Essex Street Trolley Terminal (Future Low Line Park)

Published on: December 31st, 2006 | Last updated: November 1, 2015 | Written by: Bad Guy Joe

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If you take the J or M trains to Essex street, you’ll notice an unusual huge space next to the station. What is this, you might ask?

It’s a former trolley terminal Trolleys? Yes, trolleys. NYC was once a very trolley-centric city, with many trolley lines from Brooklyn coming over the Williamsberg bridge and terminating here in this terminal. The terminal opened shortly after the bridge, in 1904. Service ended in 1948 – at which time the terminal was simply left abandoned.

Tracks still embedded in the ground, while overhead trolley wire supports are still in place

Today, the terminal is being eyed as a potential new park. This seemingly unlikely location for a park would create a very unique underground experience driven in part by technology. One can only hope they keep some historic reference to the terminal’s former life in the new designs.

You can pretty much see the entire space from the Essex street J/M/Z platform.

Man standing on the active subway platform

J train leaving the station, heading towards Queens

Looking out of the subway tunnel, towards Brooklyn

Comments

NOTE: It sometimes takes a short while for comments to be approved - unfortunately there's a lot of spam comments that come in. I absolutely love when y'all share personal stories of friends relatives etc who worked in these places. It really helps capture what these places were like before they closed up shop.

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One response to “Essex Street Trolley Terminal (Future Low Line Park)”

1. Robert Cipriani says:

   October 15, 2019 at 7:59 PM

   I’m hearing 2021 for the Low Line!

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