st Street 6 to 125th Street 4 to Harlem River	6.55	32.84	$87,600,000	subway
	Sixth Avenue - 61st Street	52nd Street	Second Avenue	2	1.1	2.2	$6,700,000	subway
(Rockaway Line)	Worth Street - East Broadway - Grand Street	Church Street	East River	2	1.95	3.9	$13,300,000	subway
(Utica Avenue Line)	Houston Street	Essex Street	East River	2	.93	1.86	$7,900,000	subway
Manhattan total					11.87	45.48	$126,800,000
Bronx
Bronx trunk line	Alexander Avenue - Melrose Avenue - Boston Road	Harlem River	West Farms	4	3.97	15.88	$40,400,000	subway, with a portal between Vyse Avenue and 177th Street, then elevated into the existing IRT White Plains Road Line near 180th Street
	Morris Park Avenue - Wilson Avenue	Garfield Street	Boston Road	2	3.5	7.9	$13,700,000	branching off the existing elevated IRT White Plains Road Line, and then going into subway
	163rd Street - Hunts Point - Lafayette Avenue - 177th Street	Washington Avenue at Brook Avenue	East Tremont Avenue	2	5.02	10.04	$12,900,000	subway to near Edgewater Road and Seneca Avenue, then elevated
	Burke Avenue - Boston Road	Webster Avenue	Baychester Avenue	2	2.15	4.3	$8,900,000	extension of the Concourse Line
Bronx subtotal					14.64	38.12	$75,900,000
White Plains Road Line		180th Street	241st Street		4.40	13.2	$2,100,000	owned by IRT, to be taken over ("recaptured") by IND
Bronx total					19.04	51.32	$77,000,000
Brooklyn
Broadway Branch Line (Rockaway Line)	Broadway	East River	Havemeyer Street at South Fourth Street	2	3.16	13.5	$34,800,000	subway
Utica Avenue Line (and Rockaway Line from Havemeyer Street to Stuyvesant Avenue)	Grand Street - South Fourth Street - Beaver Street	East River	Stuyvesant Avenue	2 to Driggs Avenue 4 to Union Avenue 8 to Bushwick Avenue 4 to Stuyvesant Avenue				subway
	Stuyvesant Avenue - Utica Avenue	Broadway	Flatbush Avenue	4	5.85	23.4	$39,300,000	subway to Avenue J, then elevated
	Avenue S	Utica Avenue	Nostrand Avenue	2	1.1	2.2	$2,000,000	elevated
	Nostrand Avenue	Avenue S	Voorhies Avenue	4	1.3	5.2	$3,200,000	elevated
Rockaway Line	Myrtle Avenue	Bushwick Avenue	Palmetto Avenue	4	1.34	5.36	$14,300,000	subway
	Liberty Avenue	Fulton Street and Eastern Parkway	Grant Avenue	4	1.84	7.36	$13,500,000	subway extending the Fulton Street Line to a portal at Liberty Avenue and Crescent Street, then elevated to connect to the BMT Liberty Avenue Line (now part of the Fulton Street Line ) at Grant Avenue
Brooklyn subtotal					14.59	57.02	$107,100,000
Nostrand Avenue Extension		Flatbush Avenue	Avenue S	2	2.25	4.5	$7,400,000	Extension of Nostrand Avenue Line as subway to Kings Highway, then elevated
Brooklyn total					16.84	61.52	$114,500,000
Queens
Rockaway Line	Myrtle Avenue - Central Avenue	Palmetto Avenue	78th Street	4	2.1	8.4	$17,300,000	subway to Central Avenue near 73rd Place, then along the surface or elevated
	98th Street - 99th Street - Hawtree Street	78th Street	Hammels Station	4 to Howard Beach 2 to Hammels	9.2	26.2	$20,200,000	along the surface or elevated
	Rockaway Beach Boulevard	Beach 116th Street	Mott Avenue	2	5.0	10.0	$7,400,000	along the surface or elevated
	Newport Avenue	Beach 116th Street	Beach 149th Street	2	1.6	3.2	$2,400,000	along the surface or elevated
Winfield Spur	Garfield Avenue - 65th Place - Fresh Pond Road	Broadway and 78th Street	Central Avenue	2	3.34	6.68	$10,100,000	subway to 45th Avenue, then elevated to Fresh Pond Road, then subway
	Liberty Avenue - 105th Avenue - Brinckerhoff Avenue - Hollis Avenue	Lefferts Boulevard	Springfield Boulevard	2	6.2	13.3	$10,700,000	elevated extension of the BMT Liberty Avenue Line (now part of the Fulton Street Line ) includes branch connection to Jamaica Avenue Elevated (BMT) at 168th Street, via 180th Street and Jamaica Avenue
Van Wyck Boulevard Line	137th Street - Van Wyck Boulevard	87th Avenue	Rockaway Boulevard	2	2.3	4.6	$6,600,000	subway to about 166th Avenue, then elevated
120th Avenue Line	120th Avenue - Springfield Boulevard	Hawtree Street near North Conduit Boulevard	Foch Boulevard	4 to Van Wyck Boulevard 2 to Foch Boulevard	5.23	13.92	$9,500,000	elevated
Queens subtotal					34.97	88.30	$84,200,000
	Roosevelt Avenue - First Street - Station Road - 38th Avenue	Main Street	221st Street	3 to 147th Street 2 to 221st Street	3.6	7.78	$9,600,000	extends the BMT/IRT Flushing Line as a subway to 155th Street, then elevated
College Point and Whitestone Line		Roosevelt Avenue and 147th Street	11th Avenue and 122nd Street	2	3.4	6.8	$6,000,000	subway to 35th Avenue, then elevated
	Ditmars Avenue - Astoria Boulevard - 112th Street - Nassau Boulevard (Long Island Expressway)	2nd Avenue	Cross Island Boulevard	2 to Astoria Boulevard 4 to Parsons Boulevard 2 to Cross Island Boulevard	8.1	26.71	$17,700,000	extends the BMT/IRT Astoria Line as an elevated, except that part of it may be depressed near Nassau Boulevard (Long Island Expressway)
Queens extensions subtotal					15.1	41.29	$33,300,000
Liberty Avenue Line		Grant Avenue	Lefferts Boulevard	3	2.3	6.9	$1,600,000	owned by BMT, to be taken over ("recaptured") by IND now part of the Fulton Street Line
Queens total					52.37	136.49	$119,100,000
grand total					100.12	294.81	$438,400,000

