If you did not attend the opening of the new 34 Street-Hudson Yards station, you missed an opportunity to witness a bit of subway history, and to experience rush-hour conditions on a Sunday afternoon. Following a ribbon-cutting ceremony featuring Mayor Bill de Blasio and Senator Chuck Schumer, crowds flooded into the station to be among the first to ride the 1.5 mile, $2.4 billion extension that links the developing West Side neighborhood to Times Square, the East Side, and Queens via the 7 train. “This extension connects this extraordinary development happening here — a whole new city being created within our city — connects it with thousands of jobs in neighborhoods like Flushing and in central Queens, bringing people from those neighborhoods to the jobs here,” de Blasio said.
The new station at 34th Street and 11th Avenue is the city’s 469th, and the first entirely new addition to the system since 1989. The project faced a number of delays, some involving its Italian-made funicular escalators, but the most significant problem on opening day was a leak in a women’s bathroom. Here’s the MTA’s tour of the pristine station:
And here are rider videos of the interior of 34 Street-Hudson Yards, and one of the first rides into the station.
