Since the opening of the original New York City Subway line in 1904, many official groups and planners have suggested adding new parts to the subway system. The first major expansion was the Dual Contracts, which were agreements between the City of New York and the IRT and BRT. This expansion brought subway service to the outer areas of the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens and included the building of important lines in Manhattan. This one expansion formed the basis of much of today's subway system.

Even after this growth, there was an urgent need for more development. In 1922, Mayor John Hylan proposed a plan for over 100 miles of new subway lines to all five boroughs. His plan aimed to compete with the two private subway companies, the IRT and the BMT. This plan was never carried out. The next major plan, and one of the largest in subway history, was the "Second System." In 1929, the Independent Subway proposed building new subway lines, taking over existing lines and railroad tracks. This plan would have added 100 miles of subway lines across the city. A key part of the plan was the construction of the Second Avenue Subway. However, the 1929 Stock Market Crash stopped the plan, and subway expansion was limited to lines already being built by the IND.

During the 1930s and 1940s, plans were updated, including a line to Staten Island and a revised route to the Rockaways. In the late 1940s and 1950s, a Queens Bypass line using the Long Island Rail Road's Main Line was first suggested as part of the still-planned Second Avenue Subway. Improvements to existing lines were made through projects like the Culver Ramp, the 60th Street Tunnel Connection, the Chrystie Street Connection, and the rebuilding of DeKalb Avenue Junction. These were the only results of these plans. Eventually, these ideas were changed into the Program for Action, proposed by the New York City Transit Authority in 1968. This plan included building the Second Avenue Subway, a Queens Bypass line, a line replacing the Third Avenue El in the Bronx, and other extensions in the Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn. Although large in scope, most of the plan was not completed due to the financial crisis of the 1970s.

Until the 1990s, little attention was given to expanding the subway because the system was in poor condition, and money was used to repair existing lines. In the 1990s, however, with the system in better shape, work on the Second Avenue Subway was considered again. Construction of the Second Avenue Subway began in 2007, and the first part was finished in 2017. Since the 1990s, public officials and groups like the Regional Plan Association have supported more subway expansion. Ideas such as the TriboroRx, a circular line connecting outer boroughs, the reuse of the Rockaway Beach Branch, and further expansion of the Second Avenue Subway have been suggested, though most remain unfunded.

Triborough System

The Triborough System was a plan to build new subway lines in the Bronx and Brooklyn. The new lines included the IRT Lexington Avenue Line, IRT Pelham Line, and IRT Jerome Avenue Line. The Manhattan Bridge line described later became the BMT West End Line, BMT Fourth Avenue Line, the BMT Sea Beach Line, and the Nassau Street loops.

In 1911, William Gibbs McAdoo, who managed a competing subway company called the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad, suggested building a line under Broadway between Hudson Terminal and Herald Square. He later proposed connecting the Broadway line to the IRT's original subway line in Lower Manhattan. The Broadway line would merge with the IRT Lexington Avenue Line’s local tracks at 10th Street when heading south. A branch from the Lexington Avenue Line near Trinity Church would go east under Wall Street, cross the East River to Brooklyn, and continue along the Fourth Avenue Line in Brooklyn, with another branch under Lafayette Avenue.

The Triborough System later became part of the Dual Contracts, signed on March 19, 1913, also called the Dual Subway System. These contracts included building or repairing subway lines in New York City. The contracts were called "dual" because they were signed between the city and the IRT and the Municipal Railway Company, a subsidiary of the BRT (later known as the BMT).

Some lines proposed in the contracts were not built, including an IRT line to Marine Park in Brooklyn (now Kings Plaza) along Utica Avenue with a new line or Nostrand Avenue and Flatbush Avenue using the IRT Nostrand Avenue Line. There were also plans for the Nostrand Avenue Line to extend further down Nostrand Avenue to Sheepshead Bay.

Mayor Hylan's plan

On August 28, 1922, Mayor John Francis Hylan shared his plans for the subway system, which was not very large at the time. His plan included building over 100 miles (160 km) of new subway lines and taking over nearly 100 miles (160 km) of existing lines. By the end of 1925, all of these routes were to have been completed. The lines were designed to compete with the IRT and BMT.

