MTA Chairman Says 2nd Avenue Subway Expansion In Jeopardy Without Funding
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Plans to extend the Second Avenue subway line south of Midtown could go off the rails unless the MTA's funding crisis is solved, according to New York's transit chief.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Thomas Prendergast testified in Albany Monday about the scramble to fill the $15 billion gap in the MTA's five-year capital plan.
The agency has asked both Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo for more funding.
But without it, Prendergast says expansion projects like the Second Avenue subway and long-awaited subway countdown clocks will be the first items on the chopping block.
The project, which has been underway since 2007, aims to extend the Q train from 57th Street and 7th Avenue across town to 96th Street and Second Avenue then up to 125th Street.
It's also slated to add a new T train which will run from 125th Street to Hanover Square in lower Manhattan.
The subway's first section is set to open in December 2016, with new stations at 96th, 86th and 72nd streets. But Prendergast now says if the MTA can't get the funding, that could be the end of the line.
Another project that could be disrupted is bringing the Long Island Rail Road into Grand Central Terminal.
Cuomo has said transit funding would be part of the state budget negotiations in Albany. The state budget is supposed to be adopted by April 1.