Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Second Avenue Subway Opened With Over 17,000 Minor Defects
By
David Colon
Published Sep 21, 2017
Modified Sep 21, 2017
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Governor's Office
By
David Colon
Published Sep 21, 2017
Modified Sep 21, 2017
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The Second Avenue subway, which was hailed by Governor Cuomo as proof "government can still accomplish big things for the people it serves" when it opened this year, began operating without all of its safety testing being completed, according to a new report. But in a glass half-full way of looking at things, it shows that government can successfully cut corners as much as the most cartoonishly evil capitalist enterprise.
The Times reports that fire alarm systems along the line were still being tested when the Second Avenue line opened and that "17,000 defects found during inspections had not been fixed." In addition, the entire line still only has a temporary safety certificate from the Federal Transit Administration. The paper got the information on safety defects from oversight reports made for the FTA by an independent engineering firm.
While the safety defects were all relatively minor, the paper reported that subway workers are posted in stations to monitor stations for fires, and that finishing safety problems after the line opened turns out to be more expensive, because crews have less time to work while trains are running 24 hours per day.
One Second Avenue line scholar, St. Peter's University assistant professor Philip Plotch, also said that there's a lack of transparency involved in the previously unknown safety fixes. "We the public have no idea how much it costs and what they’re taking money away from," he told the Times.
As far back as July last year, there were stories circulating that equipment and safety testing for the Second Avenue line were running behind the schedule imposed by Governor Cuomo's New Year's Day deadline. Still, the line opened with a fancy private New Year's gala in the 72nd Street station, and everyone rode the train without incident.
Escalators at the 86th Street station had to close for a week this past May after faulty sensors set off sprinklers that damaged them. The same escalators were then shut down for three straight days in July.
The Times implies that the New Year's deadline and Cuomo's hands-on involvement are examples "of how he tends to move aggressively on glittery, new projects, while more mundane concerns like maintenance, whose negligence has contributed to the subway system’s collapse, have languished." They said it, not me, so get mad at them all you Cuomo fans out there.
"The stations on the new Second Avenue line are completely safe and they have been since the day they opened," MTA spokesperson John McCarthy told Gothamist in a statement. "They feature state-of-the-art technology for fire protection, closed-circuit monitoring, and new public address systems - any suggestion that safety was at all compromised to meet the deadline to open is patently false."
And MTA Chairman Joe Lhota told the Times, "The project was not opened prematurely. It was opened when it was safe to be opened.”
Tagged
governor cuomo
MTA
second avenue subway
throw it on the pile
David Colon
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Central Park birders, others remember 63-year-old woman killed in park
People who said they knew her described her as an artist and a familiar presence in the Ramble.
By
Charles Lane
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 7:04 p.m. ET
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
News
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .