Program for Action

station of the IND Sixth Avenue Line, which predated the Program for Action In the 1960s, the New York metropolitan area had 18 million residents across , and the area's population was expanding greatly at the time, especially in the suburbs, to where many city residents relocated. Two years later, voters passed a $2.5 billion bond issue that would pay for transport infrastructure in New York State. The MCTA's chairman at the time, William Ronan, said that any extensions of the New York City Subway that were funded using the bond issue would not be complete for at least another 5 years. In 1968, the MCTA absorbed the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA or TA) of New York City, and began a long-term lease of several lines of the Penn Central that would become the Metro-North Railroad. That year, () was made available to the MCTA, as part of a $2.5 billion () bond for transportation passed by the New York State legislature. The city was already intending to build line extensions in all four boroughs so that most riders would need at most one transfer to get to their destination. The original plan was to tear down the IRT Third Avenue Line in the Bronx; build the Second Avenue Subway in Manhattan and the Bronx with a 48th Street spur; extend the IRT Nostrand Avenue Line down Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn; build a 63rd Street Tunnel for the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR); and create a LIRR rail link to John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens. ==Report publication==

On February 29, 1968, the MCTA published a 56-page report for New York Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller, and in it, proposed several subway and railroad improvements under the name "Metropolitan Transportation, a Program for Action" (alternatively called the "Grand Design"). Executives involved with the proposal included New York baseball executive William Shea. On March 1, a day after the release of the plans, the MCTA became the MTA. In its rationale for the Program for Action, the MCTA stated, "By 1985, this region will have 25 million people. ... The prospects, based upon the best available projections, are that the population growth will take place principally in the suburbs. New York City is not expected to grow much by 1985. Its dwelling population will redistribute somewhat, however, with the outer areas of the city — Staten Island, Queens, parts of Brooklyn and the Bronx — growing, while the older areas closer to the core remain relatively stable in population." The city was expected to gain 2.5 million jobs in these two decades, and the Manhattan central business district already had 7.8 million employees. A lot of this funding would also come from the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, which was running large surpluses of $25 million per year. The new extensions totaled over of new route miles. In July 1968, the Regional Plan Association released a separate report supporting the planned expansion. Two months later, on September 20, 1968, the New York City Board of Estimate and Mayor John Lindsay approved six of the Transit Authority's eight recommended routes at the cost of $1.3 billion ( billion in ). ==Phase I==

station, one of six ultimately built as part of the Program for Action, prior to its 2010s renovation Phase I consisted of new subway lines to supplement the IND Queens Boulevard Line and the IRT Lexington Avenue Line, as well as new interlockings and modernized station termini to increase train capacity. It would also comprise the renovation of deteriorating transit routes. East of Northern Boulevard, where there would be a track junction with the Queens Boulevard Line, the 63rd Street–Southeast Queens line would become a "super-express" bypass of the Queens Boulevard line. was originally a single "high speed express track", with no intermediate stops, in order to allow trains to travel at speeds of up to . The bypass would have used one of the two trackways parallel to, and surrounding, the four-track LIRR Main Line; the trackways, formerly used by the Rockaway Beach Branch, are currently unused. The IND Queens Boulevard Line was to be reverse-signaled as well to further increase capacity. In order to provide enough capacity for the line, the GG would have had to be taken off of the Queens Boulevard Line, and a turnback was necessary to provide a new terminal for the line. While the upper level of the Archer Avenue subway would serve Queens Boulevard trains to Southeast Queens, the lower level for the BMT, which was to be built as part of Phase 2 as Route 133, would extend under Archer Avenue to 188th Street in Hollis. Long Island Expressway branch and other Queens lines Another less publicized plan, Route 131-C, which was also separate from the 63rd Street–Southeast