No Longer on the Queue

Along with 2017 came the opening of the first phase of the Second Avenue Subway, a project first proposed in 1929 that took almost a century to get going.

The construction of the Second Avenue line has been split into 4 phases, the first of which is already complete. Phase One was the extension of the Q train from Lexington Avenue/ 63rd St to three subway stations created along the Upper East Side at 72nd, 86th, and 96th Streets. In the second phase, the Q train will grow even further, adding three more stations to reach 125th Street, where it will link to the 4/5/6 train. In the third and fourth phases, ten new stations will be created, ranging from where the Q train originates at 72 St all the way to Hanover Square in the Lower East Side. This new line will be covered by the T train.

Overall, the TBLS community’s response to these developments has been positive.

“It’s helpful to me because it is much less crowded than the 4/5/6 line in the morning. I get to leave a little bit later in order to get to TBLS,” says History Magistra Lauren Filipink. “[The transfer] to the L train is also much easier.”

Class III discipulus Chengang Zhang relays a similar message. To him, “[The new line is] most definitely a benefit to my journey, as it cuts down my commute to school which allows me to squeeze in a little more sleep time.”

So far, the Second Avenue subway has brought access to the Upper East Side. New York looks forward to an extension downwards to the Lower East Side in the next couple of years.