2nd Avenue Subway
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Building the Second Avenue Subway has been one of my top priorities since I was first elected to Congress. New York City’s subway system has not added capacity in over 60 years, and we need to expand. Passengers on the Lexington Avenue line have the dubious distinction of riding on the most overcrowded subway line in the entire nation. There is a limit to the number of people that can be crammed into one subway car, but the Lex line seems to have exceeded that limit. A Second Avenue Subway offers a much-needed alternative for commuters. The full length subway, which will run from 125th Street to lower Manhattan, will also reach underserved neighborhoods on the East Side.
One of two New Start projects in the city (the other, East Side Access, is also in my district), the Second Avenue Subway has been rated by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) as one of the best in the country. The former Administrator of the FTA, Jenna Dorn, told me that the best work she had ever seen submitted was the MTA’s submission on the Second Avenue Subway.
The project is being divided into four phases. The first phase will create new tracks and tunnels from 99th Street to 63rd Street, with new stations at 96th, 86th and 72nd Street. The new line will then link onto existing underused Q train tracks and provide a one seat ride to lower Manhattan and Brooklyn. When completed, the Second Avenue Subway will move 202,000 people, more than any other New Start project in the nation. With strong support from the entire New York Congressional delegation and our two Senators, we broke ground for the subway in April 2007. The MTA completed construction of the two tunnels for the subway on September 22, 2011, five months ahead of the February 2012 expected completion date. Construction is also well underway for the 96th Street, 86th Street, 72nd Street and 63rd Street entrances.
The first phase of the project will cost approximately $4.4 billion, and the lion’s share of the funding is already committed. On November 19, 2007, the FTA entered into a full funding grant agreement with the MTA, committing the federal government to provide $1.3 billion to construct the Second Avenue Subway, of which more than $900 million has already been appropriated. The state is obligated to provide the remaining $3.1 billion. Thanks to the leadership of Speaker Sheldon Silver, New York State appropriated $1.05 billion in its 2000-2004 capital plan. In 2005, New York State voters approved another $450 million from the Transportation Bond Act. As a symbol of the support for the project, the East Side of Manhattan cast more votes in support of the Transportation Bond Act than any other area of the state. The remainder is expected to be allocated in the state’s 2010–2014 and 2015-2019 capital plans.
Documents
02/03/09 - Report on the Economic Benefits of the Second Avenue Subway and East Side Access
9/15/09 - First Annual 2nd Avenue Subway Report Card.
9/15/09 - Second Annual 2nd Avenue Subway Report Card.
More on 2nd Avenue Subway
NEW YORK, NY – An announcement of new, major milestones in the Second Avenue Subway was given today in a presentation by Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (NY-12), Dr. Michael Horodniceanu, MTA Capital Construction Company President, and elected officials. Phase 1 of the project is now 960 days from completion, and will be finished in December 2016. The Second Avenue Subway is among the largest infrastructure projects in the country, and the elected officials and the MTA provided a description of the project’s progress with a detailed presentation and several charts. They also discussed their goals for the rest of the project, as Phase 1 gets closer to completion.
WASHINGTON — Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (NY-12) today released the following statement in support of the 2014 Consolidated Appropriations Act.
“This legislation offers a substantial improvement in how we fund our nation’s priorities. I commend Chairman Rogers and Ranking Member Lowey for their success in finding the compromise necessary to avert another government shutdown."
WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (NY-12) today lauded a decision by Congressional negotiators to fully fund both the East Side Access (ESA) and Second Avenue Subway (SAS) projects in the omnibus appropriations bill that is expected to be approved later this week. New York will receive $215 million for the ESA and $14.6 million for the SAS. Both figures reflect the funding levels requested by the Obama Administration. For SAS, the funding represents the last remaining installment due from the federal government under the full funding grant agreement signed between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).
New York, NY – In recognition of the MTA reaching the halfway mark in building Phase I of the Second Avenue Subway, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (NY-12) issued a report card -- the fourth in a series -- to take stock of the MTA’s progress. Maloney was joined by elected officials on the corner of 72nd Street and 2nd Avenue, where a muck house for the removal of blasting debris has recently been dismantled. The MTA has completed all tunnel boring, awarded all ten of the contracts for the project, completed most of the blasting, begun dismantling muck houses and has remained on time and on budget for four straight years. In recognition of the significant progress to date, the MTA earns an overall B+, up from a B on the last report card released in 2011.
New York, NY – Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) responded to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s report that the first phase of the Second Avenue Subway is more than half completed with the following statement:
NEW YORK, NY, April 23, 2013 – Today, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (NY-12) hailed the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) announcement that the “muck houses” on Second Avenue at 72nd and 69th Streets will be removed now that all blasting has been completed and the debris has largely been cleared. In addition, the MTA has issued its final set of Requests for Proposals for the first phase of the Second Avenue Subway.
New York, NY – Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (D-Manhattan, Queens) celebrated the news this week that tunnel-boring had been completed on the East Side Access project, which will connect Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) to Grand Central Terminal, and is the largest mass transit initiative under construction anywhere in the United States.
Washington, DC – Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) today hailed the inclusion of $123,384,621 for the Second Avenue Subway and $215,000,000 for the East Side Access project connecting Long Island Railroad to Grand Central Terminal in the House Transportation, Housing & Urban Development (THUD) appropriation proposed for Fiscal Year 2013, which was presented to the House Appropriations Committee today. Both figures reflect the amounts requested for each project by the Obama administration in its proposed FY ’13 budget.
New York, NY – Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan, Queens) today hailed the awarding by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) of $197,182,000 in funds for the Second Avenue Subway. Representative Maloney has fought for decades to secure federal funding for the vital infrastructure project, which is one of the biggest in the nation and will add the first new capacity to New York City’s sprawling underground transit network in more than sixty years. The Subway is located almost entirely in New York’s 14th Congressional District, which Maloney represents.
New York, NY – U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan, Queens) today hailed the inclusion in President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2013 budget proposal of $123 million for the Second Avenue Subway and $215 million for East Side Access. Maloney has fought for years to secure federal funding for both transit projects, which are among the largest in the country and are located almost entirely in New York’s 14th Congressional District, which Maloney represents.