MTA grapples with residents displaced in Second Avenue plans

As the Metropolitan Transportation Authority moves forward with plans for the long-delayed Second Avenue subway line, there is one crucial task that remains: finding new homes for the residents it will soon displace. The new subway line, set to open in 2017, requires the relocation of dozens of residents between 59th and 96th streets. But several residents told the New York Times that the assistance the MTA has offered leaves much to be desired. Some of the residents said that they live in rent-stabilized apartments, so finding a comparable unit is a challenge. Others allege that the MTA has tried to push them out of the neighborhood — a claim that MTA spokesperson Kevin Ortiz denied, saying that his agency has simply presented other neighborhoods as options. “We’re doing our due diligence,” Ortiz said. “We’re not in any way, shape or form saying you have to do this, you have to move there.”