Queens Line, was for a new double-tracked subway line, which would diverge from the IND Queens Boulevard Line west of Woodhaven Boulevard and go to Kissena Boulevard via a right-of-way parallel and adjacent to the Long Island Expressway (LIE; part of Interstate 495). It had been previously proposed to run the line from the 63rd Street tunnel under Northern Boulevard to Flushing (near the current Main Street station), then south under Kissena and Parsons Boulevards to meet with the LIE at Queens College. A connection to the defunct LIRR Rockaway Beach Branch, not part of the main project, was proposed in 1963 and again in 1967, as were branches along other LIRR lines to outer Queens areas without rapid transit service. The Rockaway extension and both Fulton Line extensions were previously proposed as part of the 1929 and 1939 IND Second System plans, and were ultimately not incorporated into the main Program For Action plan. Originally, Upper East Side residents complained about the lack of stations at 72nd and 96th Streets; while the 72nd Street station was later inserted into the SAS's construction plan, the 96th Street station did not get added. The junction north of East 180th Street between the Dyre and White Plains Road Lines, including the latter's approach to the station, would be rebuilt to eliminate the sharp curves at the station approach; the station itself would be reconfigured to allow cross-platform interchanges. Related to the Second Avenue Line, the sharp curves connecting the Lexington Avenue and White Plains Road Lines at 149th Street–Grand Concourse would also be removed. In Brooklyn, several extensions were proposed to serve the then-burgeoning areas of Mill Basin and Spring Creek. The Rogers Junction would have to be reconstructed with flying junctions to increase capacity for several extensions. The initial plan had the IRT Nostrand Avenue Line would be extended past Flatbush Avenue–Brooklyn College along Flatbush Avenue to Avenue U at Kings Plaza. Other plans had the line extended along Nostrand Avenue from Avenue H, where the exiting tunnel ends, to Sheepshead Bay at Avenue W or Voorhies Avenue; this second plan had been proposed as part of the line's original construction. A branch of the Eastern Parkway line, the Utica Avenue Line or Route 57–B, The IRT New Lots Line in East New York, meanwhile, would be extended southerly through the Livonia Yard to Flatlands Avenue; this line would run at ground level. It was also proposed to relocate the Canarsie Line west of its current right-of-way south of Broadway Junction, along the parallel LIRR Bay Ridge Branch (currently a freight-only branch) or in the median of the proposed Queens Interboro Expressway and Cross Brooklyn Expressway, which would have been built along both the LIRR branch and Linden Boulevard. The re-alignment would have facilitated both extensions. The current Bushwick Avenue, Broadway Junction and Atlantic Avenue stations would have been consolidated into one station on the Bay Ridge Line, new Sutter Avenue and Livonia Avenue stations would have been built, and the East 105th Street station would be replaced with a station at Rockaway Avenue on the Bay Ridge Line. Additional stations would have been built at Remsen Avenue, Ralph Avenue, Utica Avenue to connect with the Utica Avenue Line, Nostrand Avenue to connect with the Nostrand Avenue Line, Avenue H to connect with the Brighton Line, and McDonald Avenue to connect to the Culver Line before terminating at New Utrecht Avenue. The construction of the terminal was opposed by the residents of the Turtle Bay neighborhood, where it was planned to be located in, as it would have changed the character of their neighborhood. On April 16, 1973, a Federal directive directed New York State to consider expanding and modernizing Grand Central before building the new terminal under Third Avenue. The LIRR would also be electrified to Pinelawn Station on the Ronkonkoma Branch and to Northport Station on the Port Jefferson Branch. The LIRR would get 350 "new high-speed" electric multiple units (EMUs), signal improvements, junction modernizations, high-level platforms, and renovated railcars in addition to the other improvements, because at the time, much of the LIRR was not electrified, nor did its stations have platforms ascending to the height of the train. The report also called for three commuter rail modernizations. The New Haven Railroad commuter service would get 144 EMUs, as well as signal improvements, high-level platforms, and renovated cars. The Penn Central Railroad would get 130 EMUs, high-level platforms, and electrified trackage north to the Brewster station. The Erie Lackawanna Railroad in New York State would get new equipment, and a study would be conducted to determine whether the ELRR could go to Pennsylvania Station. All of these improvements were to extend into Phase II of the project. Further away from New York City proper, the MCTA proposed transport hubs at Tarrytown and White Plains in Westchester County; Republic Airport in Suffolk County; and Pearl River, Orangeburg, and Spring Valley in Rockland County. The MCTA also proposed an airport in Westchester. ==Phase II==

