MTA to seize property for Second Avenue subway extension

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority last week began the eminent domain process to acquire nine properties in East Harlem, New York, for the expansion of the Second Avenue subway route.

The $7.7 billion expansion will extend the Q Line from East 96th Street to East 125th Street, Crain's New York Business reported. Nearly half of the project's funding — $3.4 billion — would come from federal sources, mainly grants from the Federal Transit Administration.

About $497 million was included for the project in President Joe Biden's fiscal-year 2024 budget proposal released last month.

MTA has 30 days to alert the owners of the East Harlem properties, who will then have four months to respond to the Manhattan Supreme Court, Crain's reported. Some properties are empty lots, while others are mixed-use buildings; a local developer owns several of the sites.

Once the buildings are demolished, MTA will use the site as a staging area for tunnel boring machines and build an entrance for the new 116th Street station, Crain's reported.

The Second Avenue subway line opened in January 2017.