Hylan's plan included the following lines:

• A line running along Manhattan's West Side, stretching from Yonkers to 14th Street. It would be a two-track line south to Dyckman Street, a three-track line to 162nd Street, and then a four-track line. Two southern branches would split at 14th Street. One branch would connect to the BMT Canarsie Line, while the other would go to Atlantic Avenue and Hicks Street in Brooklyn through an East River tunnel. From there, the line would continue to Red Hook. A loop would be built at Battery Park. Another branch would be built, with two tracks, connecting 162nd Street and 190th Street via Amsterdam Avenue.
• A First Avenue line with four tracks would stretch from the Harlem River to City Hall. At 10th Street, the line would split into two branches. One branch would go to a loop near City Hall, while the other would connect to a new Lafayette Avenue line in Brooklyn via Third Avenue and the Bowery. At 161st Street, the line would split into two three-track lines. One line would go to Southern Boulevard and Fordham Road, and the other would continue to 241st Street after merging with the IRT White Plains Road Line at Fordham Road and Webster Avenue.
• A line from Astoria, Queens, likely connecting to the BMT Astoria Line, across the East River and via 125th Street (near today's Henry Hudson Parkway).
• A line from Hunters Point in Queens heading southeast to Lafayette Avenue in Brooklyn. The line would have between two and four tracks. At Lafayette Avenue, the line would split. Two tracks would continue as the Lafayette Avenue line and become four tracks, while the other two tracks would go to Franklin and Flatbush Avenues.
• A new four-track line along Lafayette Avenue in Brooklyn from Borough Hall to Bedford Avenue. The line would narrow to three tracks at Broadway. It would then continue underneath the BMT Jamaica Line to 168th Street, directly competing with the BMT. A two-track connection would also be built to the First Avenue line.
• A new line running under Utica Avenue to Flatlands Avenue. This line would be a branch of the IRT Eastern Parkway Line.
• A four-track Flatbush Avenue line to Emmons Avenue in Sheepshead Bay, then turning west to Surf Avenue in Coney Island via Emmons Avenue. A branch would provide service to Floyd Bennett Field.
• The BMT Canarsie Line would be extended past 121st Street in Queens to the BMT Jamaica Line.
• A new line from 90th Street to Prospect Avenue, running via Fort Hamilton Parkway and 10th Avenue, used by BMT Culver Line trains.
• An extension of the BMT Fourth Avenue Line in Brooklyn to Bay Ridge–95th Street.
• An extension of the BMT Fourth Avenue Line east to the Fort Hamilton Parkway Line and the BMT West End Line.
• A two-track line from the BMT Fourth Avenue Line at 67th Street to Staten Island via the Staten Island Tunnel.
• An extension of the IRT New Lots Line from New Lots Avenue to Lefferts Boulevard.
• The IRT Flushing Line would be extended eastward to Bell Boulevard in Bayside via Main Street, Kissena Boulevard, and Northern Boulevard.
• A branch would be built off the IRT Flushing Line at Roosevelt Avenue to Jamaica.

Only some of Hylan's planned lines were completed. Completed lines included:

• An extension of the Fourth Avenue Line to 95th Street.
• Two major trunk lines in midtown Manhattan, one running under Eighth Avenue and one under Sixth Avenue, which already had an elevated line.
• A crosstown subway under 53rd Street (connecting with the Eighth and Sixth Avenue subways), running under the East River to Queens Plaza (Long Island City), meeting a Brooklyn–Queens crosstown line, and continuing under Queens Boulevard and Hillside Avenue to 179th Street, where bus service would converge.
• A subway under the Grand Concourse in the Bronx, diverging from the Eighth Avenue Line in Manhattan at 145th Street and Saint Nicholas Avenue.

Major Phillip Mathews disagreed with the Board of Transportation's plan. In response, he published a report on December 24, 1926, titled "Proposed Subway Plan for Subway Relief and Expansion." He stated that congestion in Brooklyn and the Bronx would not be addressed, except for the planned Grand Concourse line, which would ease congestion on the IRT Jerome Avenue Line. There would be little relief on the two lines jointly operated by the IRT and BMT. He proposed a new plan. He suggested connecting the Eighth Avenue Line to the BMT's lines to Coney Island via a connection from Fulton or Wall Streets to Chambers Street, with a possible connection at the south side of the Manhattan Bridge.

