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

How Mamdani Can Fix NYC’s Neglected Greenways

This vital transportation infrastructure needs a lot of TLC by the new mayor.

January 26, 2026

Cycle of Rage: NYC Is A HELLSCAPE For Pedestrians

We can apportion the blame later in the day, but the greatest walkable city in North America is completely impassible to people on foot or in wheelchairs.

January 26, 2026

Gov. Hochul’s Car Insurance Proposal is a Disaster for Crash Victims’ Rights

As a state that values walking and biking, we cannot allow the governor to gut the rights of the people most at risk — especially since it won't lower insurance rates anyway.

January 26, 2026

Universal School Streets Will Be a Heavy Lift for Mamdani: Advocates

Can New York be the Paris of America? Mayor Mamdani will have to get to work on the DOT's "School Streets" program to make that happen.

January 26, 2026

Monday’s Headlines: Deliver the Goods Edition

Delivery workers braving the snow have more money in their pockets after judges threw out two app company lawsuits on Friday. Plus more news.

January 26, 2026

Driverless Vehicles — Who Needs Them?

That headline is not sarcastic — I mean it literally: Who will benefit from driverless cars?

January 26, 2026
See all posts