Muck Houses Coming Down

In a major construction milestone for the 2nd Avenue Subway, the gigantic muck houses at 72nd and 69th Streets will be removed

Last week, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced that the "muck houses" on Second Avenue at 72nd and 69th Streets will be removed now that all blasting has been completed and the debris has largely been cleared. In addition, the MTA has issued its final set of Requests for Proposals for the first phase of the Second Avenue Subway.

Celebrating the MTA's progress, Upper East Side Congresswoman Caroyln Maloney said, "With the muck houses coming down and the final contract out for bid, the Second Avenue Subway is fast becoming a reality. These milestones are major steps forward for a project that will bring relief to commuters who need a better way to reach their destinations."

Background:

The full-length Second Avenue Subway will be an 8 ½ mile two-track line beginning at 125th street and ending in Hanover Square in lower Manhattan. Construction of the full-length subway has been divided into four phases. The subway's first segment will include stops at 96th, 86th and 72nd Streets, and tunnels from 99th to 62nd Streets. At 63rd Street, the new subway line will link onto the existing Q-line tracks, providing a one-seat ride from the Upper East Side to Times Square, lower Manhattan, and Brooklyn. Once the first phase of the subway is completed, it will carry more than 213,000 riders each day and ease congestion on the most overcrowded subway routes in the nation: the 4, 5, and 6 Lexington Avenue IRT trains on Manhattan's East Side. The federal government entered into a full funding grant agreement with the MTA pursuant to which it is providing $1.3 billion of the $4.451 Billion project. The first phase is expected to be completed December 2016.