to the underground BMT Archer Avenue Line, built as part of the Program for Action Phase II would be constructed after Phase I and cost $1.3 billion. Phase II was composed of mostly extensions of existing lines and Phase I-built lines. The segment of the Third Avenue El in the Bronx would be demolished and replaced with a new subway line under Park Avenue, parallel to the New Haven Line Metro-North tracks. The Park Avenue Subway would connect with the Second Avenue trunk line in the South Bronx, where trains from Park Avenue would merge onto the same tracks as trains from the Dyre Avenue and Pelham spurs. In the same borough, the MCTA would also extend the then now-IND Pelham Line to Co-op City. It would also lengthen the IND Concourse Line to White Plains Road, with a connection to the IRT White Plains Road Line at either Burke Avenue or Gun Hill Road. New York City railroads would also receive more improvements. One proposed project entailed extending the LIRR Atlantic Branch from Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn into a new lower Manhattan terminal. A new railroad station at 149th Street in the Bronx, south of the current Yankees–East 153rd Street station, would be built to interchange with subway service. The MCTA would continue to upgrade Penn Central, as well as more airports within Long Island and Dutchess County. Transportation centers would be built in Hicksville, Pine Aire, and Ronkonkoma on Long Island; Brewster in Putnam County; Beacon in Dutchess County; New City and Suffern in Rockland County; and Goshen in Orange County. ==Progress==

1968–1970: Finalization of plans station undergoing renovation, with the original Program for Action-era designs having been replaced On September 20, 1968, the New York City Board of Estimate and Mayor John Lindsay approved six of the Transit Authority's eight recommended routes at the cost of $1.3 billion. Studies for the midtown people mover commenced in November 1969. 1969–1975: Progress On November 24, 1969, the 63rd Street line commenced construction, with tunnel segments being dug westward from Queens and in both directions from Roosevelt Island. The bi-level tunnel would have the subway on the top level and LIRR trains on the lower level. The line under Central Park connecting the line to the IND Sixth Avenue Line and the BMT Broadway Line began construction in summer 1971. Construction costs for the Second Avenue Line were pegged at $1 billion, rising to $1.3 billion a year later. The four prefabricated segments of the double-deck, The sections of the 63rd Street line that connected to the existing Broadway and Sixth Avenue Lines were holed through on October 11, 1973. Construction on the section of the 63rd Street line between 5th Avenue and Park Avenue began in August 1974. Plans for the single-track Queens Super Express Bypass for the IND Queens Boulevard Line had been doubled to two tracks in 1972. In total, eight lines were under design and three were undergoing active construction. The MTA was studying the 42nd Street, 48th Street, and 57th Street people movers as well. On the downside, these projects had gotten so expensive that, after announcing the $2.5 billion projected cost for the extensions in 1973, the MTA stopped publishing cost estimates. and the next year, it ordered 200 more cars for Penn Central's Hudson and Harlem Lines. The first new cars were delivered in September 1971. The subway and LIRR also saw deliveries of more than 600 new cars apiece. The MTA still believed that many other projects would still be built. By November 1974, the MTA projected a 1981 opening date for the Archer Avenue Line to Springfield Boulevard, as well as a 1982 opening date for the 63rd Street Line and for the SAS from 34th Street to 125th Street. In 1983, the Queens Super Express Bypass was to open, and in the same year, the Bronx extension of the SAS and the BMT Jamaica Line reroute to Archer Avenue would open. The MTA thought that the SAS's southern extension to Whitehall Street would open by 1988, and that by 1993, the Utica Avenue, Nostrand Avenue, and LIE subway lines and the LIRR East Side Access would all open. Now that several extensions had been canceled, the plan was to build of new track miles. Due to continued opposition to the Transportation Center, a "Grand Central Alternative" was published in September 1976. It called for the LIRR to use Grand Central Terminal's lower level instead. 1975–1989: Fiscal crisis, delays, and plan reduction While the Program for Action was ongoing, the MTA experienced growing fiscal deficits, which led to gradually increasing fare prices as well as a declining quality of service.). Expected to be completed by the mid-1970s and early 1980s, The MTA's proposed "40 miles of new subway" in Queens was reduced to of tracks, The Archer Avenue Line was opened in 1988 and the 63rd Street Line was also opened one year later; both lines, which had three stations each, were scaled-down versions of their original plans. while no rapid transit facilities were ever built to replace Third Avenue service. 63rd Street subway By the summer of 1976, the 63rd Street subway, which would comprise part of the Southeast Queens Line "from Central Park to Jamaica via the new 63rd Street tunnel," was being delayed to 1987–1988, since the planned 5.8-mile super express bypass had yet to begin construction. The authority proposed a new station at Northern Boulevard, adjacent to the existing Queens Plaza station, with transfers between mainline Queens Boulevard trains and 63rd Street/super-express trains, to be opened by 1983 or 1984. The Manhattan section of that line was completed that year. The New York Times reported in May 1978 that the expansion had been reduced to of its original length, saying, "The line costs $100,000 a foot, will be very short and will serve only a modest number of riders." The article now noted that the Queens super-express had been deferred "to 1988 at the earliest," and the only sections in progress were the 63rd Street Line to Northern Boulevard, and "a small piece along Archer Avenue." The opening date of the 63rd Street subway to Jamaica was projected for 1985. In the spring of 1983, the MTA took a fresh look at the tunnel, considering five possibilities. The proposals ranged from leaving it as-is, with the line's terminus in Long Island City, to the original 1960s plan to connect the 63rd Street Line to the LIRR Main Line, the cost of which was now estimated at $1 billion. At 21st Street–Queensbridge, usage estimates for that station in 1984 were 220 passengers per hour unless a connection was made to the rest of the system. It would also require the service to terminate at Court Square instead of operating local on the Queens Boulevard Line. The section of the line up to Long Island City was projected to open by the end of 1985. By 1985, the line's construction had cost $800 million, and the line would need another $200 million of fixes in order to make it usable. The MTA considered abandoning the line, but because the tunnel was examined and found to be sturdy, the MTA decided to add a single station in Queens: the 21st Street–Queensbridge station in Long Island City. None of the options proposed in 1984 were acted upon. The 63rd Street Line was opened in 1989 after more than a decade of delays, its terminal station at 21st Street, rendering the once-grandiosely-planned line a "useless subway to nowhere". In 1990, a modified version of the Queens Boulevard Line connection was selected, with connections to both the local and express Queens Boulevard tracks. Under the 1985 connector plans, the , (which operated on Queens Boulevard until 1987), (then called the QB), and a resurrected K Sixth Avenue route, were among the routes to be extended along Queens Boulevard or a bypass route via 63rd Street, while the F would have retained its routing via 53rd Street. 63rd Street LIRR line , under construction for East Side Access. Also here is a bellmouth for future subway service Construction on the lower level of the 63rd Street tunnel, which was to be used by LIRR trains from and to the planned Metropolitan Transportation Center, was completed along with the upper subway level. However, the LIRR project had been canceled long before the tunnel was completed. The New York Times noted that the lower level of the 63rd Street tunnel was still under construction by 1976, even though "officials knew that the tunnel would never be used." In 1981, when all bids for new projects were suspended except for the two Program for Action lines, the MTA gave approval for the Archer Avenue Line to be completed to help improve Jamaica's economy. Due to the city's fiscal crisis, the planned subway line was truncated to Jamaica Center–Parsons/Archer, The line opened on December 11, 1988, at a cost of nearly five times its original budget, and severely cut back to a length of . Since the line had been abridged to Jamaica Center, the "modern terminal" at Springfield Gardens had not been built, severely reducing train capacity on both levels to twelve trains per hour. Twenty-two blocks of tunnel were ultimately constructed. Seven additional blocks in the East Village were prepared for tunneling operations, but never excavated. However, the 1975–1976 fiscal crisis, combined with the massive outflow of city residents to the suburbs, led to the MTA and the city having no funds to complete the Second Avenue Line. with only three sections of tunnel having been completed, excluding the Chrystie Street Connection and the connection to the BMT 63rd Street Line. By 1978, when the New York City Subway was at its lowest point in its existence, State Comptroller Arthur Levitt stated that there were no plans to finish the line. JFK Airport rail link The LIRR rail link to JFK Airport, as originally planned, would have been built during the Program for Action's second phase. It entailed extending the LIRR through the 63rd Street Tunnel's lower level before tending at "Metropolitan Transportation Center" below Third Avenue and 48th Street. Many Rockaway and central Queens residents wanted the link to run along the disused Rockaway Beach Branch, rather than along the Van Wyck, so that Rockaway residents could also use the route to travel to Manhattan quickly. The New York City Board of Estimate approved the revised plan for a link between Penn Station and JFK via the Rockaway Beach Branch in 1969. Later during the planning process, a Woodhaven Junction stop was added along the link's route in response to requests by residents of the Woodhaven neighborhood. The $210 million LIRR plan faced much criticism, and one section in central Queens attracted heavy opposition. New York State Senator John J. Santucci, representing the Rockaways, raised concerns that a tunnel for the link, which would connect to the Rockaway Beach Branch, would require razing part of Forest Park, a plan his constituents opposed. Santucci said the link's construction would irreversibly destroy part of the park, destroying a community landmark by "stripping away the resources of the people for the luxury of the few". In October 1974, the president of the Hammel Holland Seaside Civic Association wrote to Mayor Abraham Beame, "It is our earnest plea to you that your decision on this rape of Forest Park be rescinded." The association's president added that although it would be cost-ineffective to create a premium service to JFK Airport, the Rockaway Beach Branch should still be reactivated for local passengers. In April 1976, Port Authority Chairman Ronan said that the link was "not feasible" due to the economic downturn and a corresponding decrease in air traffic. In 1978, after the Program for Action had been mostly scrapped, independent organizations pushed for the construction of a direct subway link from the IND Rockaway Line south of Aqueduct–North Conduit Avenue. A later study for a dedicated two-lane rapid transit bus line to JFK along the Rockaway Beach Branch, called the "Transitway", was released in 1982. The line would also host taxis, limousines, and vans going to the airport. The Port Authority scrapped the plan the following year in the face of near-unanimous opposition from the communities along the route. Following the failure of the JFK rail link, the MTA started operating the JFK Express (advertised as "The Train to The Plane"), a premium-fare New York City Subway service that connected Midtown Manhattan to the IND Rockaway Line's Howard Beach–JFK Airport station. In 1987, the Port Authority brought up a similar proposal to connect a new five-story, $500 million transportation center with all of the airport's terminals, in conjunction with the under-construction JFK Expressway. Architect Henry N. Cobb of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners created a design for the terminal and the projected people mover system. However, the Port Authority withdrew its plans for the large transport hub in 1990 after objections from the airlines, which could not pay for the costly renovation. 1990–present: Spinoff projects 63rd Street LIRR line With the city's economic and budgetary recovery in the 1990s, plans had resurfaced to bring LIRR service to East Midtown. In 1995, officials began the planning process for such a link. The LIRR was the busiest commuter railroad in the United States, with an average of 269,400 passengers each weekday in 1999. In 1999, the MTA proposed a $17 billion five-year capital budget. This budget included a $1.6 billion LIRR connection to Grand Central Terminal, called East Side Access, as well as several subway extensions. After the September 11, 2001, attacks, the MTA announced plans to accelerate the timeline for constructing East Side Access. In 2002, Congress passed a bill that allocated $132 million for infrastructure projects in New York State, of which $14.7 million was to go toward funding East Side Access. Approval of a final design for East Side Access was granted in 2002. Voters ultimately approved the bond issue, and East Side Access was instigated in December 2006. The East Side Access project constructed a new LIRR terminal beneath the current Grand Central Terminal, using new tunnels to connect to the 63rd Street tunnel's lower