Phase Two of the $1.9 billion project approved by the MTA board on Monday will extend the Q train from 96th Street to 125th Street<\/a>. It will include work to bore a new tunnel, rehab an existing one and create the new stations.\u00a0<\/p>\n “The contract before us today would be the largest tunneling contract ever awarded by the MTA,” Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Gov. Kathy Hochul said it will build on a promise made nearly 100 years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n “For the people of East Harlem, the time of promises is over. We are moving down the tracks as quickly as we possibly can,” Hochul said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Phase Two comes with a nearly $7 billion price tag, funded in part by congestion pricing<\/a>, the governor said.\u00a0<\/p>\n MTA seizing buildings to begin construction<\/p>\n The subway’s arrival in East Harlem means some people have to depart. The MTA is seizing buildings through eminent domain to make way for the construction of new tunnels and stations.\u00a0<\/p>\n Cheikh Diop, who owns Touba Africa Store, said the MTA first notified him about vacating over a year ago. A 90-day commercial vacancy notice in June told him the agency “plans to acquire the property … before the end of 2025.”<\/p>\n The owner of Touba Africa Store says the MTA is seizing his property to make way for construction on the 2nd Avenue subway expansion into East Harlem.\u00a0<\/p>\n CBS News New York<\/p>\n “I have no choice. If we gotta move, we gotta move,” Diop said.<\/p>\n But he doesn’t mind losing the property because he also lives in the neighborhood and relies on public transportation.\u00a0<\/p>\n “It’s good,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The MTA said roughly 33 units in another building are being forced out too.\u00a0<\/p>\n Early construction is expected to start later this year. The goal is to get trains moving into East Harlem by 2032.<\/p>\n![\"deangelis-11p-pkg-2nd-a-wcbsesvi-hi-res-still-00-01-3610.jpg](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/deangelis-11p-pkg-2nd-a-wcbsesvi-hi-res-still-00-01-3610.jpg#.jpeg\")
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