Reconstruction of Steinway Tunnel, 1915.

The Steinway Tunnel was originally built for trolleys and is named for William Steinway, one of the “sons” of the Steinway & Sons piano manufacturing company. Steinway advocated for its construction as part of a bigger plan to develop areas of Queens, especially Astoria where his plant was located. The plan also included extending his horsecar line (the Steinway & Hunter’s Point Railroad) into midtown Manhattan. At the time, Queens was not yet incorporated into New York City, and Long Island City—where the tunnel would be situated—was its own municipality.

Groundbreaking on the tunnel began in 1892. The starting point was an 85-foot work shaft dug at 50th Avenue between Vernon and Jackson Avenues, where the Vernon-Jackson station on the 7 train is located today. Construction accidents, lawsuits, financial woes, and the constant flooding of the site by an underground spring caused the project to be shut down entirely in 1893.

Tunnels originally built for trolleys had to be modified for subway trains, which meant tracks needed to be realigned and catenary wire removed. In June of 1915 the tunnel opened to IRT service, which at first was just a shuttle between Grand Central and Vernon Boulevard.