B-roll, Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Celebrates Groundbreaking for Major Construction Stage of Second Avenue Subway Phase 2 Project

Governor Kathy Hochul today joined leadership from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), elected officials and Harlem community leaders to break ground on the major construction stage of the transformative Second Avenue Subway Phase 2 project. The groundbreaking occurred at the location where, in early 2027, the state-of-the-art tunnel-boring machine (TBM) will be lowered into the ground and begin mining the new subway tunnels from 120 Street and 2nd Avenue to 125 Street and Malcolm X Boulevard.

B-ROLL: B-Roll of the Governor breaking ground on the 2nd Ave. Subway is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

AUDIO: The Governor's remarks are available in audio form here.

PHOTOS: The Governor's Flickr page will post photos of the event here.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Great, great day to be here in East Harlem. You know, four days ago, I stood at this site, except it wasn't this site - I was literally 60 feet underground. It was dark, it was depressing, it was dank and it was actually the physical manifestation of unfinished business and unfilled dreams of an entire community. But I stand here today as someone who has seen the light at the end of the tunnel, nearly a century after false starts and broken promises.

Today, we finally break ground on a dream that was 100 years in the making. And I want to thank many great people who've been on this journey for a long time. Starting with our great leader, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer - majority next time. Chuck Schumer, who has been driving this project for as long as there's people had a dream, I want to thank him. Soon to be joining us is Congressman Adriano Espaillat. Oh, he's here - I didn't see him sitting there. Congressman, there's not a single time I've ever seen him in 15 years where he's not said when I was in Congress, when I was Lieutenant Governor or Governor, "What about the Second Avenue subway?"

So he has been persistent and he has been insistent - he is a huge force behind this project. I want to give him an enormous shout out here today, Adriano Espaillat. Our Chair of the MTA, Janno Lieber, has joined us. Janno, thank you for helping push these projects through a lot of adversity. And, of course, the people get the buildings done, let's give a shout out to our men and women in labor. Building Construction Trades Council President Gary LaBarbera, Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Assemblymember Eddie Gibbs, Assemblymember Jordan Wright, and Councilmember Yusef Salam.

So let's talk about why we're here. To appreciate the significance of today, let's talk about the fact that the Second Avenue Subway was first proposed over 100 years ago. Since then, more than a dozen mayors and governors have come and gone, and the project remains unfinished. You know, Mayor LaGuardia, who got a lot of things done, he tried to get it done in the 1940s.

Later Mayor Lindsay and Governor Rockefeller literally managed to break ground, they thought it was that close. They got a stretch built underground from the 110th and 120th streets. But despite all the residents having to put up with the destruction and all the construction, they never got the dream realized - it wasn't finished. And at the time, the Daily News just said, "It's the day the Second Avenue subway started for real." Well, Daily News and any other news media, you can say that again today because it's really, really is for real. As I think back when that last groundbreaking was, I have a couple of historic facts - 1972, who was president? Richard Nixon draw any parallels you want. Godfather was number one at the box office and what else was happening at the time? Let me think. Oh, yeah. The Knicks. The Knicks were starting their last championship season at the very time of this last groundbreaking. So I digress a little bit, but it's been revived.

We got further, we went further up to 96th Street 10 years ago. But the people of East Harlem have never stopped wanting this subway completed and I believe they should get what they deserve. Now I hear about it all the time, as I mentioned from especially from Congressman Espaillat, but I refuse to let this languish. I refuse to let good ideas like the Second Avenue subway stay underground. So when I say I'm delivering for the people of New York, I mean it with the team that I have around me. So whether you're going to a school or a Knicks game, or seeing family or friends or, yes going to a Knicks game, let's get there faster and headache free. Let's get there with 20 minutes shorter next time we do this. So while we got here in 2023, we stood together with $3.4 billion in federal funds for phase two. Thanks to our leaders in Congress, Senator Schumer and Congressman Espaillat, this is on top of billions and billions of dollars of state dollars made possible by our nation leading congestion pricing plan that's helping fund this.

And if you live in East Harlem, you know what this means for our families. So what are we going to do, we're going to give people time back in their lives and get their jobs faster, get to school faster, get to see family faster. And the Second Avenue Subway will give it more time back to you. Over 100,000 people who will take advantage of the three new subway stations. Second Avenue subway station at 106th, 116th and 125th. And the spot we're standing right now, we're going to dig an 8,400 foot tunnel right below here. And this will stretch from the 120th all the way to 125th and Malcolm X Boulevard, using a state of the art diamond studded - that's pretty cool - a diamond studded drill must be expensive. But despite our ambitions - with our ambitions and despite all the setbacks, Janno you're going to confirm this, on budget and on time and we intend to keep it that way. And we're saving money by repurposing the tunnel that was built back in the 70s and bringing it all the way there.

So also the Q train will run all the way to 125th, creating a new connection to Metro-North to make it easier for anyone going to Westchester and if you want to go to Connecticut, go ahead, you can go that way. Well, wouldn't it be great to take the Q line all the way to the west side? Okay, no you got to dream big with me people. I mean, this is my vision, let's get it all the way there. I put funding in the budget to begin the designs to do this tunnel extension and we could do even more with that. But I also want to say we've had a few challenges, and our leaders from Congress can talk to you what it's like on a day to day basis to fight back the Republicans in Washington who want to kill the thousands of union jobs that these projects create. Gary LaBarbera knows what this fights like as well. Donald Trump said he thought he was punishing New Yorkers with a political payback. He did it with Gateway Tunnel, got that back turned on, and then they tried to stop this very project, stop this project.

And you know what? We had to go to court and a judge had to tell them that they're back on and the Trump administration was forced to back down. So this was a win for East Harlem, it was a win for New York and a win for all the men and women of labor who will be building this project. Let's give them another round of applause, my friends in labor. From the sand hogs digging the tunnels to the electricians installing the subway signals. It's not just good for people to ride this subway, it will also create thousands of jobs. So I'm ready to do this, this is not just a gift for today - it's a gift for future generations who say and understand this community matters. This community has waited long enough. It is time to keep our promises and build this tunnel. Are you with me? Are you with me? Well, then, let's get it done everybody, thank you for all the support.

And let me bring up an incredible champion for our state.Someone who's focused on infrastructure, challenging the Trump administration to get the money turned back on our leader, Chuck Schumer.