Later plans

Later plans included the following:

• (1931 plan) A line splitting from the Second Avenue Line north of Houston Street, running southeast, junctioning with the Houston Street line, and crossing the East River from Stanton Street towards the huge line under South Fourth Street.
• (1931 plan) A line splitting from the Crosstown Line where it turns from Lafayette Avenue to Marcy Avenue, continuing under Lafayette Avenue and Stanhope Street to a junction with the line under Myrtle Avenue.
• (1939 plan) A line splitting from the South Brooklyn (Culver) Line at Fort Hamilton Parkway, and running under Fort Hamilton Parkway to end at 86th Street. A branch would split to run under Ovington Avenue and Senator Street, with a tunnel under the Narrows to Staten Island at the St. George Ferry Terminal . The line would split, with the north branch ending at Westervelt Avenue around Hamilton Avenue, and the south branch ending at Grant Street around St. Pauls Street.
• (unknown date) A third 2-track tunnel under the East River, from the north side of the South Fourth Street/Union Avenue station (as built for six tracks) west to Delancey Street.
• (unknown date) A line splitting from the Stuyvesant Avenue line, going southeast under Broadway.
• (unknown date) A line under Flatbush Avenue from the huge line under Beaver Street to Horace Harding Boulevard (Long Island Expressway).

External links

• NYCsubway.org - IND Second System
• NYC subway.org - Roosevelt Avenue Terminal Station
• Abandoned Stations - IND Second System unfinished stations
• Abandoned Stations - Roosevelt Ave upper level
• Broadway-South 4 Street Station (junction with the Crosstown Line) photos
• Roosevelt Avenue-Winfield Spur Station (split from the Queens Boulevard Line) photos
• JoeKorNer - IND Second System (including a plan for a line to Staten Island)
• JoeKorNer - Roosevelt Rockaway Line (photos of the unused station)

References

• 100 Miles of Subway in New City Project; 52 of them in Queens, New York Times September 16, 1929 page 1