[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 57 (Thursday, March 31, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H4015-H4016]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 A NEW DAY FOR TRANSIT IN NEW YORK CITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Espaillat) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ESPAILLAT. Mr. Speaker, I have the privilege of representing two 
historic and iconic districts in the 13th Congressional District.
  Harlem is the center, the mecca, of the African-American diaspora. It 
is the center of culture, of music, of literature for the Black 
community with the Apollo, the Schomburg, and other great historical 
institutions.
  The other neighborhood that I represent, Mr. Speaker, is East Harlem, 
El Barrio, which is the launching pad for the Latino experience in New 
York City. It was the home, the cradle, for the Puerto Rican community 
that opened its doors to Dominicans, Ecuadorians, Colombians, Central 
and South Americans.

[[Page H4016]]

  They really are two historic districts within the 13th Congressional 
District. Today, we mark a new day for those two communities with 
regard to transit access.
  This week, President Biden announced and submitted to Congress a 
strong and visionary budget. It included $4.5 billion for the Capital 
Investment Grant program, which includes $400 million for the 
construction of the second phase of the Second Avenue subway extension.
  The first phase was completed not too long ago, several years ago, 
and it went from 96th Street south to 72nd Street, touching some of the 
most affluent ZIP Codes in the country.
  This phase, the second phase, will go north to 125th Street. Some 
people have categorized it and called it Uptown Grand Central. It would 
connect East Harlem, El Barrio, and Harlem at 125th Street to the rest 
of the world.
  These stops will connect a transportation desert where over 75 
percent of its residents use public transportation to the Lexington 
Avenue line, which is the most overcrowded subway line in the city, if 
not the country.
  East Harlem, as I said earlier, is currently a transportation desert, 
and this second phase will change the lives of over 100,000 New Yorkers 
who will use it on a daily basis.
  This phase will extend train services to 96th Street and 125th 
Street, a 2-mile stretch, and benefit thousands upon thousands of New 
Yorkers. But it would also connect to Metro-North, a total of 124 
stations in seven different counties in upstate New York, suburban New 
York, as well as Connecticut. As such, it will also connect folks to 
LaGuardia Airport via bus and future water transportation in the Hudson 
River and Harlem River.
  This is truly a regional project that will connect Harlem and East 
Harlem, El Barrio, to the rest of the world.
  I am happy and proud that President Biden included $400 million for 
the second phase of the Second Avenue subway.
  The first phase saw 160,000 people benefit on a regular basis, $842 
million in wages, and $2.87 billion in economic activity in that 
region.
  Mr. Speaker, I am happy to see this new initiative.
  I thank President Biden for bringing the second phase of the Second 
Avenue Subway to the 13th Congressional District.

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