The $497 million needed to construct the long-delayed Fulton Street Transit Center will be paid entirely through President Obama’s economic stimulus package, MTA officials said today.
The project calls for a 12-subway hub with an above-ground, glass-covered pavilion to replace the current maze of loosely-linked stations.
MTA Chief Eliot Sander announced the funding at a State Assembly hearing today, telling Speaker Sheldon Silver the new funds would cover an additional $200 million in costs that were previously unannounced.
The stimulus package passed in the House of Representatives Wednesday, and awaits a Senate vote.
Ground broke on the Fulton station in July 2005, and it has been set back by rising construction costs and a scaling back of its original plans.
As a result, many businesses have closed and the surrounding neighborhood was left with an eyesore.
“People have been worried that we were going to leave a hole in the ground or construct a simple subway entrance instead of the iconic structure that the community was expecting,” Sander said. “I am here to tell you that this is not the case.”
The original designs of the above-ground glass structure called for an oculus that would reflect light into the station. The plans were later simplified to only include skylights.
Construction on the glass structure could begin in 2010, said Michael Horodniceanu, president of the agency’s capital construction division.
So far, the state has pitched in $58 million for the project. The federal government has already pitched in $819 million, not counting the $497 million Sander mentioned today.
The Second Avenue Subway and East Side Access projects are also slated for stimulus package funding, Sander said, adding that MTA has final say over how the money is spent.
Silver, who represents the Lower Manhattan district that includes the Fulton stations, called the funds “long overdue.”
“Hundreds of businesses have been put out of business, sites have been cleared, and it’s ready to go,” Silver said. “All it needs is that funding.”