Construction of the 7 line extension, which will connect Javits to Times Square via the subway.

It’s almost a week before New York Comic Con commences, and we here at Beat Central are beginning to panic as we contemplate the 4+ days of Nerd Homecoming™.  (Yes, that’s my phrase.  Prom is in Spring, Homecoming is in Autumn.)

Myself, I’ll start if off with some liquid fortitude, with THREE soirees Wednesday night.  Thursday, I plan to ride the sweet surf of adrenaline (no need to eat!)

So I checked the NYCC website, and found the map.  I had thought the Great Wall of Geekdom was done once it reached the north end of Hall 3A.  This was not to be, as there are two more phases to go before the Javits renovation is finished.  So there’s a big wall which separates Hall 3E from 3B, which means more redheaded dust buffaloes.

But while digging through the Javits Center website for more information, I found the picture above of the subway extension.  The convention center opened in 1986, but there won’t be a subway stop until 2014, when a station at 34th and Eleventh Avenue connects to Times Square via the 7 line.

I geek about public transit and architecture, so I offer you the following behind-the-scenes photos from the MTA’s Flickr page and the Gothamist, showing the subway construction in various stages:

The subway entrance located between 33rd and 34th Streets.
Eleventh Avenue is located at the top of the photo; Javits is at the upper-right corner.
This will eventually be covered by a skyscraper.
The mezzanine above the tracks. It is as long as the Empire State Building is tall.
The rail tunnel, using prefabricated concrete segments.
Workers prepare to build the track bed.
The tunnel, ready for tracks and wiring (and graffiti…look at those white walls!)
This is where it curves onto 42nd Street.
The column-free platform! Can you imagine this filled with cosplayers?
Where the new tunnel meets the old, at Times Square.
The pillars on the left are supporting the A/C/E tracks.
No idea what this is, but that’s a nice curve in concrete!

Meanwhile, the Second Avenue subway (the “T” train) construction will be finished in 2016 (under construction since 1929), and the Long Island Railroad will connect to Grand Central Terminal via a platform built under GCT.

Until then, you’ll have to take a bus or taxi to get to Javits.  But it sure beats an omnibus!

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6 COMMENTS

  3. How so? This is all being built.
    Fanfic would be a “In the Year 2025” letter.
    Now, I will admit to brainstorming on this site about what various conventions could do to improve the next year’s show, as well as my “dandelion seeds” series.

    But now that you mention it, that’s not a bad idea… fanfiction blogging about the real world to come. “Fidgion”?

  4. Well, by the time that happens, they should have finished moving Amtrak into the Moynihan Station. Since Amtrak owns the track going north, and Metro-North uses that track in the Bronx, it wouldn’t be too difficult to reroute trains down the west side of Manhattan. They could do it now…

  5. considering what a giant pain in the ass it is to grab a cab at the javits center after the show closes for the night, a subway ride back to midtown sounds good to me. by the way, cool photos.

  6. I’m all for easier transit from place to place. That said, between this and Toy Fair, I’ve gotten used to walking the four or five avenue lengths to Javits. It’s not as bad as I thought it would be the first time, although it can be a real pain in the keister to walk or taxi after an especially exhausting day at the con.

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