By Nicole Breskin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
LOWER MANHATTAN — The uptown N, R and W station at Cortland Street opened for good on Wednesday afternoon following repeated closures since 9/11.
The station was severely damaged on Sept. 11 after the fall of the World Trade Center towers — located directly across the street — and was immediately closed for repairs. It reopened the next year, but was closed again in 2005.
Passengers were able to board the Queens-bound trains on the R and W lines beginning at 2 p.m. Wednesday. The N line will also stop at Cortlandt Street after hours.
The revamped station has a wider platform and stairways with retiled walls, following $7.25 million in repairs paid for by the federal government, according to an NYC Transit spokesperson.
The station's facelift is part of a $1.4 billion project to turn the now incomplete Fulton Street Transit Center into a hub station with a WTC PATH station for lower Manhattan.
MTA Chair Jay Walder, Congressman Jerrold Nadler and State Sen. Daniel Squadron took part in a ceremony commemorating the opening at Dey and Church Streets.
“This is good news for lower Manhattan residents,” said Patricia Moore, chair of the Quality of Life Committee for Community Board 1. “The Cortlandt station has been closed for a long time.”
The downtown side of the platform will remain closed for now. Passengers will continue to use the stations located at City Hall and Rector Street instead.
Brooklyn-bound Cortlandt Street service is expected to resume in 2011.
