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Yesterday's Second Avenue Subway groundbreaking was notable for a few things: First of all, as we all know by now, it's was the fourth groundbreaking - three occurred in the 1970s, so yesterday's event was an introduction to the pomp and pageantry of subway groundbreakings for many of us. Second, it was pouring. When it rains at weddings, some people say that's lucky (though we suspect it's just to make the couple feel better). We say it's lucky that parts of the subway were already built, so the dignitaries and MTA official gathered could stay relatively dry.
And third, Mayor Bloomberg wasn't there, as he was off in Ohio to discuss his campaign against illegal guns. Since the last three groundbreakings had mayors but came to naught, maybe this was also an auspicious sign of better luck. Everyone was in high spirits: MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow even invoked Passover when he said, "Why is this groundbreaking different from all the other groundbreakings?" ("This time, we have the money and the political will."). Elected officials smiled for cameras, but had to use mini-pickaxes for the ceremonial groundbreaking (might be a union thing).
Who knows how far the Second Avenue Subway will get - we think of it as the "Haley's comet" of subway projects. This time around, there are more secured funds from state and federal sources, so that's hopeful. And the future of the Second Avenue Subway is exciting, especially when you see these renderings of what stations, such as a new one at 2nd Avenue and 96th, are supposed to look like. (Another rendering after the jump)
The NY Times reports that the MTA did $40,000 of cleanup to make the tunnel clean for the groundbreaking. There was, sadly, no mention of the child who drew the picture in the photograph at top - we imagine elementary kids are being told "The Legend of the Second Avenue Subway" when they learn about transit history in the second grade!
Our posts on the Second Avenue Subway. And the Straphangers' Gene Russianoff had this to say about the Second Avenue subway: "Unfortunately the core repair program’s progress is in doubt, given the MTA’s shaky finances. Riders will be asked to bear the costs of paying back bonds to fund expansion projects. Over the next four years, riders will pay about $642 million in debt service for both East Side Access and Second Avenue. We support the project, but that money didn’t come from heaven
Photograph at top by Mary Altaffer/AP; renderings courtesy of the MTA
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dear jen: one does not "draw a photograph."
Ack! Good call - thank you.
why do they want to reinvent the wheel with these stations? the classic, simple green entrances are the shit....now we have to have crappy glass ones like every other city in the world?? those are going to look great after a few months of dirt, snow, grime, and graffiti by the way
Well, maybe they want to keep the air-conditioned air in, or make it so people don't slip when the rain or snow covers the stairs? Maybe you forgot that the original entrances were glassed in, and the current shape is from the 20s and 30s.
I would like to see more green metal, rather than silver. But that storefront entrance is cool.
Are they condemning property and throwing people out on the street so they can do fancy shmancy entrances?
www.forgotten-ny.com
"And the future of the Second Avenue Subway is exciting, especially when you see these renderings of what stations, such as a new one at 2nd Avenue and 96th, are supposed to look like"
exciting? the stations look like glass cockroaches
Don't worry. It will look nothing like that. How many stations are out in the open like that and not either simply a staircase wedged in next to a building or actually through an existing building?
off the top of my head, i can think of at least 4 in manhattan that are like that: franklin st., astor place, 72nd street, and city hall.
What's the point of three or four lousy steps leading up to the subway entrances? Is it to prevent rainwater from flooding the token booth/turnstile/ticket machine area? I can just picture bikes chained to those handrails.
Hopefully they won't end up looking like this. Commenter #6--good call, they really do look like glass cockroaches!
Q? T? Hey, it's the Cutie line!
Ew. That is ugly. Thanks for wasting my tax dollars.
wait 'til the glass gets all etched up
I have to wonder -- is that kid's drawing in the top photo possibly left over from the last groundbreaking, making it a time capsule of sorts? That would make the artist in his/her early 40's... kinda sad!
The child who drew that terrible picture of the second avenue subway should be lobotomized. Do you call that a picture?? Talk about no talent.
What a waste of sidewalk space. The entrances don't need to be so big.
Though I give them credit for at including elevators.
off the top of my head, i can think of at least 4 in manhattan that are like that: franklin st., astor place, 72nd street, and city hall.
Yeah. Four. Out of. . . ? So where along Second Ave does the city own the land to do this anyway? Is this why they are buying buildings or is that just to dig access tunnels?
The New York Post had a good story in this (their real estate coverage is usually pretty good). Everytime there has been plans, groundbreaking, or any progress on the 2nd Avenue Subway, a deep recession or depression has followed within a year. This has happened three times now.
The reason is that only at the end of a boom/ bubble does the city and state actually get the tax money to do something about this. Then the downturn comes, the money dries up, and work halts. That is why construction has been taking so long.
Even the federal funds may not help, since the federal budget is not particularly healthy now either.
"Three earlier groundbreakings in the '70s" -- oy gevalt! You have come so late to the scene. The 2nd Avenue line was first planned in 1927; on the basis of this proposal, both the 2nd Avenue and 3rd Avenue els were demolished. (Yes, the East Side once had THREE mass transit lines, not one.) The 1929 crash put paid to the original proposal.
In 1948, City voters approved a transit bond issue which, they were promised, would support the 2nd Avenue subway. Instead, the money went mostly to platform extensions, allowing full-length trains to serve all stations -- the last of these projects is now underway at South Ferry.
The '70s project left two unconnected tunnels -- one in Spanish Harlem, one at Chatham Square -- and, as a by-product, the reconstruction of 2nd Avenue between 14th and Houston Streets. (At the time, the street was paved with stone Belgian blocks.)
When that project was announced, I told my firends, "I expect to make the first ride on the 2nd Avenue subway to collect my first Social Security check."
OK, Social Security has arrived before the 2nd Avenue line. So, as Paul Simon advises, "I continue to continue." Still available for tours!
The city is not evicting residents and businesses just to build fancy entrances. In fact, years down the road, I think we can all expect the design elements to become cheaper first, like they are at the new Fulton Street Transit Center.