Construction on the Second Avenue Subway has suffered yet another setback, this time due to shaky apartment buildings.
MTA crews can’t carry out permits for blasting underground rock near two unstable apartment buildings — which were evacuated earlier this year – near E. 92nd St. until both structures are shored up, the MTA and city Buildings department said.
While the delay won’t push back the subway’s overall July 2017 completion date – which was recently changed from 2015 and was originally slated for 2012 – workers have resorted to digging with slower machinery instead of faster blasting methods, officials said.
One of the buildings – 1772 Second Avenue – has already been stabilized, the MTA said.
Work will begin on the other building, at 1768 Second Avenue, next week.
The MTA said blasting is scheduled to begin in mid-November.
MTA Spokesman Jeremy Soffin called the conditions “pre-existing.”
“We do not expect the delay to impact the overall project schedule,” he said.
The buildings were evacuated in June. City documents show that both had structural issues for years, but residents and business owners say vibrations from the construction have only worsened the problems.
The MTA said that any vibrations were light enough that there was no effect on the buildings. At a public meeting this week, agency capital construction chief Michael Horodniceanu called the problems “preexisting conditions.”