In Manhattan, he proposed a new four-track line running down Third Avenue from City Hall, with connections to the White Plains Road and Pelham Lines in the Bronx. This line would require construction to IRT clearances. At the line's southern end, a connection would be built to the Eastern Parkway Line near Franklin Avenue via a new set of tubes under the East River. To ease congestion on Queens lines, a new trunk line would run from Eighth Avenue in Manhattan to Jamaica, with transfers to north–south lines in Manhattan and Brooklyn crosstown service. This would later be built as the IND Queens Boulevard Line.

To expand subway service in Manhattan, he proposed extending the BMT Canarsie Line to Eighth Avenue. This was completed later. To connect outer boroughs, a four-track Brooklyn–Queens crosstown line would be designed, with the possibility of future extensions into the Bronx and Staten Island.

Subways to New Jersey

In 1926, a loop subway service was planned to connect New Jersey and New York City. The reason given was that the loop would be used in both directions, making its capacity as effective as two lines with two tracks each or one line with four tracks. This design included two crossings between New Jersey and New York. If built, the loop could have carried 192,500 passengers each hour, or about 4.62 million passengers daily. This estimate was based on 35 trains running each hour in both directions. Each train would have 11 cars, with 100 passengers per car. The project was planned in steps, with the IRT and BMT working together. Extensions of the IRT Flushing Line and BMT Canarsie Line were considered. The Canarsie Line would have reached Hoboken near the Palisades, while the Flushing Line would have extended to Franklin Street in Union City. However, the high cost and the Great Depression caused the plans to be abandoned.

In 1954, the Regional Plan Association proposed extending the BMT Canarsie Line from Eighth Avenue to Jersey City under the Hudson River. The tunnel would have cost $40 million. This extension would have connected to commuter rail lines in New Jersey, where many rail lines already met. A parking lot near the Pulaski Skyway and New Jersey Turnpike was also suggested. The project could have been built by the New York City Transit Authority, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, or the Bi-State Metropolitan Rapid Transit Commission.

In 1963, three major commuter groups in New Jersey proposed expanding the subway system. One plan involved extending the IRT Flushing Line under the Hudson River with a three-track tunnel, which would connect to the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad.

In 1986, the Regional Plan Association suggested extending the IRT Flushing Line to the Meadowlands Sports Complex in New Jersey.

On November 16, 2010, the idea was revisited when The New York Times reported that Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration was planning to extend the 7 subway line across the Hudson River to Hoboken and continue to Secaucus Junction in New Jersey. This extension would connect to most New Jersey Transit lines and provide direct access to Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan. It was part of the ongoing 7 Subway Extension project.

In April 2012, Joe Lhota, director of the MTA, said the extension was unlikely to be built soon, suggesting the Gateway Project was a better solution for traffic at Hudson River crossings. However, a 2013 feasibility study renewed interest in the plan. Mayor Bloomberg stated that extending the 7 train to Secaucus was a promising idea worth serious consideration.

In 2017, extending the 7 train to New Jersey was again proposed as an alternative to replacing the Port Authority Bus Terminal. This plan included a new terminal at Secaucus Junction alongside the subway extension. In February 2018, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey began hiring consultants to study the project’s feasibility. The study, expected to take 18 months, would involve input from the Port Authority, MTA, and NJ Transit. If built, the subway extension could help reduce congestion at the Gateway Project, which might become overcrowded by 2040.

1929–1939 plans

Before the city came together in 1940, the government of New York City planned to expand the subway system. This plan was called the IND Second System in newspaper articles of the time. Most of the expansion was meant to include new lines from the Independent Subway System (IND), not the BMT or IRT systems. The first plan was made in 1929 and was part of the city's IND system. By 1939, with plans to unite the subway systems, all three systems were included in the plans. However, very few of the proposed lines were built. Some areas were prepared for future expansion where the plans intersected.

The main lines in Manhattan were the Second Avenue Line (with an extension to the Bronx) and the Worth Street Line, which would connect to the Rockaways. The Rockaways were later served by the subway when the city took over the Long Island Rail Road’s Rockaway Beach Branch. A part of the Second Avenue Subway opened in January 2017. Most of the proposed lines were to be built as elevated subways, likely to save money. Most of the expansion was planned for Queens, with the original proposal suggesting 52 miles (84 km) of track in Queens alone.

