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 Daisey’s Cafe. “People get scared.”
Residents and shop owners have endured raining debris, plumes of dust, loud noise after dark, and a carcinogen scare since blasting began in Jan. 2011.
It became so bad that in Aug. 2011, hardhats tried to soothe residents by singing to them.
Businesses complained that they lost all of their local customers — but gained some temporary construction workers.
“Usually they come in here for refuge … then they smell muffins and it’s good for us,” Andujar said.
The final blast on the long-delayed $4.5 billion subway extension’s 72nd Street station cavern came at t 4:30 p.m. Thursday. It’s ongoing near the future 86th Station.
In August 2012, an errant charge brought boulders the size of fire hydrants raining down on the street, blowing out windows as high as three stories and knocking people to their feet.
Kolb Art Gallery at 260 East 72nd street has been closed since then because of the structural damage to the building that the owner said was caused by the mishap.
“There’s been a lot of finger pointing between MTA and my landlord, said owner Claude Kolb. “Either way, it’s not my fault that someone didn’t read the manual and put a stick of dynamite in the right place.”
Emma Eskander, 20, a manager at Sharkey’s Cut for Kids on Second Avenue, said she’s ready for the regular explosions to stop.
“A lot of people avoid Second Avenue now,” Eskander said. “There’s times when the windows shake so much that we’re like, ‘Oh my god, what if it breaks?’” she said.
The project will extend the Q line along Second Avenue — the largest expansion of the subway system in decades — and bring new stations to 72nd Street, 86th Street and 96th Street. It’s slated to open in December 2016.
bdefalco@nypost.com