Fulton Center transit hub to open November 10

The grand opening of the Fulton Center transit hub will take place Nov. 10, making it the first of the MTA megaprojects to be finished, transit officials announced yesterday.

The day before, there will be a ceremony for the completion of the $1.4 billion renovation to the lower Manhattan complex the MTA is dubbing the "downtown Grand Central."

Riders will be able to walk through the whole station starting 5 a.m. that Monday.

The project will turn Fulton Street station into an easy-to-navigate transit hub made of glass and steel for nine subway lines with connections to the Port Authority's World Trade Center transportation hub that is undergoing renovations through 2015.

The new Fulton Center has a layout MTA officials say will ease bottlenecks at the transfer between the No. 4 and 5 and A and C lines, offers new entrances to the hub and new mezzanines.

There will also be 65,000 square feet of retail space.

A dazzling Oculus will reflect natural light down into the station.

Construction for the renovation has been underway for a decade and its opening had been delayed from June 26.

MTA officials this summer said additional time was needed to test the communications system, fire alarms and elevators.