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
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