Hell's Kitchen Candidate Wants To Revive Proposed 7 Train Station

HELL'S KITCHEN, NY — A leading candidate for City Council in Hell's Kitchen said he will push local authorities to revisit a project that could transform the neighborhood: a new subway station on 10th Avenue.

That station, which would be built at West 41st Street, has been a fixation for neighborhood leaders and transit advocates for decades, since the city first announced plans to extend the 7 line past Times Square to 34th Street on the West Side.

That 1.3-mile extension to Hudson Yards was completed in 2015. But the 10th Avenue station never materialized, even as a new tunnel was built beneath the neighborhood — the MTA dropped the plan in 2008 due to funding constraints.

Now, Erik Bottcher — one of six Democrats running to succeed Corey Johnson in District 3 — told Patch he plans to mount a long-shot bid to build the station.

"This station should have been built when the 7 expansion was first constructed, but it was not, and that was a big mistake," Bottcher said in a statement. "But now, as President Biden and Congress negotiate a multi-trillion dollar infrastructure bill, this project needs to be shovel-ready."

It is unlikely that any specific funding for the station would be included in the infrastructure package, which is already in the late stages of negotiations. Still, the MTA hopes to receive billions in funding through the bill, and Bottcher said he would urge the agency to put it back on the front burner.

Specifically, Bottcher called on the city and state to fund preliminary design and feasibility studies — a necessary step if the station were to receive federal funding.

Hopes of a 10th Avenue station were briefly revived in 2016, when the city said it was conducting a feasibility study for the $1 billion station as part of a new development including a headquarters for the nonprofit Covenant House. That building is moving forward, but little progress was ever made on the station.

Plans for a new Port Authority Bus Terminal have also fueled speculation that a new subway station could be built to serve it.

Bottcher's plan has the backing of Christine Berthet, a community board member and co-founder of the neighborhood street-safety group CHEKPEDS, who noted that Hell's Kitchen's population has "exploded" since the 10th Avenue station was first floated.

"It is time the MTA and the city live up to their commitment and finish the station," said Berthet, who is supporting Bottcher's campaign.

Bottcher, a former chief of staff to Johnson and staffer for ex-Speaker Christine Quinn, is a frontrunner in the race for the District 3 seat, which also covers Chelsea, the West Village, and parts of Midtown, SoHo and the Upper West Side.

The City Council primary election will be held on June 22, with early voting from June 12–20. Find your polling place here.