level. , the MTA was looking to start passenger service in December 2022, at an estimated cost of $11.1 billion. Second Avenue Subway on opening day in 2017 The city's economic and budgetary recovery also led to a revival of efforts to complete construction of the Second Avenue Subway. In 1991, then-New York Governor Mario Cuomo allocated $22 million to renew planning and design efforts for the Second Avenue line, but two years later, the MTA, facing budget cuts, removed these funds from its capital budget. Due in part to strong public support, the MTA Board committed in April 2000 to building a full-length subway line along the East Side, from East Harlem to Lower Manhattan. In May 2000, the MTA Capital Program Review Board approved the MTA's 2000–2004 Capital Program, which allocated $1.05 billion for the construction of the Second Avenue Subway. The same 2005 bond that funded East Side Access also provided funding to complete the Second Avenue Subway. and the first phase from 72nd Street to 96th Street, on the Upper East Side, opened on January 1, 2017. The planned Phase 2, to East Harlem, will utilize the sections of tunnel north of 96th Street that were built in the 1970s. Under a plan approved in 2016, Phase 2 of the Second Avenue Subway would receive funding by 2020, and open between 2027 and 2029. JFK Airport rail link By the 1990s, there was demand for a direct link between Midtown Manhattan and JFK Airport. In 1990, the MTA proposed a $1.6 billion rail link to LaGuardia and JFK airports, which would be funded jointly by agencies in the federal, state, and city governments. The rail line was to begin in Midtown Manhattan, crossing the East River via the Queensboro Bridge. It would travel to LaGuardia Airport, then make two additional stops before proceeding to JFK. To fund the project, the Port Authority introduced a Passenger Facility Charge (PFC), a $3 tax on every passenger departing from JFK, in 1991. The Port Authority started reviewing blueprints for the JFK rail link in 1992. At the time, it was thought that the link could be partially open within six years. The project was to start in 1996, but there were disputes over where to locate the Manhattan terminal, as well as whether the connector should even go into Manhattan. The planned JFK Airport connection was downsized to a monorail or people mover. In August 1995, the Federal Aviation Administration approved the Port Authority's request to use the already collected PFC money to fund the new monorail plan instead. Ultimately, a light rail with the qualities of a people mover, tentatively called the "JFK Light Rail System", was selected as the most feasible mode of transportation for the new system. Construction of the system began in May 1998. The system, known as the AirTrain JFK, opened on December 17, 2003. ==Service changes==

Two service changes were inaugurated as a result of the Program for Action. The first went into effect on Sunday, December 11, 1988, when the Archer Avenue Lines opened. The second occurred on Sunday, October 29, 1989, when the 63rd Street Lines opened. Maps were offered to rush-hour subway riders on December 12, 1988, one day after the initial changes. • The Sixth Avenue Shuttle between 57th and Grand Streets was discontinued; service was replaced with the Q train on weekdays and the B train on weekends. • The B train no longer ran along the BMT Astoria Line to Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard during weekdays. This was instead replaced by increased N service. • The E and J trains were rerouted to Jamaica Center. Buses were also rerouted from the 169th Street station to the new Jamaica Center station to serve the rerouted subway services. A new skip-stop service, called the Z train, was implemented along the J route, similar to skip-stop service along the route prior to 1976. • The R train was extended to Jamaica–179th Street to replace the E train along the eastern IND Queens Boulevard Line. The F train was to skip 169th Street on weekdays. • The M train now stopped at Bowery during weekdays only. • Several bus routes were renamed, particularly routes with Brooklyn ("B") designations that operated primarily in Queens. By contrast, when the 63rd Street Subway opened, there were fewer service changes. The B and Q trains and the JFK Express were extended from 57th Street/Sixth Avenue in Manhattan to 21st Street–Queensbridge in Queens; the JFK Express would be eliminated less than six months later in 1990. The 2001 opening of the 63rd Street Connection resulted in more major service changes in the subway system, such as the reroute of the to serve the 63rd Street Line, the truncation of service to Court Square during weekdays, and the creation of a new weekday service to cover the portions of the Queens Boulevard Line that were formerly served by the F and G trains. ==Notes==