$1.9B Expansion Coming To 2nd Ave Subway

EAST HARLEM, NY — Next stop, East Harlem.

The Q train is officially on track to extend all the way to 125th Street, after the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board approved a $1.972 billion tunnel-digging contract, officials said Monday.

The Second Avenue Subway line, which stops at East 96th Street, will be extended to 106th Street, 116th Street, and then 125th Street, officials said.

Early work on the tunnel will begin later this year, with more construction starting in early 2026 and the tunnel boring itself expected to begin in 2027.

To dig the new tunnel between 35 and 120 feet below Second Avenue, workers will operate 750-ton machines equipped with 22-foot diamond-studded drill heads, officials said.

The contract was awarded to a company called Connect Plus Partners, and is the second of four construction contracts for the Q train extension.

"This is a meaningful step forward not only for the project but everyone in East Harlem and Central Harlem," MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said. "Locals have waited almost 100 long years for their promised subway extension."

The East Harlem extension follows a previous phase of construction that extended the Q train all the way up to East 96th Street, which opened in 2017.

Officials say the East Harlem extension will be ready for riders by September 2032.

City officials are still finalizing two more contracts — one to build out the station at East 106th Street, and the final one to cover fit-out the stations with track, signal, power and communications tech. The total budget for the expansion is $6.99 billion.

"The Second Avenue Subway will change everything; it will shorten commutes for over 100,000 daily riders and make East Harlem more vibrant than ever," New York Governor Kathy Hochul said Monday.

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