Report: MTA Shortcut Safety to Deliver the Second Ave Subway on Cuomo's Schedule

"In a rush to finish New York City’s long-awaited Second Avenue subway by a New Year’s Day deadline imposed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority failed to complete final safety testing before opening the line to the public," reports Emma G. Fitzsimmons.

Fire systems were still being tested when the new subway opened on January 1, adds Fitzsimmons. "Now more than eight months after the lavish opening, complete with sparkling wine and an elegant midnight celebration on New Year’s Eve, the subway line is still operating under a temporary safety certificate, according to the Federal Transit Administration." Another detail of the ongoing status of safety systems on the city's newest subway: "Crews have had to be posted along the line to watch for fires — an expensive effort meant to serve as a stopgap."

Fitzsimmons discovered the status of safety on the new subway line through a Freedom of Information request for reports prepared by Urban Engineers of New York for the Federal Transit Administration.

The article includes a quote by John McCarthy, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, defending the safety precautions in place on the new subway line. MTA Chair Joseph J. Lhota also states that the subway line was not opened prematurely. Still, thousands of defects were still waiting to be fixed in May, and there is not shortage of sources willing to say that the opening circumvented safety protocols.

The article is allowed a word count commensurate with the seriousness of the accusations made by the reports, so there is a lot more detail included in the source article.