Last night, a construction worker died after being hit by falling concrete while working in a tunnel under Grand Central Terminal. According to the Daily News, Michael O'Brien "was killed Thursday night in the collapse of a railroad tunnel deep under Park Ave., despite his father’s heroic efforts to save him... The young worker’s father, who was working alongside him, frantically tried to revive his son with CPR as workers rushed him through a network of tunnels to a waiting ambulance at E. 48th St. and Park Ave., the source said." more ›

In two caverns 150 feet deep below Grand Central Terminal, work is underway on a project to connect the Long Island Rail Road to Grand Central Terminal. Contractors are removing enough dirt to fill 13,000 Olympic-sized pools, to make room for platforms and tracks underneath the lower level of Grand Central. And a new LIRR concourse is being built under Metro-North Railroad's upper level, which will provide commuters with 91,000 square feet of public space, including shops and pathways to Grand Central, the subway system and the street above. It's a big, difficult job, as the MTA explains: more ›

Yesterday, Representative Carolyn Maloney released a report detailing how construction for the Second Avenue Subway, as well as the East Side Access plan, have helped out the economy. According to the findings, the Second Ave Subway has created 16,00 jobs, generated $842 million in wages, and produced $2.87 billion in economic activity, while East Side Access has created 22,000 jobs, generated $1.176 billion in wages, and produced $4 billion in economic activity. And by the endShe said, “The stock market may be slumping, but these two transit megaprojects are delivering a very healthy return on the federal and state investments in them... While these projects won’t cure everything that ails our economy, they are a huge help in getting us back on track.” Read the report (PDF). Last month, NY1 focused on 2nd Avenue businesses that have taken a hit since the dig—Second Avenue Business Association says, "Within the first six months of the construction process commencing, business declined between 15 and 20 percent." more ›

This morning, the first-ever State of the MTA Address was given, with MTA CEO and Executive Director Elliot Sander Sander emphasizing the MTA was born 40 years ago out of crisis and needed federal, state, and municipal cooperation to get things done (in other words, nothing changes!). more ›

The MTA unveiled its 2008-2013 Capital Plan, which explained almost $30 billion will be needed to improve mass transit and complete projects like the Second Avenue Subway, the East Side Access plan and more by 2030 (many of those projects will also be delayed). Though the current MTA capital plan doesn't expire until next year, the MTA presented this plan because the state congestion pricing legislation required them to present a plan by the end of the first quarter of 2008. more ›

The art group collected under the name Flux Factory is being pushed out of their Queens warehouse gallery to make way for the MTA's $6.3 billion East Side Access project. more ›

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Yesterday, the MTA lowered the first of many parts of the Tunnel Boring Machine into the lower level of the 63rd Street tunnel as part of the MTA’s East Side Access project. The lowering itself could have been dismissed by passersby as just some sort of generic routine construction work, but it was much more than just moving a boring machine. When finally assembled in about two months, the 600-ton automated Spanish-owned and Italian-made machine will dig its way beneath the streets of Manhattan the tunnel that will finally bring the Long Island Rail Road into Grand Central Terminal. more ›

This map isn't necessarily brand new, but it is a nice look at the MTA's big East Side Access project, which will connect the LIRR to Grand Central Terminal. amNew York (which has a gallery) and the NY Times visited the tunnel near 63rd Street and 2nd Avenue, where parts for the tunnel boring machine are being delivered. The TBM will then drill through rock to extend an existing tunnel to Grand Central. Fun fact via AMNY: After the TBM eats through stone, the pieces "about the size of 'buffalo chips,' according to one contractor on the site, are pulled out by conveyor belt." more ›

usher the MTA into an era of high ridership and capital improvement and help ed set up many big projects (Second Avenue Subway, East Side Access). But he also oversaw the agency during the transit strike. more ›

MTA Chairman Peter S. Kalikow announced that he is stepping down from his position as chairman of the MTA. Kalikow, who was appointed by then Governor George Pataki back in 2001, was reappointed to a 6-year term last summer, which suggested there might be battles ahead between him and new governor Eliot Spitzer. But at the end of 2006, Kalikow said he would step down during the second quarter of this year, after finishing up some projects, like the Second Avenue Subway. Here are some quotes from the MTA press release:

“I am a firm believer in setting aggressive goals, accomplishing those goals and then giving others the opportunity to both expand upon those initiatives and create new ones with fresh vision and new energy,” said Kalikow. “As both a longtime public servant and an avid supporter of term limits as a means to maintain healthy and effective government leadership, I believe the public will be best served by my decision.” more ›

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. more ›

The federal government has approved $2.6 billion in funding for the East Side Access project. The project would link the LIRR and Grand Central, in an effort to relieve congestion at Penn Station as well as cross-town congestion. NY1 reports that the "deal is being called the single largest transit investment in American history." Governor Pataki and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters signed the "Full Funding Grant Agreement" at Grand Central. Pataki said, "This project – underway right now – it is going to open up Grand Central and the east side to tens of thousands of commuters from Long Island, commuters who currently take the train into Penn Station and then have to get back to the Grand Central area." more ›

Five different riders' groups - the Straphangers Campaign, the Empire State Passengers Association, the Institute for Rational Urban Mobility in New York, the New Jersey Association of Railroad Passengers and the Lackawanna Coalition in New Jersey - sent a letter to NYC officials citing concerns that plans for railways and a commuter terminal are dangerous. The MTA and NJ Transit are planning new tunnels and a station that are 100-150 feet underground, and the natural worry is that it will take too long to evacuate people in an emergency. The MTA's East Side Access plan, which would make the Long Island Rail Road available from Grand Central, would have passengers takes "16 high-speed escalators" that would take them 150 feet below, while NJ Transit is planning for new tunnels (can't trust Amtrak's!) under Herald Square. The NY Times reports that the groups made the letter public after they got a cursory response from the NYPD - they sent the letter to Commissioner Ray Kelly, who had one of his people send a letter to MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow to "[take] any action you deem appropriate." more ›

When we hear things like, "and there...a city lies within a city" we get pretty excited. When the city within the city is Grand Central Terminal, we set the DVR right away. Tonight on the National Geographic Channel, Inside Grand Central airs at 8pm. more ›

Finally, the MTA is admitting that the Second Avenue Subway will be delayed for "at least two years." At an MTA meeting, Mysore L. Nagaraja, the president of the MTA's capital construction (which sounds like a cool but terribly frustrating job) announced this news, saying that the transit bond that voters will vote on this fall will affect the plans; Governor Pataki and the State did not give the MTA even half of the $7.9 billion they requested earlier. While civic leaders are upset, we're sure some Second Avenue residents and business owners are temporarily relieved. An analyst says that the Second Avenue subway, the T-Line, could generate $1.2 billion annually if built, which makes Gothamist wonder how much further, even with that money, the MTA would be in the red. Gothamist will go out on a limb and say that the Second Avenue subway project will gain traction after Spitzer or some other Governor's second term. Or maybe there will be more bonds created to support it. The other project that is being put on ice is the LIRR's Grand Central to Penn Station East Side Access plan. That plan has more of a chance, State wise, of passing since it involves non-New Yorkers as well...man, we despise Pataki. more ›

- ...this news is less great in light of 600 token booth clerks losing their jobs, as the MTA continues to find ways to cut costs. The Daily News reports that 49 round-the-clock and 115 part-time booths will be closed. The MTA says that stations where booths have been closed have not seen any jumps in crime, but the NYC Transit Rider Council says, "People feel less safe when they don't see a token person there. Whether it is perception or reality, that's the way they feel." more ›