Inching up the track
Second Ave. Subway rolls into next federal grant phase
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
Federal Transportation offi
cials have moved the
Second Avenue Subway
extension into the next phase
of a federal grant program,
Governor Kathy Hochul said
in a Jan. 6 announcement on
social media after speaking
with US Secretary of Transportation
Pete Buttigieg.
“The Second Avenue Subway
project is moving down
the tracks! Just spoke with
@SecretaryPete, who shared
the good news that the project
is moving into the engineering
phase,” Hochul wrote on
Twitter on Jan. 6. “Look forward
to working with @MTA
to deliver for the residents of
East Harlem.”
The $6.3 billion scheme to
extend the Q line 1.5 miles
north to 125th Street has been
stalled for years, but Hochul
vowed to complete the transit
project before she leaves offi
ce during a November tour
of the abandoned tunnels built
LOCAL NEWS
An unused subway tunnel below Second Avenue near East 112th Street.
during the 1960s.
The project would add three
stops north of the Q train’s
current 96th Street, at 106th
Street, 116th Street and 125th
Street, with the latter connecting
to the Lexington Avenue
line carrying the Nos. 4, 5 and
6 trains and providing a close
transfer to the nearby Metro-
North Railroad stop.
The Metropolitan Transportation
PHOTO COURTESY OF GOVERNOR’S OFFICE
Authority fi nished an
environmental evaluation for
the project in late 2018, but
the proposal shrieked to a halt
after that, with state offi cials
blaming the President Donald
Trump administration.
MTA in 2019 requested the
feds foot the bill for $3.4 billion
of the costs, up from a previous
$2 billion ask, but that
has not moved since President
Joe Biden took offi ce, the New
York Daily News reported,
and US DOT in a May 2021
brief ignored the higher fi gure.
MTA is applying for a socalled
New Starts grant from
the Federal Transit Authority,
and as part of the upcoming
phase the state-controlled
transit agency must secure
commitments for the nonfederal
funding, and can start
work on engineering, and procuring
materials and equipment,
according to agency offi
cials.
That’s the last step before
the FTA signs off on the
grant and transit offi cials can
start construction.
One transit advocate lauded
Hochul’s announcement but
stressed that getting the big
bucks from Washington will
be key.
“It’s terrifi c, it’s great news,”
said Lisa Daglian, executive
director of the Permanent
Citizens Advisory Committee,
which advises MTA on behalf
of riders.
“The big factor is who’s
going to sign the check and
when’s the check going to get
signed,” Daglian added.
Meatpacking BID director likes
Adams’ biz regulation reforms
BY ISABEL SONG BEER
Mayor Eric Adams’ inked
this week his fi rst executive
order focused on
business regulation reforms,
with the goal of preventing
mom-and-pop shops from
facing draconian fi nes and/or
forced closures for easily correctible
offenses.
“Our small businesses have
been through so much during
the COVID-19 pandemic,”
Adams told reporters during
a Downtown press conference
on Jan. 4. “The last thing they
need to deal with are unnecessary
fi nes. We’re cutting the
red tape and bringing real relief
to the entrepreneurs who
have made their dreams a reality
and keep our local economy
strong.”
And business owners agree.
Jeffrey LeFrancois, the Executive
Director of the Meatpacking
Business Improvement
District, believes that this executive
order is an excellent
fi rst step towards getting small
business back on track after
the damage incurred during
the COVID-19 pandemic.
“So often businesses are
held up from actually being
able to do business,” LeFrancois
told amNewYork Metro
in a Jan. 6 interview. “So hopefully
this executive order
helps businesses be able to do
business more effi ciently. This
order is directing agencies to
analyze the laws on the book.
Anything we can do right now
to help businesses stay open
we need to be considering.”
LeFrancois believes the executive
order was long overdue,
and he expects it will prove to
be an extremely helpful step
forward to revitalizing NYC’s
small businesses.
“It’s really exciting and refreshing
that Mayor Adams is
right out the gate with this new
administration,” said LeFrancois.
“There are hundreds of
thousands of businesses in the
city so I imagine this is going to
go a long way.”
Businesses in the Meatpacking
District – as well as across
the city – have been hard hit by
the pandemic and initially struggled
to safely accommodate patrons.
But with “Small Business
Forward”, owners are becoming
more optimistic about their futures.
“There was a major crackdown
on outdoor fi nes last year
ED REED/NYC MAYORAL PHOTOGRAPHY UNIT
Mayor Eric Adams signed the “Small Business Forward” Executive
Order on Jan. 4, 2022.
that was affecting communities
in Brooklyn and lower Manhattan
– particularly Chinatown,”
said LeFrancois. “It was a huge
huge burden because these fi nes
were costing businesses money
right as they had reopened their
doors.
While Adams’ executive order
fi gures to help jump start
small businesses, LeFrancois believes
there is still a lot of work
to be done — namely through
fi nding smart and safe ways to
bring employees back to work.
“Our businesses employ New
Yorkers,” said LeFrancois. “At
the end of the day, this is about
health and safety and keeping
our communities bustling.”
6 January 13, 2022 Schneps Media