72nd Street (Second Avenue Subway)

72nd Street under construction
New York City Subway rapid transit station
Under construction
Station statistics
Address	72nd Street & Second Avenue New York, NY 10021
Borough	Manhattan
Locale	Upper East Side, Lenox Hill
Coordinates	40°46′7.72″N 73°57′30.37″W / 40.7688111°N 73.9584361°W / 40.7688111; -73.9584361Coordinates: 40°46′7.72″N 73°57′30.37″W / 40.7688111°N 73.9584361°W / 40.7688111; -73.9584361
Division	B (IND)
Line	IND Second Avenue Line
Services	under construction
Connection	NYCT Bus: M15 (SB), M72
Structure	Underground
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2
Other information
Opened	December 30, 2016 (2016-12-30)[1][1][2][3] (Planned)
Accessible
Station succession
Next north	86th Street: under construction
Next south	Lexington Avenue – 63rd Street: no regular service
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops in station at all times Stops all times except late nights Stops late nights only Stops late nights and weekdays only Stops late nights and weekends only Stops weekends and weekend late nights Stops weekdays and weekday late nights Stops weekdays only Stops weekends only Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction Stops all times except weekdays in the peak direction Stops daily except rush hours in the peak direction Stops rush hours only Stops rush hours in the peak direction only Station is closed (Details about time periods)

72nd Street is an under construction station on the first phase of the Second Avenue Line of the New York City Subway.^[4][5][6] This is the southernmost Second Avenue Line station before the BMT 63rd Street Line diverges from the line toward the Lexington Avenue – 63rd Street station. The station is planned to open on December 30, 2016.^[1][2][3][7]

Station layout (future)

G	Street level	Exits/Entrances
B1	Upper Mezzanine	Fare control, station agent, MetroCard vending machines
		Escalators, elevator, and stairs to Exits/Entrances and lower mezzanine
B2	Lower Mezzanine	Staircases and elevators to platforms
B3 Platform level	Southbound	→ No service (present) ← (under construction) toward Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue (Lexington Avenue – 63rd Street)
	Island platform, not in service
	Northbound	→ No service (present) → (under construction) toward 96th Street (86th Street) →

Platform level with recess in ceiling for future staircases

View of tunnels at the end of the station cavern

The station is built so that it is more wide open than most other underground subway stations in the system, like other Second Avenue Subway stations but unlike existing New York City Subway stations.^[8][9] Due to its openness, the station was likened to a Washington Metro station by Dr. Michael Horodniceanu.^[10]

The station will have air-cooling systems to make it at least 10 °F (6 °C) cooler than other subway stations during the summer.^[11] This will require the station to have large ventilation and ancillary buildings, rather than traditional subway grates.^[12] The station will also be compliant with current fire codes, whereas most existing stations are not.^[13] Additionally, the station will be waterproofed with concrete liners and fully drained.^[9]

Track layout

The 72nd Street station was conceived as a three-track station with two island platforms,^[14] but prior to construction was reduced to a two-track, one-island platform station, due to the high cost of building a three-track, two-platform station.^[15][16] Additionally, the station's width was shaved back from 100 feet (30 m) to 70 feet (21 m).^[15] The platform will be 27.8 feet (8.5 m) wide.^[17]

Diamond crossovers will be located in the cavern both north and south of the station, with a flying junction to the BMT 63rd Street Line just south of the southern crossover.^[9][16] The station cavern, which includes both crossovers, is 1,300 feet (400 m) long.^[9]

Artwork

Station artwork will be the artwork "Perfect Strangers" by artist and photographer Vik Muniz.^[18][19] In February 2014, Muniz was chosen in a MTA Arts for Transit competition with more than 100 entrants.^[20]

Entrances and exits

In the current (2007) station layout, there will be 3 numbered entrance and exit sites, all of which are under construction;^[9] this includes 11 escalators in addition to 5 elevators.^[21][22][23]

Exit location	Exit Type	Number of exits
Entrance 1 inside 301 E 69th Street NE corner of Second Avenue and 69th Street	Staircase Escalator	3
Entrance 2 NW corner of Second Avenue and 72nd Street	Staircase Escalator	1
Entrance 3 SE corner of Second Avenue and 72nd Street	Elevator	5

Entrance 1 will have one entrance with escalators (inside 301 E 69th Street) and two staircase entrances on the NE corner of Second Avenue and 69th Street.^[23] Entrance 2 will be located inside Ancillary building 2.

In August 2008, some area residents filed a lawsuit in opposition to a proposed entrance at 72nd Street between First and Second Avenue, in front of a residential building, prompting the MTA to move the subway entrance to the corner of Second Avenue and 72nd Street.^[24][25]

Ancillary buildings

The two ancillary buildings will be located at:

• Ancillary 1: Northwest corner of 69th Street and Second Avenue^[22]
• Ancillary 2: Northwest corner of 72nd Street and Second Avenue^[22]

History

Muck house

Completed station cavern

Waterproofing work

In 1999, the Regional Plan Association considered a full-length Second Avenue Subway, which include 72nd Street as one of its planned 31 stations.^[26] The entrances to 72nd Street station were to be located at 70th, 72nd, and 74th Streets.^[26] The final environmental impact statement was released for the station in April 2004.^[27] Design of the 72nd Street station lasted about eight years, between 1999 and 2007.^[9]

