The MTA plans finally to reopen the 9/11-destroyed Cortlandt Street station in October.
The station for the 1 train originally had been expected to reopen in 2014, but the project faced years of delays due to issues with the contractor on the job, Judlau Contracting, and disagreements with the Port Authority, according to the MTA.
In a “significant milestone,” the station has recently become powered by Con Edison, MTA Chief Development Officer Janno Lieber told the agency’s board on Monday. Lieber noted that “risks are not completely eliminated,” but expressed confidence that the station would meet its target to open to the public in October.
“From my standpoint, the most significant action recently was that [NYC Transit President] Andy Byford and I co-chaired a very significant meeting to plan the turnover and opening of the station, which has historically been one of the pitfalls of these kinds of projects,” said Lieber. “And I think that we kicked it off very effectively and the teamwork is going to be there to accomplish it: the system’s testing, the code compliance reviews and ultimately the start-up and handover of that facility.”
Judlau did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Port Authority originally spearheaded the project, but the MTA took over in early 2015 after a debate over who should pay for the reconstruction.
More than 16 years after 9/11, the destroyed station is one of the last shuttered pieces of lower Manhattan to be reconstructed. Asked if he was satisfied with the contractor, Lieber said he was content with the progress made on the station in recent months.
“I would say that I am satisfied that we are making very good headway,” he said. “A hundred percent satisfied, I am not. But this is a project that is moving forward as a normal, challenging project, as opposed to where it was before this board took action and conveyed its views to the contractor some months ago.”
