Second Avenue Subway Work To Begin

Believe it — work is set to begin on the Second Avenue Subway in 2008:

Phase 1 of the project calls for the construction of stations at East 96th, 86th, and 72nd streets, and a connection to existing tracks at 63rd Street.

A giant hole will be dug between 92nd and 95th streets to allow the tunnel-boring machine to launch under ground, said Mysore Nagaraja, president of MTA Capital Construction.

The Post warns, however, that if they find too many arrowheads, work will stop:

. . . [A]rchaeologists will be on hand to halt the massive tunnel-boring machine at the first sign of artifacts dating back hundreds of years . . . officials said.

A consultant hired by the MTA told the agency that there is the potential for Native American and Colonial artifacts along the route, which was once closer to the shoreline than it is today, said Amanda Sutphin of the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

“You don’t know what is there until you start digging and it can actually be tested,” Sutphin said. “The topography of Manhattan was very different back then. Hills were leveled and valleys filled in.”