In March 2007, the Second Avenue Subway was revived, and the MTA awarded a $337 million contract—one that included constructing the tunnels between 92nd and 63rd Streets, building a launch box for the tunnel boring machine (TBM) at 92nd to 95th Streets, and erecting access shafts at 69th and 72nd Streets—to Schiavone Construction, Skanska USA Civil, and J.F. Shea Construction.^[28]

On June 5, 2009, an apartment building at 1772 Second Avenue was evacuated by the NYC Department of Buildings (DOB) after it was determined that the building was in danger of collapse.^[29] The evacuation of the building, as well as a mixed use building at 1768 Second Avenue/301 East 92nd Street on June 29, 2009,^[30] had delayed the contractor's plan to use controlled blasting to remove bedrock in the southern section of the launch box.^[31] Until the blasting permits could be issued, MTA required contractors to use mechanical equipment to remove the bedrock, which is slower than blasting out the rock.^[32] As of October 2009, one building had been shored up, and work was in progress on the second; MTA had rescheduled blasting to begin during the week of November 2.^[33]

In May 2010, a tunnel boring machine beginning at 92nd Street started to dig down Second Avenue through the 72nd Street area, to 63rd Street and Lexington Avenue.^[34][35]

On October 1, 2010, MTA awarded a $431 million contract to SSK Constructors (a joint venture) for the mining of the tunnels connecting the 72nd Street station to the existing 63rd Street station, and for the excavation and heavy civil structures of the 72nd Street Station.^[36] Construction was to be done through two shafts at 69th and 72nd Streets, the locations of the future entrances; shaft sinking work was started in late 2010. Projected completion of the contract was estimated at November 2013.^[9] The rock around the area is mostly Manhattan schist, and was generally considered to be a stable location for blasting,^[9] so blasting for the station commenced on January 18, 2011.^[37]

On August 8, 2012, a controlled blast at 72nd Street caused rocks to fly over the station site.^[38] Nearly two weeks later, on August 21, 2012, an uncontrolled blast for the Second Avenue Subway station at 72nd Street was done incorrectly,^[39] causing a large explosion that sent debris into the air and broke windows of buildings in the area and damaged nearby sidewalks.^{[38][40][41][42]}

Cavern drilling was finished in August 2012;^[43] however, blasting for the station entrances was not completed until February 28, 2013.^[44][45] A muck house to remove mud from the tunnels, which was erected in August 2011,^[46] started demolition in April 2013^[47] and was fully dismantled by October 2013.^[48] By January 2013, almost 96.3% of excavation was completed, with 177,873 cubic yards (135,994 m³) of dirt excavated from the station; waterproofing was also being done in the station and the tunnels south of it.^[49][50] The contract for the station's finishing touches, including the electrical, plumbing, track, and signal systems, as well as entrances and exits, was awarded to Judlau Contracting at a price of $258 million in February 2013.^[51] As of May 12, 2014, the mezzanine level of the station was completed and being used to store equipment.^[52] In September, the station's size was gauged by Gothamist to be so large that "55,000 elephants could fit" within the enormous cavern.^[53]

The station's ancillaries at 72nd and 69th Street were planned to be completed in Winter 2014-5,^[23] however they have yet to be finished as of April 2015. The station's mezzanine, plumbing, electricity and machinery were originally scheduled to be finished in the Fall of 2015.,^[23][54] but the estimated completion date has been pushed back to September 2016.^[55][56]

The station is planned to open on December 30, 2016.^[1][1][2][3]

Effects

Business had declined during the construction and blasting of the station, with many storefronts losing business and some even being forced to close.^{[46][57][58][59]} However, starting in 2013, construction of the station has caused the value of real estate in the area to start to rise.^[46][60] On the Upper East Side, prices of real estate west of Third Avenue have historically been higher than prices east of there, but due to the subway's construction, prices of real estate east of the avenue have risen dramatically in recent years.^[61]

References

Further reading

• Nasri, V., Fulcher, B., Redmond, R., and Parikh, A. 2012, Design and Construction of 72nd Street Large and Shallow Rock Cavern Station in New York City. Proceedings of the North American Tunneling Conference 2012, Indianapolis, Indiana, June 20–23, 2012.
• Nasri, V., Fulcher, B., and Redmond, R. 2012, Design and Construction of 72nd Street Station Rock Cavern in New York. Proceedings of the World Tunnel Congress 2012, Bangkok, Thailand, 18–23 May 2012, International Tunneling Association.
• Parikh, A., Fosbrook, G., Phillips, D., 2005; Second Avenue Subway—Tunnelling Beneath Manhattan, 2005; Proceedings of the Rapid Excavation and Tunnelling Conference 2005. Littleton: Society of Mining Engineers.
• Snee, C.P., Ponti, M.A., Shah, A.N., 2004; Investigation of Complex Geologic Conditions for the Second Avenue Subway Tunnel Alignment in New York City, Proceedings of the North American Tunnelling Conference 2004, Levent Ozdemir (ed.). Littleton: Society of Mining Engineers.
• Snee, C.P., 2008; Engineering Geology and Cavern Design for New York City, Proceedings of the North American Tunnelling Conference 2008, Levent Ozdemir (ed.). Littleton: Society of Mining Engineers.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 72nd Street (IND Second Avenue Line).

• station muck house under construction from Google Maps Street View
• station entrance under construction from Google Maps Street View
• Second Avenue Subway 72nd Street Construction Photos – MTA's Flickr Website