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$7.7 billion for 1.5 miles: Second Avenue subway: $7.7 billion for a mile and a half
The Second Avenue subway's extension to East Harlem — 1.5 miles and three stations — rose to $7.7 billion, about $5.1 billion a mile. The next extension west along 125th Street is also priced at $7.7 billion.
MTA, New York City
- Length of the East Harlem extension1.5 miles1
- New stations31
- Cost now$7.7B1
- Earlier federal estimate$6.9B1
- Earlier MTA estimate (without financing)$6.3B1
- Per mile (our math)About $5.1B1
- Next extension, 125th Street west$7.7B2
- Of that, soft costs (design, management)43%2
What happened
The extension carries the Second Avenue subway from 96th Street to 125th Street in East Harlem: 1.5 miles, with new stations at 106th and 116th Streets and a new level under the Lexington Avenue–125th Street station.
Its cost rose to $7.7 billion, $800 million more than the federal government's earlier figure of $6.9 billion. That works out to about $5.1 billion a mile.
Why nobody caught it
- A further extension west along 125th Street is now estimated at $7.7 billion as well, with 43% of it in soft costs like design and management. On the first phase, soft costs were 21%.
- Cutting soft costs to first-phase levels would save about $1.7 billion on that extension, by Streetsblog's reporting.
How sure are we?
Officially measured cost growth or delay beyond what was promised.
Official estimates, as reported by Gothamist (2023) and Streetsblog (2026). The per-mile figure is our arithmetic. High cost isn't fraud; it's what the public pays without a line-item receipt.
Sources
- Cost of 2nd Avenue Subway extension to East Harlem balloons to $7.7BGothamist · Mar 9, 2023
- Does Hochul's 125th Street subway have to be that expensive?Streetsblog NYC · Feb 3, 2026
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