Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Postcard from... New York

 

Barbara Goldberg
Thursday 18 December 2014 20:00 EST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Work crews are scrambling underneath New York City to finish the city’s first major new subway stop in 25 years, a fast-track project intended to revitalise a long-neglected slice of Manhattan.

The Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) has been working for seven years on the $2.4bn (£1.5bn) extension of the Number 7 subway line. The line will extend far west to 11th Avenue in Manhattan, a rundown neighbourhood long known as Hell’s Kitchen – completion is expected in April 2015. The new station is intended to be the linchpin of the Hudson Yards development, with more than a dozen skyscrapers, a cultural centre and parks. The station is expected to see 200,000 passengers daily by 2025.

To extend the line, the MTA bored a 1.5-mile tunnel from West 26th Street and 11th Avenue to Times Square. The new station could draw in new residents and businesses in the way a decision a century ago to bury a surface rail line north from Grand Central Terminal changed that area – Park Avenue, now synonymous with luxury.

“This is the equivalent,” Mitchell Moss, professor of urban planning at New York University said. “We’re taking an area that people avoided, and making it an area that people want to go to.” REUTERS

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in