New, "21st Century" South Ferry Subway Terminal

Yesterday, the MTA offered a first look at the new $530-million South Ferry subway terminal. The project, the bulk ($420 million) funded by the feds, is an definite upgrade. Second Ave. Sagas went on the tour and reports:

The current station at South Ferry is more than a bit decrepit. It’s a tiny station with room for five cars, and since it’s on a steep curve, it employs movable platforms. Somehow, it also serves six million passengers a year bound for Staten Island, Lady Liberty and all points in between...

So what can you get for $527 million these days? Well, for starters, we get 1800 feet of total construction. Of that, 1200 of those feet are a part of a brand new tunnel with the remainder serving as the station.

Instead of just one track, we now have two ten-car tracks. The station will serve as a bona fide terminal. As such, according to the MTA, the potential capacity along the 1 line will increase from around 17 trains an hour to up to 24, and the easing of the Lower Manhattan bottleneck could shave six minutes off of a trip from 242nd St. to South Ferry. The station is also equipped with signals ready for computer-based train control, if and when the MTA gets that program off the drawing board and into the tunnels.

This also means the platform is full-length—no more rushing to the front of the car to leave. There's also "tempered air" (air-circulation!), loads of security cameras and a gorgeous mosaic map of Manhattan. MTA Capital Construction executive Uday Dorg mentioned the rubber panels under the rail ties that will absorb noise, "You don't get the same screeching noise when the train pulls into the station." And the Daily News also noted MTA Capital Construction president Michael Horodniceanu's proud proclamation, "It's a real 21st Century station."

The Advance says the old station will become train storage for "two or three extra trains on hand for rush hours." And the NY Times found the station a little sterile and clinical, what with the gleaming white tile, but maybe that's because it's...clean.

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By Jen Chung in News on December 12, 2008 12:40 PM

Comments [rss]

Brooklynbobby

I can't wait to hear Bloomberg take credit for it. It is an election year, after all.

colmarsh

This looks like a station of the future. And a great gateway to the city. This kind of public work needs to happen during times of uncertainty.

ny2102

17 - It did not begin a decade ago, it began 5 years ago in 2003.

cool

16 - the reason why this effort was worth the money is that MTA can increase the number of trains on the line from 17 to 24. That dramatically improves service to every station on the line.

Asphyxia8

As #9 pointed out above, this renovation was DESPERATELY needed! And keep in mind, this particular station services the entire bottom of the island including a large chunk of the downtown/financial district, so I'm not questioning the importance of it or amount of money being spent -- just the time it's taken, and, presumably, will continue to take to finish the damn project. Remember, it began almost a decade ago and is still nowhere near completion. Le sigh.

Nyctini11

I just can't understand why they would spend soooo much money on one station instead ofdistributing that to all burroughs for repairs or at least fixing more then 1 station. Yes i agree it's pretty, but i think if it comes to art or repairs in other stations, repairs seem more necessary.

Also, what are smart escalators? will they still be smart even when there are idiots on them ;-)

Asphyxia8

I'll believe it when I see it! They've been workiing on this damn thing since before I moved here 8 yrs ago!!! Two years ago the signs said it would be completed in 2008; last year they said it would be completed in 2009; this year they say it will be completed in 2010. Anyone wanna bet when the next new signs will go up indicating that it will be completed in 2011? I'm guessing maybe Aug/Sept 2009.

A-8

MaiaW

Wow. Amazing to see the MTA doing something right for a change. It's too bad so much of the rest of the system is a mess.

mmlanglie

Totally cool. I know some of the folks who worked to preserve the Battery Wall when it was discovered during the digging for the station---I'm thrilled to see part of it installed here.

matty

Sorry I'm hungover and am brain dumb.

ny2102

matty - a mockup? Really? This is the actual station, and will open in a few weeks.

jm1975

What stations are closed?

MT

No, a renovation of the existing station would not have been sufficient. Anyone who has used that station knows it is completely in adequate. It hadn't been upgraded since it was built 100 years ago. Maybe if there was space to extend the platform to make it full length you could have had an argument for renovation, but as it is, the station was irredeemable.Not to mention it has one exit that would have been a deathtrap in the event of a fire. We're lucky there wasn't a disaster down there. It would have been a guaranteed death sentence to anyone in the station at the time.

Meanwhile the two stations that serviced the WTC remain closed because if they opened them again THEY WOULD OPEN ON TO A GAPING CONSTRUCTION PIT.

Anymore ignorance longacre?

starrygordon

Usually public works of this kind are a prelude or concomitant of some kind of significant gentrification. Some attempts have been made to gentrify northern Staten Island over the last few decades but with little success so far. It's still home to Nigerians, Albanians, Pakistanis, displaced hipters, and such. How can we get those of golden hair and long pockets to move there? It's too much like the suburbs they're trying to escape from.

longacre

#4: A renovation of the existing station would have been sufficient. Instead MTA managed to skim half a billion bucks from 9/11 funds for a station that had nothing to do with 9/11, while two stations actually at World Trade Center will remain closed indefinitely.

matty

Look absolutely beautiful! I don't get it though, are these pics of the actual station or a mockup of it?

Internet Handle

Looks like a great station.

hungryghoast

what's the over-under for complaints about "waste of money" and/or raising subway fair on this thread?

Wza

Cool!

Looks nice!

I wonder how long it will be before we start seeing ooze from the ceiling or tiles falling apart?

Alex

It looks beautiful. All the little touches are nice with the trees, map of manhattan, and battery wall. It does look very sterile and white and evokes images of more modern subways like the one in Shanghai. This is the subway of the future and the future looks awesome. Hopefully Barry will give some of that stimulus money to the MTA so more like this can happen.

Think2wice

No mention of platform doors to keep garbage, drunks, and crazed-homeless-men's victims out of the rail bed.

How soon will it turn into this.