Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Infrastructure

Touring the East Side Access Tunnel, Surrounded By Schist

This morning I took a tour of the MTA's newly completed East Side Access tunnel 140 feet below Midtown Manhattan. My laptop is about to run out of batteries and, of course, I left my power cord at home. (It's a good thing I'm only in charge of running a blog and not, say, a 22-foot diameter, 850-ton tunnel boring machine.) So I'm just going to publish these photos with minimal text. I'll fill in the details later. Warning: If you're not a serious infrastructure geek, you might just want to skip this post altogether.

img_5664-traynor.jpg

Joe Trainor, MTA Capital Construction

16-flights.jpg

Sixteen flights down.

dark-tunnel.jpg

Reminds me of a Merle Travis song.

img_5725-man-car.jpg

The "man car." Not the fanciest press junket.

workers-tunnel.jpg

Heading southbound towards Grand Central.

curve.jpg

Left curve end. Right curve start. 

img_5724-digger.jpg

Digger.

img_5682-welder.jpg

Blow torch.

img_5687-schist.jpg

Manhattan schist.

img_5714-sandhog.jpg

Sandhogs.

img_5703-drilltip.jpg

Drill tip.

img_5695-hoseguy.jpg

 Drill tip and worker.

Back to 63rd Street and 2nd Avenue in all of its sweltering, stylish, SUV-choked glory.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Good Luck Docking Your Citi Bike In Lower Manhattan

Many frustrated commuters to Lower Manhattan opted to simply abandon their Citi Bikes undocked due to the lack of open spots in the area.

Wednesday’s Headlines: ‘ACE’ in the Hole Edition

The MTA approved a $141 million contract to put hundreds of new automated traffic enforcement cameras on buses. Plus more news.

May 1, 2024

Trump Trial Street Closures Push Pedestrians, Cyclists into Busy Traffic

News vans have dangerously blocked the sidewalk and bike lane on Lafayette Street daily since Donald Trump's trial began nearby two weeks ago.

April 30, 2024

Eyes On The Street: Coastal Resiliency Causes Mess For Pedestrians and Cyclists

Unfortunately for cyclists and pedestrians, this situation won't be fixed until "at least 2026.”

State Pols Still Haven’t Spent Millions Alloted for Transit as Congestion Pricing Looms

There's like $45 million sitting there — unspent — for outer borough transit improvements. What are state pols waiting for?

April 30, 2024
See all posts