City Set To Open New 'Fulton Center' Subway Hub In Lower Manhattan
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- New York City's biggest new subway hub is set to open Monday in lower Manhattan -- a vital link between the new World Trade Center and the rest of the city.
On Sunday, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority inaugurated the $1.4 billion Fulton Center, the transit complex where many of the city's subway lines converge.
City To Open New 'Fulton Center' Subway Hub In Lower Manhattan
Officials said the fully digital transit and retail hub will serve as Lower Manhattan's next great public space.
"I expect them to come in and see something they have never seen. This is something new, this is something exciting and this is one of a kind," MTA Capital Construction President Michael Horodniceanu told CBS2's Hazel Sanchez.
The state of the art station is located at the crossroads of Lower Manhattan between John and Fulton streets.
At the heart of the facility is a cylinder of natural light beaming down from a soaring glass-top atrium called the Oculus, WCBS 880's Jim Smith reported.
"The center is an important symbol for New York in so many ways," said MTA chief Tom Prendergast.
City Set To Open New 'Fulton Center' Subway Hub In Lower Manhattan
Sen. Charles Schumer called it a testament to the resiliency after the dark days of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, Smith reported.
"This station is a metaphor for a revitalized downtown with 40,000 more residents than it had before," he said.
The center includes nearly 66,000 square feet of retail and office space, and will accommodate up to 300,000 daily riders using the 2, 3, 4, 5 subway lines, plus the A, C, J, Z and R. A pedestrian tunnel will lead to the trade center.
Fulton Center opens to the public for use beginning Monday at 5 a.m., but the work isn't over quite yet. Soon the hub will expand to offer access to PATH service as well.
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