Federal, state and New York City officials met Thursday with the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to discuss how to fast-track the extension of the long-delayed Second Avenue subway line to 125th Street in Harlem.
The first segment, along Manhattan's Upper East Side to 96th Street, is scheduled to open by the end of 2016.
"The MTA is fully committed to beginning work on the East Harlem extension even before the first segment to the Upper East Side opens," MTA chief Thomas Prendergast said in a statement Thursday night.
One week earlier, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and other local officials called on the authority to restore $1 billion cut from the second phase of the project, the extension to Harlem.
The MTA's
Under a compromise agreement Gov. Andrew Cuomo brokered to end a year of political bickering, the city agreed to quintuple its contribution over five years to $2.5 billion from $657 billion. Cuomo agreed to commit $8.3 billion in next year's state budget, pending legislative approval.
Congressman Charles Rangel, a Democrat who represents Harlem, has offered to work with the city's congressional delegation to explore accelerating the environmental review and obtaining the maximum possible funding.
"We welcome their assistance," said Prendergast.
Federal funding could be a struggle. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., warned that the six-year, $325 million transportation bill that the U.S. House of Representatives passed last week could cut $80 million a year from transit in New York City. She and her city congressional peers are seeking an additional $100 million for city-related transit projects.
Prendergast, meanwhile, said the MTA, as part of the capital plan agreement, intends to use alternative procurement methods to speed planning, design, property acquisition, utility relocation and construction preparation on capital projects.
