The MTA has wrapped up blasting on the Second Avenue Subway at 72nd Street, relieving residents and businesses who say the neighborhood has been transformed into a war zone.
“We call ourselves the Baghdad Cafe around here,” said Miguel Andujar, a barista at Daisy’s Cafe. “People get scared.”
Residents and shop owners have endured raining debris, plumes of dust, loud noises after dark, and a carcinogen scare since blasting began in January 2011.
Businesses complained that they lost all of their local customers.
The final blast on the long-delayed $4.5 billion subway extension’s 72nd Street station cavern came at 4:30 p.m. last Thursday. Blasting is ongoing near the future 86th Street station.