By Ben Fractenberg
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — The MTA is temporarily forcing residents out of six Upper East Side buildings between East 93rd and East 97th Street to make way for the Second Avenue subway.
Residents of 28 apartments will be moved out of their apartments for one to two months because the MTA is afraid their homes won’t be safe during construction of the new line, according to news reports.
The agency will put residents up in a hotel and pay their rent, costing between $6 million and $8 million for the relocation and building rehabilitation, the Daily News reported.
Faroukh Mistiy, a 40-year-old filmmaker living at 1873 Second Ave., just below 97th Street, told the New York Post he can already see damage to his apartment.
"My walls are cracking from the construction, and sometimes I think the building is going to fall down," Mistiy told the Post. "This is an old building, and they're blowing things up underground."
A survey found 18 buildings need reinforcement to withstand the blasting and boring going on underground, the News reported.
Tenants were notified about the relocation by mail on Monday and are still waiting to find out where they will be moved to.
The first section of the $4.5 billion project between East 96th and East 63rd Street is slated to be finished in 2016.
