WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — The 163rd Street-Amsterdam Avenue C train station will shut down for six to eight weeks to undergo a "transformative" renovation under the governor's plan to modernize the transit system, tha MTA said.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposal will "bring the system into the 21st century" by adding things like Wi-Fi hotspots, speedier mobile payments and ticketing to replace the MetroCard, and USB ports on subway cars and in stations, the MTA said in a statement.
The timeline for renovations to the station and others included in the plan, as well as how each station will be overhauled, has not yet been determined, MTA spokesman Adam Lisberg said. Work at the 163rd St.-Amsterdam Ave. station is expected to take between six months and a year, the agency said.
The goal is to give contractors complete access for a concentrated period of time, as opposed to smaller increments over successive weekends — or, in Lisberg's words, to “get in, get done and get out.”
The station is one of 30 in the city to undergo renovations, with expected completion dates in 2020, the MTA said.
The shutdowns are aimed at decreasing work time by 50 percent, as opposed to previous piecemeal approaches that relied on night and weekend closures and took two to three years longer to be completed.
“As we develop those plans,” Lisberg said, “we’ll work with the community and its elected officials to spread the word about them and ensure everyone has time to plan for them.”
Correction: A previous version of this story stated that the station would be closed for six months to a year for the renovation. It will actually be closed for six to eight weeks.
