Central Park is one of New York City’s most iconic landmarks and is honeycombed with secrets and engaging facts such as the three-tier Delacorte Musical Clock sitting on top of the arcade between the Wildlife Center and the Children’s Zoo puts on a show every 30 minutes between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Recently, Quartz revealed yet another mystery which is the disappearance of a subway tunnel beneath the park.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority released a new map that showcases plans for the
anticipated Second Avenue line. Q trains will begin travel along northeast Manhattan instead of traveling to Astoria and a new W train will bridge Manhattan and Queens.
Mike Murphy, associated with Quartz, noticed an area of the Q train that will now run beneath the park and questioned whether or not the tunnel was new construction. MTA explained it was an existing tunnel that has appeared on past maps before.
Archival maps featuring the New York subway system have shown this vanishing tunnel twice: during the winter of 1998 and in the summer of 1995. The tunnel was used as a temporary reroute for the Q train during construction for both instances. After construction was complete, the shadow tunnel faded off the map.
The tunnel was part of an early plan in the 1970s to construct a Second Avenue line which
connects 57th street and 7th Avenue to 63rd St and Lexington will become a permanent on the MTA map by the end of 2016.
While heading North from 57th Street on the Q, R or N, try to catch a glimpse of the phantom
underpass.
After construction, saying “Mischief Managed” won’t make the evaporating tunnel disappear from the MTA maps anymore.
Lauren Spiler is a freelance journalist based in Athens, Georgia, but most call her Spiler.