The MTA has released renderings of potential subway entrances along the Second Avenue line.  They look pretty cool.  I’d settle for a boring industrial look if it meant spending less money on this project, but whatever.

Anyway, the subway line isn’t going to be done for what….10 or more years at least?  So why would you mock up something as trendy as this so early in advance?   Who knows that will be the style a decade from now?

Maybe by then, the abstract, idustrial look will be out.  Or maybe there will be better technology that would allow a cooler look.

Anyway, should we be picking out the wall paper and paint colors just yet?  Or would it be better to wait unil…ohhh…a year or two before the project is done?

Ok fine, SUBWAYblogger completely wussed out of going to the ceremony today. It ended up that it was inside the previously existing subway tunnel, so it was out of the rain.

It still sucked that they were requiring the press to arrive at 9am for a 10:30am event. That’s a little lame.

But I did get to watch it on NY1, so that was cool (and dry).

I wish I had thought of live blogging the ceremony like Jenn at Gothmist did. The rain must have washed away my creative juices 🙂 .

Example:
10:30: No groundbreaking ceremony yet. The MTA is already behind schedule on the 2nd Avenue Subway! Clearly a sign of things to come!

So over all, the ceremony wasn’t that exciting. Still would have been cool to be there to video tape it. Maybe I’ll attend when the first train runs down the line.

Tomorrow is the ground breaking for the 2nd Avenue Subway! No seriously, it’s really happening.

There’s no stopping it now. The shovels hit the dirt…again. That’s right, again.

Back in 1972, Gov. Nelson Rockefeller and Mayor John Lindsay participated in a ground breaking for preliminary construction of a Second Avenue subway. That tunnel was planned to run from 101st to 120th. They even had more ceremonies in 1974 and 1975.

However, in 1975, the MTA ran short of funds after already spending $1.3 billion. That’s billion with a “B.” All work on the project stopped. Mayor Abraham Beame ordered the tunnel to be sealed in 1975.

So there Gov. Spitzer and others will stand in the site of the reopened tunnel to participate in tomorrow’s ground breaking (or is it re-breaking?).

SUBWAYblogger hopes to be on hand to witness the historic moment in person.

How ’bout this for extravagant: Glass, floor to ceiling doors/walls that line the subway platform. Kinda like the glass doors at the AirTran stops or the monorail in Las Vegas. Ooo…I wanna go to Vegas.

In a nutshell, the doors and walls would provide a barrier between the tracks and the passengers on the platform. The idea actually sounds nice. They look kinda cool too. But unless the glass door company starts handing out free doors, it’s going to cost an ass load. Ohh, and it would only be for a few stops along the new 2nd Ave line.

So what’s the point? Well, they apparently help keep the platforms cooler by about 10 degrees!! That would be pretty sweet. Sure, shaving 10 degrees off of the already 105 temperature still leaves you with 95 sweaty degrees…but hey, at least it’s something.

Also, the doors keep trash off the tracks. Oh, and people too for that matter! It’s much harder to jump in front of a train when there’s no way to get out on the tracks.

Anyway, the MTA is looking into it. Sounds like a pipe dream though.

Check out the Second Avenue Saga’s FAQ section. It is probably more than you would ever think you’d need to know about the new line. However, if you live on 2nd Ave, this is probably important to you.

“T” Time? AMNY has clearly been itching to use that headline, and this morning they finally did.

Anyway, the plans for the Second Ave subway line were released. Here’s some of the drawings.

They also had some artist renderings of what it will look like inside.

Is that not the cleanest looking subway mezzanine you’ve ever seen? Are they launching a new technology that allows the subway to clean itself?

And a typical platform. It was a nice touch to add someone waiting for the elevator. Notice that they didn’t show him getting on the elevator. That’s because they want to show that there are elevators, but let’s be honest, they’ll rarely ever work. 🙂 Also, for the guy in the front with the suit case…”Backpacks and other large containers are subject to random search by the police.” Just a heads up.

Elliot “Lee” Sander, the MTA’s new executive director, and Chairman Peter Kalikow will approve the $333 million contract for the first phase of the project that critics thought would never happen.

“All of the sudden it turned from doubtful to inevitable and nobody quite knows when it happened,” Kalikow said at the last MTA board meeting.

Almost immediately after the contract is signed, construction trailers will start to line parts of Second Avenue in the East 90s, MTA officials said. –AMNY

So from this spring until 2013, hold your breath upper-east-siders. It’s going to be a noisey couple years. I was hoping Second Avenue Sagas would have something to say on the matter, but nothing as of yet. I’m sure he will have something up soon. In the mean time, I’ll stick with Chuck.

UPDATE:

As expected, Second Avenue Sagas came through with a post on this story. I knew it would only be a matter of minutes!