Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Grand Central subway station upgrades finally done after years of construction
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Published Oct 28, 2025
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 .
Ramsey Khalifeh
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Published Oct 28, 2025
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
A $700 million project to rehabilitate three subway stations below 42nd Street with new staircases, escalators, elevators and more was completed Tuesday after five years, MTA officials announced.
The project — called the 42nd Street Connection — involved renovations to the Times Square, Bryant Park and Grand Central stations.
MTA Chair Janno Lieber spoke at Grand Central, which 400,000 people pass through each day. He said the completed work means the station now has 30 new turnstiles, 38 new or widened staircases, 10 replaced escalators, 10 replaced elevators and a wider mezzanine floor where riders pass through turnstiles before reaching platforms for the 4, 5, 6 and 7 trains.
For years, construction on the project resulted in crowded platforms and walkways. Lieber said the agency tried to consolidate small projects into one operation to reduce the inconvenience.
“We heard from lots and lots of riders that they were burned with so much blue plywood up, they had no sense of the schedule,” Lieber said. “The project seemed to stop and start in a discoordinated manner. We brought them all together under a single management operation with a couple of great contractors, we took advantage.”
The work began in 2020 and was funded by the transit agency’s previous five-year construction plan. MTA officials said the project was $46 million under budget.
MTA construction chief Jamie Torres-Springer said the overhaul was “important for us to do to keep this 100-year-old system moving safely and reliably.”
Much of the MTA’s latest $65.4 billion five-year construction plan is dedicated to similar “state of good repair” work focused on the oldest facilities in the system. The MTA plans to upgrade substations that power train lines and rehab steel beams used on elevated lines.
Torres-Springer also said the MTA will award a contract before the end of this year to build four new elevators at the Bryant Park station to make the station fully accessible.
Tagged
manhattan
transportation
Ramsey Khalifeh
Ramsey Khalifeh is a transportation reporter on the NYC Accountability desk covering the largest transit system in the country. He was previously a general assignment reporter at Gothamist and worked on the Boston Globe's metro and copy desk. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE 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
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 4:15 p.m. ET
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
The Garden State now requires that corn masa dough and flour made and sold in the state be fortified with folic acid.
By
Arya Sundaram
News
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
The Garden State now requires that corn masa dough and flour made and sold in the state be fortified with folic acid.
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
NYC nor’easter dries up after weather service reports minor flooding
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
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 .