The first plan was made on September 15, 1929, before the IND even opened. It includes details about the cost of construction, but not land acquisition or other expenses.

The IND expansion plan was revised in 1932. This plan had 60.93 route-miles (98.06 km), including 12.49 miles (20.10 km) in Manhattan, 12.09 miles (19.46 km) in the Bronx, 13.14 miles (21.15 km) in Brooklyn, and 23.21 miles (37.35 km) in Queens. It would include a new 34th Street crosstown line, a Second Avenue Subway line, a connection to the New York, Westchester and Boston Railway, and extensions of the IRT Nostrand Avenue Line, IRT Flushing Line, and BMT Astoria Line. It would have created a subway loop between 2nd and 10th Avenues, and 34th and 125th Streets. This plan did not include extensions to Whitestone, Queens, but instead focused on areas like Astoria and the Roosevelt Avenue corridor.

The plan would also take over local tracks from the New York, Westchester and Boston Railway and the Rockaway Beach Branch of the Long Island Rail Road.

Other plans proposed during the same time included:

• (1931 plan) A line branching from the Second Avenue Line north of Houston Street, running under East 16th Street, turning under Avenue C, merging with the Houston Street Line, and crossing the East River from Stanton Street toward the huge line under South Fourth Street.
• (1931 plan) A line branching 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.
• (1932 plan) A fast subway line connecting a terminal near the IRT Flushing Line and Whitestone Landing, operating over the Long Island Rail Road’s Whitestone Branch. This line would have been privately operated with a five-cent fare.
• (1939 plan) A line branching from the South Brooklyn (Culver) Line at Fort Hamilton Parkway or Church Avenue, running under Fort Hamilton Parkway to 86th Street. A branch would run under Ovington Avenue and Senator Street, with a tunnel under the Narrows to Staten Island at the St. George Terminal. The line would split, with one branch ending near Westervelt Avenue and the other near Grant Street. This plan was likely designed to connect to future lines on Staten Island. The Staten Island Tunnel started construction in 1923 to serve the BMT Fourth Avenue Line, but was not completed.
• (1940 plan, revised 1945) The IND Fulton Street Line would connect to what is now the IND Rockaway Line. A branch of the IND Fulton Street Line would end at a stub terminal at 105th Street. East of Euclid Avenue, the line would have four tracks until Cross Bay Boulevard, where the two branches would split.
• (unknown date) A third two-track tunnel under the East River, from the north side of the South Fourth Street/Union Avenue station (built for six tracks) west to Delancey Street.
• (unknown date) A line

1940–1999 plans

After World War II and until the late 1990s, the New York City Subway did not grow much. Only 28 new stations were added during this time, compared to the 393 stations that opened from the 1880s until before World War II. Many plans were made to expand the subway system during this period.

The New York City Board of Transportation updated its subway expansion plans and shared them in 1938 and 1940.

