12 Amazing Underground Photos Of New York City's Newest Massive Subway Tunnels
After 90 years of planning and delays, construction of the Second Avenue subway is in full swing, and seeing remarkable progress.
The initial phase of the line will run from Manhattan's 96th street to 63rd street but there are plans to extend the line into lower Manhattan.
This will be the first line built in New York City since 1932 and with the high volume of public transportation congestion around the east side of Manhattan, this construction has long been necessary.
The first phase of the new subway line, which will pass through 72nd Street, 86th Street and 96th Street as well as connect to the existing line at 63rd Street, is expected to open in December 2016.
Some Upper East Side residents are upset at the prospect of subway entrances ruining the aesthetic and cleanliness of the area, bringing in rodents and other less appealing things that come with living in an urban area. In fact, residents of 86th Street, where the city has proposed to position an entrance to the Second Avenue Subway, have gone so far as to hire lawyers and have sued the MTA twice in an attempt to move the subway entrance to another location.
Nonetheless, the first lawsuit was dismissed and the most recent lawsuit they filed against the MTA is similar and will likely have no real affect on the construction of the entrance.
"The MTA has no interest in delaying a project that will benefit hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers in order to appease the parochial self-interests of a select few,” an MTA spokesman stated in response to the lawsuits, calling them “frivolous”.
Right on, MTA spokesman. If you have not seen photos of the subway line yet, here are some images that capture the remarkable work that has been put forth to extend the NYC metro system, courtesy of the MTA's Flickr account.
Eastside Access (between Queens and Manhattan):
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The Second Avenue Line (On Manhattan's east side):
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The New 86 Street Second Avenue Station
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