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Stainless Steel Flowers Bloom Amid Construction at 96th Street Subway Station

By Leslie Albrecht

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

UPPER WEST SIDE — Busy commuters at the 96th Street subway station may not have noticed, but a stainless steel garden is blooming over their heads.

Workers began installing the art piece at the 1, 2 and 3 subway stop on Broadway, which is made up of 180 metal flowers that “link together to form a hanging garden,” according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Arts for Transit program.

The piece, called Bloemendaal, references Bloomingdale, the Upper West Side’s historical name.

The artwork is part of the station’s $65 million overhaul, which has been under construction since 2007. The renovation is partially complete now, and MTA officials say the entire project should be finished by September. The makeover is adding an above-ground entrance in the middle of Broadway.

Subway rider Carl Dante, a 55 year-old musician and filmmaker from the Bronx, gave the art project a thumbs up on Thursday.

“I like it,” Dante said. “I think it brightens up everything. I’m all for art.”

As for the three-year-old construction project at 96th Street, Dante said he has no problem with it.

“I live with it,” Dante said. “This is New York. You have to expect things like this.”

Bob Zubrycki, a 48-year-old violinist from Brewster, New York said 96th Street’s makeover is a “huge improvement” over the station’s old configuration.

The station, which serves the 1,2 and 3 lines, opened in 1904 as part of the city’s first subway line, according to the MTA website.

But 40-year-old mother of four Stacey Gibson, of W. 100th Street, said the renovation hasn’t made much difference for her and other moms who use strollers.

“They were supposed to build an elevator, but I haven’t seen one,” Gibson said. “It’s a problem.”

Gibson said she can’t use the 96th Street station when she’s pushing her three-year-old son in his stroller. Instead, she takes the bus, walks or takes a taxi.

“I spend a lot of money on cabs,” Gibson said.