By Senator Rev. Rubén Díaz.
District 32 Bronx County, New York.
You should know that the Official Groundbreaking to mark the start of the Second Avenue Subway at 103rd Street and Second Avenue in Harlem took place on October 27, 1972.
On that day, the late New York State Governor Nelson Rockefeller and the late John V. Lindsey, New York City Mayor, announced the great news of building a Second Avenue Subway line. That was 50 years ago.
You should also know that New York’s Second Avenue Subway has cost close to $5 BILLION dollars, and I have said before, it has taken 50 years to construct just 1-1/2 miles of subway service.
The 3 subway stations set to open on January 1, 2017 in what is called the First Phase, will be located on Manhattan’s Upper East Side to include Second Avenue stations at 96th Street, 86th Street and 72nd Street, and an expansion to 63rd Street at Lexington Avenue. This will supposedly reduce travel time of 10 minutes for many riders on the Upper East Side.
Now, they say that on January 1, 2017 dignitaries including Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio will be popping champagne corks to celebrate the “unprecedented” push that will have met their deadline. Ha ha ha ha!
I, for one, will not be joining Governor Andrew Cuomo nor Mayor Bill de Blasio to open any bottles of champagne on January 1st to celebrate this boondoggle of finally ending Phase 1 of the Second Avenue Subway.
To me, it is a disgrace that it has taken more than 50 years of pouring billions of taxpayer dollars into a project that will benefit New York’s Silk Stocking District, while causing traffic nightmares and business closings for many small businesses in the area.
It is no wonder, whether you voted for him or not, that Donald Trump has caused us all to question our crisis in political leadership.
I am Senator Reverend Rubén Díaz, and this is what you should know.
