July 21, 2009

Lots of Second Avenue Subway news today, so let's get started --

Pete Donohue, of the Daily News, has reported that the MTA might need to push back the in-service date for Phase I of the Second Avenue Subway to . . . 2017 !

This would be a 5 year delay, from the 2012 in-service date for Phase I that Peter Kalikow, the MTA Chairman at the time, announced back in 2005.

Here's his article:
"Second Avenue Subway setback: New hurdles will likely push phase one completion from 2015 to 2017"
NY Daily News - 7/21/09

The Times confirmed the report, with this story:
"Subway Line Along Second Ave. Delayed Till 2016"
The New York Times - 7/21/09

And Channel 7 broadcast this video report with the news:
"More Delays for 2nd Avenue Subway" (2:16)
WABC-TV/DT - 7/21/09

Benjamin Kabak went in to more detail with this
posting to his blog earlier today:
"More expensive Phase I of SAS may not open until 2017"
2nd Ave. Sagas - 7/21/09

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According to the article "Senate GOP Killed 2nd Ave. Subway Bill" in the newspaper Our Town today, State Senator José Serrano has reportedly withdrawn Senate Bill S1393, a bill that would have provided for real estate tax abatement's for certain commercial properties effected by the Second Avenue Subway construction project.

The article said, "State Sen. José Serrano, the bill’s sponsor, [said he] yanked the legislation from the calendar during the July 16 session to prevent Republicans for voting the measure down at the recommendation of Mayor Michael Bloomberg."

The corresponding NY State Assembly bill [A3949], which is sponsored by State Assembly Member Micah Kellner, was passed by the Assembly on 6/22/09.

Assembly Member Kellner provided this piece of commentary on his web site, "So Where Does the Mayor Stand on 2nd Avenue Relief?," on 7/17/09.

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And finally, here's a copy of a very interesting pair of comments (from the same writer) that was left on the blog (under the posting "June 29-20, 2009") earlier today. The writer says that she/he is a former resident of 301 East 92nd Street - the building that the Department of Buildings (DOB) ordered evacuated on 6/29/09 because it is in danger of collapse.

"I was a tenant in this building who was evacuated - the DOB used my apartment to cut into the drywall and measure the angle of the outer walls.

When I moved in two years ago, the building was visibly leaning (the walls in my apt on the top floor were slanted) but I chalked this up to the wonky angles of any old building.

During my time there, the problem seemed to increase: pre-existing cracks in the drywall got longer, and my front door began to stick, due to the frame shifting.

Was this due to the MTA? I have no idea. But I do know that the vibrations from construction have been unrelenting and overwhelming. I would be surprised if that didn't have an impact on the structural integrity of brick and mortar construction.

... to add to the above, I think the 2nd Ave subway is great and am all for it. But even before the emergency evacuation, the construction made our lives hell in the low-rise apartments: month after month of jackhammers or boring machines from dawn till midnight, six days a week for years...

My roommate who worked late into the night and needed to sleep during the day wanted to die. I cannot imagine anyone with small children could survive there.

I wish the city had taken the old low-rise properties around the launch box by eminent domain - which would eliminate concerns about their structural integrity - or given some other assistance to residents who've been stuck with leases they can't get out of.

It's really a bad situation (even if it was cool to have a bird's eye view of all the construction)."


This comment suggest that the construction work out on Second Avenue may have effected the structural integrity of this building, which is what I've heard some people in the neighborhood saying.

What the engineers at the DOB and MTA have to say about all this is still not known, at the moment.