Hochul pitches funding for extending Second Avenue Subway to Broadway in State of the State

Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed in her State of the State address on Tuesday extending the Second Avenue Subway west along 125th Street to Broadway.

During Hochul’s speech, where she laid out her policy agenda for this year’s legislative session, she announced her administration will fund design and preliminary engineering for tunneling to extend the Q train to the west side. The proposed extension would add three new stops to the Q line at Lenox Avenue, St. Nicholas Avenue, and Broadway.

The governor’s plan would see tunneling for the 125th Street phase of the project as a “follow-on” to the East Harlem extension that is already underway.

“In New York, we are investing in our transit system like never before,” Hochul said in a statement. “Our efforts to extend the Second Avenue Subway will save hundreds of millions of dollars in future costs and reduce time – big wins for the 240,000 daily riders projected to benefit.”

The new stations will pave the way for more connectivity across Manhattan subway lines by overlapping the Q train with seven north-south lines, according to Hochul’s office. The project, as estimated by the MTA in its 20-year needs assessment, will cost $7.55 billion and connect central Harlem and parts of the Bronx with Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

Gov. Kathy Hochul on Oct. 8.Susan Watts/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul

Hochul’s latest announcement follows the completion of a feasibility study for the project, which she launched in her 2024 State of the State address. The study found that continuing tunnelling from the East Harlem project across 125th Street would make the project less expensive and time-consuming.

Under the $6.9 billion East Harlem extension to the Second Avenue Subway, the MTA is already tunnel-boring and building new stations at 106th, 116th and 125th Streets, and Lexington Avenue.

The East Harlem phase of the project must be completed before construction on the proposed 125th Street leg can begin. In September, the MTA board approved a $2 billion tunnel boring contract for the project.

In October, however, President Trump’s administration froze roughly $18 billion in federal funding for infrastructure projects, including the Second Avenue Subway. Federal officials claimed that the project was in alleged violation of new Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) rules, which they had just implemented.

MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber stated in December that the agency is working to recertify contractors involved in the project to ensure they comply with the new DEI rules. He also said work on the project has continued despite the funding freeze.

Transit advocates and local business groups celebrated the move.

Danny Pearlstein, policy and communications director at Riders’ Alliance, said in a statement that Hochul’s announcement would be “as big a deal for millions of riders” in Manhattan and the Bronx as the Interborough Express light-rail project will be for riders in Brooklyn and Queens.

“Continuing the tunnel bore from 2nd Avenue is an efficient and strategic deployment of public infrastructure,” Pearlstein said. “The governor’s plan is a continued testament to New York’s commitment to transit as a way of life.”

Barbara Askins, president and CEO of the 125th Street Business Improvement District, applauded Hochul for “recognizing 125thSt. as the great connector with a proposed direct east-west link across a corridor rapidly attracting new institutions, attractions, and developments.”