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

Thursday’s Headlines: The Chips Fall Edition

So much corruption, so little time. Plus other news.

August 21, 2025

Talking Headways Podcast: Measuring Emissions Reduction for Bike Commutes

We talk to Mark Kabbash about his new system for measuring and verifying bike commuting to obtain carbon avoidance credits.

August 21, 2025

Advocates Beg DOT Sec. Duffy to Give Up Space and Fix Transit On Earth

Transportation Secretary/acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy wants to put a nuclear reactor on the moon. But a lot of Americans just want the bus to come on time.

August 21, 2025

This Company Wants to Help More Americans Buy Used E-Bikes

Trade wars in Washington are having a chilling effect on the U.S. bike market. Could selling more used cycles fill the gap?

August 21, 2025

OPINION: NYC Has Noise Cameras To Catch Loud Cars. Why Aren’t We Funding It?

The Adams administration is supposed to install 25 of them by the end of September. What's going on?

August 20, 2025

No, Washington Post, Driver’s Ed Isn’t The ‘Main Cause’ of Our Road Violence Crisis

The paper's recent article blamed bad driver's ed for America's dismal roadway safety stats — but that's just wrong.

August 20, 2025
See all posts