Small business owners along Second Avenue in East Harlem say construction on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Second Avenue Subway extension is driving away customers and pushing some toward financial ruin, even as the agency insists it is working to be a good neighbor.
The nearly $8 billion project is meant to extend the Q train deeper into East Harlem by 2032. But merchants along the route describe years of fencing, heavy equipment, blocked sidewalks and legal disputes that they say the MTA has done little to soften.
“They’re brutes. They have no respect, no nothing,” said Jimmy Mateus, owner of Casa Ricardo’s Steakhouse on Second Avenue near East 111th Street. “They’ll blast these pile drivers in front of your restaurant, they could care less. They’ll chop up your sidewalk. Total brutes.”
Mateus said construction has narrowed the sidewalk outside his restaurant from 15 feet to 6 feet, making it harder for customers to wait outside, and he estimates sales are down about 40% this year. He said he has spent more than $1 million on fines and legal disputes with the MTA, including fights over vibration monitors the agency placed on his property.
“They send you these lawsuits that are 4-inches thick,” Mateus said. “You don’t even want to complain because you don’t want these people on your bad side. I’m worried they might try to make my life more difficult.”
A few blocks away, Lu Nicaj, owner of Eagle Tile, said construction barriers have eliminated nearly 90% of the contractor business his Second Avenue store relies on. The 60-year-old said the MTA took over his loading zone and blocked access with barriers and equipment, then failed to follow through on a promise to create a pickup area for customers hauling large orders.
“MTA promised me so many options and ideas that could have helped,” said Nicaj, who said he has laid off three workers and is now hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. “I was a successful functioning business until the MTA came along and they destroyed everything,” he said, noting the shop has served the neighborhood for more than 35 years.
At Go Donut, a shop that opened last year at Second Avenue and East 119th Street, owner Solomon Fresh said sales have dropped 70% since construction moved in front of his store four months ago. He said fencing blocks his sidewalk and generators run so loudly that customers cover their ears.
“People can’t find my store because the blockage is so high,” said Fresh, 38. “Sometimes you can’t even hear yourself talk because it’s so loud.”
Fresh, who was born and raised in East Harlem, said he supports the new subway line but feels the MTA has abandoned businesses in its path. “Eight billion dollars, but you don’t have any budget for businesses that are going through suffering while you’re building?” he said.
He said he opened the shop to set an example for young people in the neighborhood. “I’m just trying to bring something different to my neighborhood and I have kids that look up to me. I want to show them that we can do something different than music or basketball or football. You can start a business and make it flourish, so I’m upset,” Fresh said. “I’m mad.”
The MTA said its outreach team has met with business owners in the construction zone. “East Harlem has waited generations for this project, and we’re committed to being consistent, accessible neighbors as we deliver it,” a spokesperson for the agency said. The MTA did not address Nicaj’s claim that the agency stopped communicating with him after making promises about access.
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