MTA Declines to Confirm Official Opening Date for Second Avenue Subway

What to Know

  • Construction on the Second Avenue line began in 2007
  • Under the first phase of the project, trains will run from 63rd Street to 96th Street
  • The second phase will extend the line up to 125th Street

New Yorkers can't schedule in a sure date for the Second Avenue subway opening ceremony just yet. 

Despite the MTA saying Monday that the subway station was on track for a December 31 completion date, it would not confirm an exact day for opening.

And Upper East Side residents said they were skeptical the new line would be able to open this month thanks to what they're seeing: the street is still filled with construction crews and escalators are still being installed.

"There's still so much going on - so much construction they won't be ready for passengers," Upper East Side resident Susanna Cselenyi said.

But MTA chairman Thomas Prendergast said Monday the organization was "cautiously optimistic" that it was going to meet the revenue service date.

"That's it in a nutshell," he said. "We are focused on getting the testing done, we have doubled the effort, that's as clear as I can state it."

Critical safety tests on smoke alarms and fire radios aren't scheduled to be done until right before Christmas, MTA Capital Construction president Michael Horodniceanu said.

But New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is in charge of the MTA, posted photos of the stations and platforms on social media this weekend and said the station was planning to open by New Year's Eve. 

Construction on the Second Avenue line began in 2007, but it has been in planning since 1929. 

Under the first phase of the project, trains will run from 63rd Street to 96th Street. The second phase will extend the line up to 125th Street.

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