• A section of the IRT Ninth Avenue Line near 155th Street would connect to the IRT Lenox Avenue Line, allowing passengers on the Jerome Avenue Line to travel to Manhattan’s West Side. This plan was not completed because of the high cost of changing the third rail in the Sedgwick Avenue and Anderson–Jerome Avenues tunnel to fit new subway cars.
• The abandoned path of the New York, Westchester and Boston Railway would be restored and linked to the IRT Pelham Line.
• The IND Concourse Line would be extended eastward from 205th Street to Gun Hill Road.
• The Second Avenue Subway would start at Harding Avenue in the Bronx and connect to the Court Street station in Brooklyn. It would have two and four tracks, with a storage yard for equipment. The first part of the line would end at East 139th Street. The Main Line and its connections to other subway lines would cost $213.95 million, while the future Bronx extension would cost $130.16 million.
• The IRT Lenox Avenue Line would be extended to connect with the IRT Ninth Avenue Line.
• Two express tracks would be added to the IND Sixth Avenue Line between West 9th Street and West 31st Street for $19.27 million. This was needed for the Second Avenue Subway.
• The Seventh Avenue Line Extension would extend the Broadway Line north from 59th Street through a tunnel under Central Park to 72nd Street, then east into Queens via Northern Boulevard to Jackson Heights. It would be built as a two and four-track line, costing $89 million. A second phase would extend the line along Corona Avenue and Horace Harding Boulevard from Jackson Heights to Marathon Parkway, costing $51.82 million. A storage yard would be built. A connection to the Crosstown Line would be made at 23rd Street (Ely Avenue) for $10.95 million.
• A connection between the Seventh Avenue Extension and the Rockaway Line would be built at 99th Street for $9.2 million. The Rockaway Beach Branch of the LIRR would be bought and converted for subway use. Service to the Rockaway would be provided through a connection to the IND Queens Boulevard Line. The extension would cost $42.38 million. An additional $2.55 million would be spent on a two-track subway and open-cut connection between the Rockaway Line and the Fulton Street Line. Only the part south of Liberty Avenue was completed.
• The BMT Broadway Line would be extended from 57th Street–Seventh Avenue to 145th Street, running through Central Park and Morningside Drive.
• A crosstown line via Worth Street would branch off from the IND Eighth Avenue Line’s local tracks at Church Street. It would run along Worth Street and East Broadway to Lewis Street, costing $15.2 million. The line would tunnel under the East River from Lewis Street to Driggs Avenue, costing $18.5 million. The South Fourth Street junction would be completed.
• The IND Queens Boulevard Line and BMT Broadway Line would be connected at 11th Street, linking the Queens Boulevard Line’s local tracks at Queens Plaza with the BMT 60th Street Tunnel.
• The IND Queens Boulevard Line would be extended from 178th to 184th Streets.
• The IRT Flushing Line would be extended from Main Street to Bell Boulevard as a two and four-track line along Roosevelt Avenue. It would be built in a tunnel, embankment, and open cut, costing $12.07 million. An additional extension would run along 149th Street and 11th Avenue as an elevated line from Roosevelt Avenue to 122nd Street, costing $14.1 million.
• Subway service would be extended eastward along Hillside Avenue to Little Neck Parkway. This would be an extension of the IND Queens Boulevard Line as a four-track line to 212th Street and then as a two-track line to Little Neck Parkway. The segment to 184th Street would cost $3.455 million, while the segment to 212th Street would cost $16.355 million.
• A future line at Van Wyck Boulevard would be completed, and a new two-track line would be built to Rockaway Boulevard.
• The IND Fulton Street Line would be extended eastward to 106th Street as a four-track line, connecting to the IND Rockaway Line. It would then extend along Linden Boulevard to 229th Street in Eastern Queens. The line would have a two-track terminal at 105th or 106th Streets, with stops at 75th or 76th Streets, 84th or 85th Streets, and Cross Bay Boulevard. In 1951, plans included extending the line to 105th Street with a connection to the IND Rockaway Line east of Cross Bay Boulevard. In 2004, this idea was revisited with a track map. If built, Pitkin Avenue would be routed east instead of southeast at 80th Street, and Linden Boulevard between Conduit and Rockaway Boulevards would be built to support the line.
• A new IND line would run from the Lower East Side to Avenue U in Brooklyn, with a possible extension to Floyd Bennett Field. It would pass through Houston Street and Essex Street in Manhattan and Utica Avenue and Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn.
• Service on the IRT Nostrand Avenue Line would be extended down Nostrand Avenue to Voorhies Avenue in Sheepshead Bay as

21st-century expansion

The New York City Subway has opened five subway stations since 2009, and up to 15 more subway stations are planned. However, the 21st-century expansion plans are much smaller than some of the subway system's other previous plans.

The 7 Subway Extension was created in the late 1990s to extend the IRT Flushing Line, which carries the 7 local and <7> express services, further west into Manhattan. The extension is 1 mile (1.6 km) long, stretching from its old end at Times Square to a new western end at 34th Street and 11th Avenue. The tunnels are actually 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long. A second station at 10th Avenue–41st Street was removed from the plans in October 2007 but could be added again if money is found. The extension was originally scheduled to open in June 2014, with the rest of the 34th Street station to open by the end of 2015.

Michael Horodniceanu, chief of MTA Construction Company, told The New York Times that problems with installing an inclined elevator would likely delay the opening by about three months, pushing the date to very late summer or early fall of 2014. Additional delays in February 2014 moved the opening date to November 2014, then to February 2015, then to spring 2015, and finally to summer 2015. The station opened in September 2015.

