Espaillat Touts Biden-Harris Administration Support to Announce $3.4 Billion to Advance Second Avenue Subway Project

NEW YORK, NY -- This weekend, Representative Adriano Espaillat (NY-13) welcomed U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to New York’s 13th congressional district to announce the investment of more than $3 billion in an extension of the New York City subway system that will provide convenient and improved transit service to Harlem. Joined in the announcement by New York Governor Kathy Hochul, Senator Chuck Schumer, MTA CEO Janno Lieber, and others, the Second Avenue Subway Phase 2 extension will expand service in the northern borough, bringing subway access that has been promised for decades to tens of thousands of residents in a previously underserved community. 

“Mass transit is an integral part of New York City’s growth and regional economy, and the Second Avenue Subway is our nation’s largest transit equity project that reaffirms our commitment to empowering working-class New Yorkers and improving the quality of life for over 300,000 people across the region," said Congressman Adriano Espaillat (NY-13). "Today marks the start of a vibrant economic future for families across East Harlem and beyond, and I am elated to welcome Secretary Pete Buttigieg and leaders to my district to help propel this project forward. The Second Avenue Subway is finally here and will have a tremendous impact on constituents who call New York’s 13th congressional district home for many years to come.” 

“New York City has the most extensive public transit system in America, yet there are still transit deserts that don’t have easy access to the subway—including those communities where people are most likely to rely on public transit to get around,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “The extension of the Second Avenue Subway will make it possible for thousands of New Yorkers to get to work and school, access healthy groceries and health care, and see their loved ones—all while easing congestion on other subway lines and reducing carbon pollution.” 

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) today signed the $3.4 billion Full Funding Grant Agreement, part of the Capital Investment Grant program that received record funding under the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The funding will help support the 1.8-mile extension of the Q line along the east side of Manhattan to 125th Street, relieving overcrowding on the Lexington Avenue Line, which transports 200,000 riders per day and is the most heavily used transit corridor in the United States. 

The $7.7 billion extension project is the second of four planned phases to extend the Second Avenue Subway to improve the region’s public transportation network. 

The Second Avenue subway extension includes three new accessible stations, power substations, signal systems, track infrastructure, and communication systems. It will connect the northern end of the subway line – Phase 1 reached 96th Street – to the existing Lexington Avenue Line at 125th Street. 

“The new Second Avenue Subway Phase 2 line will improve mobility by providing much-needed transit access in Manhattan to East Side residents, workers, and visitors and reduce crowding on the Lexington Avenue Subway Line, which is more than 100 years old,” said FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez. “We are pleased to support this project that will better connect communities to jobs and education.” 

“Thanks to the investments we made in our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Second Avenue Subway has now received the largest Capital Investment Grant in the history of the CIG program,” said Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY). “These are no longer abstract. Billions of dollars passed in Congress, but now it’s across the country like here in New York and in East Harlem in particular. It’s becoming real: real in terms of jobs and real in terms of better transportation.” 

“This project has been decades in the making, and will extend the existing line to East Harlem, an area often considered a transit desert,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul said. “With support from President Biden, Secretary Buttigieg, Leader Schumer, Congressman Espaillat and the entire New York Congressional delegation, we are finally getting this done.” 

The subway extension will take place within the East Harlem neighborhood of New York City, one of the most densely developed urban areas in the United States and will serve approximately 118,000 residents and 50,000 employees who commute to work in the area. A new connection at Metro-North’s Harlem-125th Street Station is planned to improve regional access to the East Side and Lower Manhattan for commuters entering and leaving Manhattan from New York and Connecticut suburbs located north of Manhattan.

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Representative Espaillat is the first Dominican American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives and his congressional district includes Harlem, East Harlem, West Harlem, Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, Inwood, Marble Hill and the north-west Bronx. First elected to Congress in 2016, Representative Espaillat is serving his fourth term in Congress. Representative Espaillat currently serves as a member of the influential U.S. House Committee on Appropriations responsible for funding the federal government’s vital activities and serves as Ranking Member of the Legislative Branch Subcommittee of the committee during the 118th Congress. He is also a member of the House Budget Committee and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), where he serves in a leadership role as the Deputy Chair as well as Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI). Rep. Espaillat is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) and serves as a Senior Whip of the Democratic Caucus. To find out more about Rep. Espaillat, visit online at https://espaillat.house.gov/.

Media inquiries: Candace Person at Candace.Person@mail.house.gov