Deadline for connecting LIRR to Grand Central still not certain, transit chief says

The head of the MTA, after promising for years that the LIRR would connect to Grand Central Terminal by the end of 2022, would not guarantee Wednesday the new station will open by the end of this month, suggesting the transit agency could hold contractors financially responsible for the latest delays in the $11 billion project.

Speaking at a news conference in Brooklyn Wednesday, Metropolitan Transportation Authority chairman and CEO Janno Lieber provided a status update on the beleaguered megaproject, which was once expected to open in 2009. Lieber said “the project is done,” but is being held up by an issue with the new station’s ventilation system that is preventing it from meeting necessary safety requirements.

“We’re working on it. I’m not putting a date on it, but we’re making progress,” Lieber said. “I’m not putting a date on it until we know we’re going to satisfy those code requirements.”

The MTA chief also on Wednesday suggested that faulty contractor work could be to blame for the latest glitch in the project, and that the MTA could look to recover some costs related to the delays under insurance policy provisions addressing "errors and omissions."

"If some imperfection in the engineering were to blame — not impossible — that didn’t take account of the impact of the existing Grand Central’s air flows, that will be an interesting discussion," Lieber said. "I’m not paying for extra work that is necessitated because somebody, however well-intentioned, didn’t design something perfectly.”

For the better part of five years, Lieber insisted the project would be complete by the end of 2022 — even telling the Long Island Association in 2018 that the date was “absolutely written in stone.” The LIRR was promoting the 2022 opening of its new 700,000-square foot station well into December.

On Dec. 23, the agency’s construction chief, Jamie Torres-Springer, in a statement, acknowledged that 2022 was off the table, but said the station would open “as soon as possible in January.”

On Wednesday, Lieber said only that “January is possible.”

“Now we’re counting days and weeks and struggling through this one last issue,” Lieber said.

Lieber said, even with the latest issues, East Side Access remains within its $11.13 billion budget.

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.