As proposed under the RPA's Fourth Regional Plan, a second 7 Subway Extension would be built, serving 23rd Street before connecting with the existing 14th Street/Eighth Avenue station.

The Second Avenue Subway was delayed many times and reduced in size since 1919, starting as a six-track line and later becoming a two-track line. Construction began in 2007. A tunneling contract was given to the group Schiavone/Shea/Skanska (S3) by the MTA on March 20, 2007. This followed preliminary engineering and a final tunnel design completed by a team of Aecom and Arup. Parsons Brinckerhoff managed the construction. This contract, along with a funding agreement from the Federal Transit Administration received in November 2007, covers Phase I of the project, a new line between the existing 63rd Street Line and 96th Street and Second Avenue. The total cost of the 8.5-mile (13.7 km) line is expected to be more than $17 billion.

A ceremonial groundbreaking for the Second Avenue Subway was held in April 2007. The tunnel boring machine (TBM) started digging tunnels for Phase I in May 2010 and finished in September 2011. Phase I, which includes two miles (3.2 km) of tunnel and three stations, opened in January 2017. It cost $4.45 billion. A second phase, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long and costing $6 billion, is being planned. Land acquisition for Phase 2 began in April 2022. As of October 2023, Phase 2 is expected to open in early 2032.

The RPA's Fourth Regional Plan proposed two northward extensions. Phase 2B would extend Phase 2 under 125th Street from Lexington Avenue to Broadway. Phase 2C would be a branch to Third Avenue–149th Street, connecting with the IND Concourse Line.

A proposal for the LIRR Bay Ridge Branch would use existing tracks to link Brooklyn, Queens (already connected by the G train), and the Bronx via the Hell Gate Bridge. Inspired by Paris's RER commuter rail system, the Triboro RX proposal would create a partial loop around the city. In 1996, the RPA studied the feasibility of the rail link. The original plan would have ended at Yankee Stadium. The proposed line, discussed again in 2012, would connect to all non-shuttle subway services at 12 stations.

The line in this proposal would have ended at Hunts Point. The idea was revived in the 2015 report "The Overlooked Boroughs" by the RPA. The line would be 24 miles (39 km) long, have 22 stations, cost $1 billion, and serve more than 100,000 daily riders. Plans for the line date back to 1995.

Obstacles for the proposal include the planned Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel, the lack of electrification on the line, and single-tracking in some areas. The current plan would have its northern end at Co-Op City South using the Hell Gate Branch. The LIRR Bay Ridge Branch and the New York Connecting Railroad have freight trains operating on them, regulated by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). FRA rules require a certain distance between freight and passenger trains that share tracks, making it unclear if the tracks are wide enough or if stronger train cars are needed. The RPA's 2015 plan suggested using FRA-compliant light rail vehicles on the line. The line would provide transit access to areas without it in Glendale and Middle Village in Queens, as well as in Flatlands and Canarsie in Brooklyn.

In mid-October 2019, the MTA announced it would study restoring passenger service on the Bay Ridge Branch. In early January 2022, Governor Kathy Hochul announced the state would study the Interborough Express (IBX), a 14-mile (23 km) route using the existing Bay Ridge Branch and Fremont Secondary from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, to Jackson Heights, Queens. Travel times are expected to be less than 40 minutes, with weekday ridership projected at 115,000. The route would connect to 17 subway lines and the Long Island Rail Road. The MTA said in September 2022 it wanted to build the IBX as a light rail line, and Hochul announced in January 2023 the project would proceed as a light rail corridor.

The Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) stopped using the Rockaway Beach Branch in 1962. Efforts to restart train service on the line have faced local opposition, especially from homeowners along the route. One group, QueensLink, wants the line to connect the 63rd Drive–Rego Park station on the IND Queens Boulevard Line to the IND Rockaway Line, creating a north-south link in Queens. Another group proposes turning the right-of-way into a public park called the Queensway, inspired by the High Line in Manhattan. A third group wants the line to remain untouched.

Talks to restart the line were supported in February 2012 by Assemblymen Phillip Goldfeder and Michael G. Miller. Goldfeder said, "The commute for people here is only going to get worse. You can't talk about a convention center without talking about transportation." Goldfeder and Miller said they are not against turning parts of the line into a park but noted that residents in the Rockaways,