Construction At 4th Ave-9th St Should Be Done In July

Better late than never! News is that renovation of the 4th Avenue-9th Street F/G/R subway stop is only months away.

“The renovations at the 4th Ave-9th St subway station are scheduled to be completed in July 2014,” MTA spokeswoman Marisa Baldeo tells us.

The renovations include repairs to platforms and aluminum panels, new lighting, new canopies, a new Public Address Customer Information Screen system, masonry work at street level, and the installation of a new roof.

The work was scheduled to be finished last year, but the project was derailed by a dispute with the original contractor.

“I cannot confirm the cause or details of the dispute,” says Marisa.

As of last October, the job was taken over by a surety company, the Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland, a subsidiary of the Zurich American Insurance Company, who engaged surety consultants Cashin Spinelli & Ferritti to manage the job.

“The brickwork is done and the windows are in,” says John Grazioli, the new construction manager. “We still need to do the copper roofs and the aluminum panel exterior of the arch.”

They’re also doing some final finishing work on the Smith Street stop a few blocks away.

The remaining work on the 4th Ave-9th St stop will be done on weekends, so expect weekend track closings in both directions (like this one). But by mid-summer the scaffolding should come down and the platforms should be opened up.

“It’s a historic renovation, so we want to get it right,” says John. “But we are definitely on schedule to finish the job by the end of July.”