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.
Fun reading: The MTA's Second Avenue Subway Planning Study. And Gothamist on the Second Avenue Subway.
