Well, sort of. @ImPaulGale shared this photo from the Second Avenue F stop this afternoon... showing MTA workers putting in new maps to reflect the Second Avenue Subway ... the new line, set to commence on Jan. 1, will bring Q train service to 63rd Street, 72nd Street, 86th Street and 96th Street.
12 comments:
(Spoken Breathlessly)...Still can't believe and won't believe it till I actually step in there and ride it...They have been drilling this and talking about it since I was a kid in the sixties...
Billions of dollars spent to save people a 9 minute walk from getting to or from Lex, Park, Lafayette, 4th? Sounds about right.
Interestingly, phase 2 of this project is slated to run from 96th to 125th Street; there are currently no plans (or funding) to bring it any farther south than 63rd Street. For years the MTA has been promising that this line would help the overcrowding of the 4,5, and 6 trains; guess none of them have ever seen Union Square during rush hour, or realized that far more people would utilize it from 63rd down than 96th up?
At 6:40 PM, Gojira said:
For years the MTA has been promising that this line would help the overcrowding of the 4,5, and 6 trains; guess none of them have ever seen Union Square during rush hour, or realized that far more people would utilize it from 63rd down than 96th up?
Just a wild guess…they want to make housing look more attractive on the UES and in East Harlem by providing another transportation option.
Thanks for sharing! I've been a diehard fan for 4 years. Your work makes me feel very connected to the neighborhood. Happy to contribute ^_^
A good portion of the 2nd Avenue Subway tunnel work in Harlem was done in the 70s, and it stretches all the way up to 120th St, so it makes sense to finish that part next since some of the tunnels are already there. There was some work done on a tunnel between 2nd St and 9th St on 2nd Avenue before the money ran out in the 70s. It would be interesting to go down there and see what it looks like now. There's also a tunnel that was built in Chnatown underneath Confucius Towers that runs between Canal and Pell St. on the Bowery, so the 2nd Ave subway actually becomes the 3rd Avenue or Bowery subway when it goes past Houston St. Eventually it will run all the way from Harlem to Chinatown. Eventually.
There will be hobbits riding unicorns and gremlins leading hippogriffs when the opening ceremony takes place in the Emerald City on the corner of "Believe it" and "Or Not".
@Giovanni--I think I remember that when they were doing the excavation below Second Ave and Ninth Street they found a couple of sealed up speakeasys, notably one under what was the old Orchiidia (now Starbucks). Anyone else remember this?
I don't believe it for a second.
To Giovanni - don't believe any tunnel was built on 2 Ave from 2 to 9 Street. Either it was excavated and filled back in, or simply utilities were relocated. But no tunnel down there.
@10:50 am You are correct, there was excavation work done between 2nd and 9th St but they ran out of money before construction could begin. The question is how far did they get with the excavation, and what did they do to seal it up or fill it back in? Some of the problems they had while excavating involved dewatering due to the high water line and dealing with the water logged silt that Manhattan sits on. They also had to deal with a lot of old burial grounds that are still located throughout the area, I imagine they were doing this section because they planned to build a transfer point to join the 2nd Avenue Subway with F trains on Houston St. so this part required some more work.
@10:22AM I don't remeber the speakeasy under Starbucks, but I'm sure they will soon start serving liquor like everyone else.
The timeline on this project given how badly the relief of the Lexington Ave is need is absolutely a testament to poor capitalization of infrastructure needs and management. This project is proposed with four phases phase 1 completed (little more then a transit spur) phase 2 not started with phase 3 & 4 left in doubt. The entire line is needed this is no bridge to no where it will be greatly used and relieve what are unsafe and overly congested conditions on the Lexington line.The MTA is funding phase 2 from its Capital budget meaning phase 3 and 4 maybe greater than a decade away. Phase 2 and 3 should be started together and constructed in the same timeline. The city should finance phase 3 over four years from its own Capital Budget. A subway line that runs from 125 Street to Houston accomplishes a lot. The final segment can be done by the MTA when a new Capital plan is in place.
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