MTA: 7 train won't extend to New Jersey 'in anybody's lifetime'

Straphangers dreaming of taking the No. 7 train from Flushing to Secaucus shouldn't hold their breath, MTA chief Joseph Lhota said Tuesday.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg began putting together a proposal last year to further extend the subway line to New Jersey after Gov. Chris Christie pulled the plug on a project to bring extra commuter railroad service to midtown.

But during a speech Tuesday in front of the New York Building Congress, Lhota said the proposed expansion to New Jersey is “not going to happen in anybody’s lifetime.”

“Of course New Jersey would like it,” Lhota said, “because they think they’ll be able to get across the river for $2.25,” referring to the cost of a MetroCard swipe.

Lhota's predecessor, Jay Walder, expressed a similar sentiment when the idea was first floated in 2010.

Asked to comment on Lhota’s remarks in a news conference Tuesday, Bloomberg quipped, “Hopefully it happens in somebody’s lifetime. Those people may not have been born yet.”

“It would be great if it happened,” Bloomberg added. “Having more tunnels over to New Jersey will help both New Jersey and New York City.”

Bloomberg praised Lhota, calling him a “realist.”

“I’m sure what Joe is referring to is [that] it’s very hard to see the funding for that come right now,” Bloomberg said. “If somebody could provide the funding, I could tell you Joe Lhota could build it.”

The city is already paying to expand the No. 7 line to Manhattan’s far West Side in an effort to spur growth in the area. The project is supposed to be open by the end of next year.