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 year. New commute.
NEW YORK, NY – Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (NY-12), longtime champion of the new Second Avenue Subway who led the charge to secure $1.3 billion in federal funding for the project, joined Governor Andrew Cuomo, elected officials, and other community activists for the inaugural ride of the new subway line today. Following the ride, the Congresswoman released the following statement:
New York, (NY) December 20, 2016 – Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (NY-12), joined by Dottie Herman, Chief Executive of Douglas Elliman Real Estate, the Second Avenue Merchants Association, and the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, hailed a real estate and economic boom for New York City once the decades-long awaited Second Avenue Subway Line at last opens December 31, 2016.
NEW YORK—Today, Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (NY-12) joined with Congressman-elect Adriano Espaillat (NY-13) and local elected officials to call on the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to include the Second Avenue Subway Phase 2 Project in New Starts Project Development (PD) under the FTA’s Capital Investment Grant Program.
NEW YORK—Today, Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney was joined by community advocates, 2nd Ave Subway business owners, transit rider advocates and local elected officials to release her final report card on the MTA’s progress towards completing Phase 1 of the 2nd Avenue Subway.
A triumphant U.S. Rep Carolyn Maloney (D-Astoria), joined by community advocates, neighborhood business owners, transit advocates and elected officials proclaimed Tuesday that the long-awaited Second Avenue subway is about to become a reality.
“The MTA tells me as of Oct. 1 the project was 98 percent complete,” said Maloney. “With that news, I am proud to be able to give them an A-plus on my final report card on the progress of Phase 1.”She also gave the overall $1.3 billion project a final grade of A-plus.
WASHINGTON – During Thursday’s hearing of the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee (JEC), Ranking Democrat Carolyn B. Maloney (NY-12) called for a balanced approach to the federal budget, including both policies to deal with long-term drivers of the debt and policies to lay the groundwork for economic growth.
New Yorkers who've waited decades for a subway line on Second Avenue may not agree, but the long-running and nearly completed project is getting high marks from a Congresswoman who was vital in securing federal funds to build the line. Transit Reporter Jose Martinez has the story.
The nearly century-long effort to bring a subway to Second Avenue is not done yet as the clock ticks down toward a hoped-for December opening of three new stations.