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News Release: July 1, 2010

Contact: Joe Soldevere, (212) 860-0606

Second
Ave. Subway, East Side
Access to Get More than $400 Million in House Transportation Bill

Washington,
D.C. – Congresswoman
Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) today hailed the inclusion of $197 million for the
Second Avenue Subway and $215 million for East Side Access in the Fiscal Year
2011 House Transportation Appropriations bill, which awaits final action by the
House later this year.  Maloney has long championed the transit projects, which
are located almost entirely within her congressional district.  More details on
the projects and their economic benefits can be found below.

“I’m proud to have helped to make sure that this
year’s House transportation bill includes a $400 million boost for these
two ‘megaprojects,’ which are creating thousands of jobs right here
in New York,”
said Maloney.  “On their first day in operation, the Second Avenue Subway
and East Side Access will move more people than the entire transit systems of
most other major American cities.  I thank Chairmen John Olver and David Obey
and their colleagues on the House Appropriations Committee for their ongoing
commitment to funding the Second Avenue Subway and East Side Access, which are
vitally important boosts for our region’s economy.”

Last year, Maloney issued a report outlining the jobs and other
economic benefits created by the construction of the Second Avenue Subway and
East Side Access.  Both projects are located almost entirely within
Maloney’s congressional district.  Please
click here for a full copy of Maloney’s report; highlights can be
found below.

Highlights of Maloney’s Report:

●          Every dollar spent on public infrastructure increases
GDP by an estimated $1.59.

●          Second Avenue Subway has already:

            ●          Created 16,000 jobs;

            ●          Generated $842 million in wages;

            ●          Produced $2.87 billion in economic
activity.

●          East Side Access has already:

            ●          Created 22,000 jobs;

            ●          Generated $1.176 billion in wages;

            ●          Produced $4 billion in economic activity.

●          During construction:

            ●          Second Avenue Subway will generate $4.347
billion in economic activity;

            ●          East Side Access will generate $12.275
billion in economic activity.

●          Following
completion, these projects will save commuting time in the region with the
longest commutes in the nation.

●          Transit
projects generate approximately 570 direct and indirect jobs for every $10
million in capital expenditures.

●          Transit
projects generate roughly $30 million in sales for every $10 million in capital
expenditures.

Background

In November 2007, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the MTA
signed a full-funding grant agreement for the Second Avenue Subway, which will
provide $1.3 billion in federal funds to build the subway’s first leg. 
In February 2009, Congress passed an omnibus appropriations bill that included
a $277.7 million funding installment for the subway, and later that year passed
the FY2010 transportation appropriations bill, which delivered $197 million for
the project.

In December 2006, the FTA and the MTA signed a full-funding grant
agreement for East Side Access, which will provide $2.6 billion in federal funds
for the project.  The 2009 omnibus appropriations bill included $209.6 million
for East Side Access, and the 2009 transportation appropriations bill included
$215 million for the project.

Full-funding grant agreements are commitments by the federal government
to provide a total amount of funding, delivered in installments, over the life
of a project. 

In the mid-1990s, Rep. Maloney began a campaign to resuscitate the
Second Avenue Subway after the project had lain dormant for decades.  The subway
project, as planned, will run primarily through the 14th
Congressional District, which Maloney represents.

The full-length Second Avenue Subway will be an 8 ½ mile, two-track
line beginning at 125th street
and ending in Hanover Square
in lower Manhattan. 
The subway’s first segment will include stops at 96th, 86th and 72nd
Streets, and tunnels from 99th to 62nd Streets. At 63rd Street, the new subway line will
link onto the existing Q-line tracks, providing a one-seat ride from the Upper
East Side to Times Square, Wall Street, and Brooklyn. 
Construction of the full-length subway has been divided into four phases.  Once
completed, the first subway phase will carry more than 200,000 riders each day
and relieve massive congestion on the most overcrowded subway routes in the
nation: the 4, 5, and 6 Lexington
Avenue IRT trains on Manhattan's
East Side.

East Side Access will bring the Long Island Rail Road to Grand Central
Terminal, carrying approximately 163,000 average weekday boardings.

###

Joe Soldevere

Press Secretary

Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney

(212) 860-0606 office

(646) 831-1649 cell

maloney.house.gov