New York Governor Kathy Hochul joined leadership from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), elected officials, and Harlem community leaders to break ground on the major construction stage of the transformative Second Avenue Subway Phase 2 project.

The groundbreaking occurred at the location where, in early 2027, the state-of-the-art tunnel-boring machine (TBM) will be lowered into the ground and begin mining the new subway tunnels from 120 Street and 2nd Avenue to 125 Street and Malcolm X Boulevard.

The governor also announced that, following the resumption of federal funding to the project in April, the MTA has awarded the next major contract to construct the final tunnel section of this phase from 105 Street to 110 Street, including the future 106 St Station, using a “cut and cover” approach.

The MTA is applying lessons from Phase 1 of the project to deliver more than $1 billion in savings and is on track to complete advanced utility relocations early, allowing pending work on this project to start six months faster than originally scheduled.

“The Second Avenue Subway will change everything for East Harlem, saving people precious time and making possible opportunities that have for too long been out of reach for too many,” Governor Hochul said. “The last groundbreaking for a Second Avenue Subway in East Harlem was 54 years ago, only for the project to be abandoned and this community left behind.”

MTA’s Tunnel Boring Machines

The state-of-the-art variable-density Tunnel Boring Machines will be delivered early next year. Weighing more than 1.5 million pounds, the machines are equipped with 23-foot tungsten carbide cutter heads. The TBM can adjust its methods depending on the material it encounters, switching between one drill for hard rock and another for soft soil or sand.

The TBM also reinforces the tunnel lining it leaves behind as it travels beneath Harlem. The TBM will launch from the 120 Street site and travel to 125 Street and Malcolm X Boulevard.

Concurrent to today's milestone on the Phase 2 project, Governor Hochul and the MTA are already scoping and designing a potential next phase of the Q train westward across 125th St to Broadway with three new stations and more than 160,000 daily riders.

Following the completion of an MTA feasibility study announced by the governor in 2024, this year’s FY27 enacted state budget secured $25 million to conduct preliminary engineering and design for a tunnel extension and to approve an efficient environmental review process. If the project is advanced, work on the tunnel could continue seamlessly, using much of the same equipment as in phase 2, saving time and money.

Second Avenue Subway Phase 2 is divided into four contracts — compared to 10 in Phase 1 — to increase project efficiency and minimize complicated contractor coordination. The tunnel boring is part of Contract 2, valued at $1.97 billion, which includes shaft excavation for the TBM, controlled blasting for future stations, and asbestos and lead abatement in the existing 1970s tunnels.

MTA Awards Third Contract

At the groundbreaking, the MTA and Governor Hochul announced progress on another major component of Phase 2: the award of Contract 3.

Contract 3 will construct the structural shells of the new 106 St Station and associated tunneling, connecting the existing tunnels north and south of the station, and is expected to begin work in the coming months. The entire Second Avenue Subway Phase 2 project is budgeted at $6.968 billion and is on track for revenue service in 2032.

"The new MTA is delivering on the longstanding promise to bring subway service to the East Harlem community,” said President of MTA Construction & Development Jamie Torres-Springer. “By applying lessons learned from Phase 1, we’re delivering this project better, faster, and cheaper — with more than $1 billion in savings to date."

Using Cost Containment Strategies Learned During Phase 1

Phase 2

As part of the MTA's commitment to delivering key infrastructure projects better, faster, and more cheaply, the contracts for Phase 2 incorporate lessons learned from the Second Avenue Subway Phase 1.

Addressing utility relocation requirements upfront reduces the risk of unexpected costs or delays later as construction progresses — especially in New York City, which has one of the most complex underground utility networks in the world, most of which is unmapped.

Additional cost containment initiatives in Phase 2 include: reuse of a tunnel segment that was built in the 1970s from 110 Street to 120 Street along Second Avenue, early real estate acquisition, adoption of innovative contract structures such as best-value, performance-based contracts, design-build, close coordination of contracts, and the reduction in back-of-house, ancillary spaces, and station sizes.

All told, these initiatives have saved more than $1 billion, according to officials.

The Second Avenue Subway Phase 2 project will create thousands of jobs, including union-wage construction jobs. A 20% local hiring goal for the project will create good-paying job opportunities for hundreds of East Harlem residents, officials said.