Second Avenue Subway's Harlem Extension Clears Federal Hurdle

HARLEM, NY — The decades-old dream of extending the Second Avenue subway up to East Harlem picked up steam this week with the news that it had moved into the next stage of the federal funding process.

The $6 billion project will extend the Q train up to 125th Street from its current terminus at 96th Street — adding stops along the way at 106th and 116th streets.

On Thursday, local officials announced that U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg had moved the project into the engineering phase, allowing experts to more closely assess its impact before it is approved.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer was among the officials who spoke with Buttigieg, and told the Daily News that the move all but assures federal funding will come.

"Once they do the engineering, they don’t typically turn it down," he said. "We're on the fast-track."

After appearing to be in jeopardy during New York's pandemic-induced fiscal crisis, the Second Avenue Subway extension was reinvigorated by November's federal infrastructure bill, which provided billions for transit work — including a portion that will likely go toward the subway line, state officials have said.

"This moves us into the home stretch towards full funding and the start of construction on this incredibly important project," said Gov. Kathy Hochul, who led reporters on an underground tour of the future subway tunnel last fall.

U.S. Reps. Adriano Espaillat and Carolyn Maloney, whose districts both include portions of the subway extension, also hailed this week's news.

The Second Avenue Subway project is moving down the tracks! Just spoke with @SecretaryPete, who shared the good news that the project is moving into the engineering phase. Look forward to working with @MTA to deliver for the residents of East Harlem. pic.twitter.com/iYFnVTiyAX
— Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) January 6, 2022

"Bringing the Q Train to 125th Street will be a game changer for our City as we rebuild from the COVID-19 crisis and it will help reduce transit deserts by connecting East Harlem to midtown, lower Manhattan, and Brooklyn," Maloney said in a statement.

In May, Patch reported that the MTA was advancing plans to seize land along Second Avenue to make way for the expansion — even as some owners pleaded with the state not to "take our property."

Once construction begins, the East Harlem extension will make use of a 10-block stretch of tunnel dating back to the 1970s that already exists below the neighborhood, between 110th and 120th streets. MTA leaders had initially hoped to open the extension in 2027, but that goal has been pushed back.

About 70 percent of East Harlem residents use public transportation to get to work — well above the citywide average of 55 percent. Hochul's office says the expansion would improve transportation equity, provide access to jobs and health care, improve air quality and reduce crowding on the Lexington Avenue 4-5-6 line.

Related Second Avenue Subway coverage:

• Second Avenue Subway Extension Pushes Forward: See Underground
• 2nd Avenue Subway Extension Pushing On Into Harlem, MTA Says
• 2nd Avenue Subway's East Harlem Extension To Move Forward: Cuomo
• Pandemic Delays 2nd Avenue Subway's Harlem Extension: Report