It’s mold before its time.
The new Hudson Yards station — opened in 2015 as part of a $2.4 billion, one-stop extension of the 7 train — is already falling apart.
The Post surveyed the massive, once-gleaming station on March 6, observing the following:
- Mold growing on walls
- Water-damage stains on the ceiling in many places
- Dozens of missing ceiling panels, exposing wiring and conduits
- Multiple out-of-service escalators
- No police officer in sight, with one man comfortable enough to light up a cigarette for the long, slow ride on the escalator to the surface.
“Given that this is a new subway station, I don’t understand why there is mold … Definite health concerns,” said artist Yo-Yo Lin, 29, who had made “quite a trek” from Brooklyn for a performance at The Shed, an arts center that’s part of the high-rise, work-spend-sleep megadevelopment that is Hudson Yards.
She said she was used to shabby 100-year-old stations in the boroughs, but expected better in a new Manhattan one.
“There is a lot of damage here,” she said.
Iris Lieu, 34, who works in fashion, looked up at the holes above her. “The ceiling [is] not even finished,” she said.
The 7 train project was the priciest subway extension ever by length worldwide — at least until it was surpassed by the $6 billion Second Avenue Subway Phase 1 in 2017.
Transit geeks have griped that both stations — with large mezzanines, custom elevators, and many exit portals — were overdesigned, involving too much expensive excavation. The station, 125 feet below ground, is one of the longest and widest in the system.
The Hudson Yards extension was also opened years late, overbudget, and completed without a second station at 10th Avenue, which would have brought a subway stop to Hells Kitchen.
“It’s a huge money pit,” said straphanger Danny Stern, 33, a non-profit employee who was passing through the station on his way to Philly.
MTA rep Joana Flores said in a statement: “While some ceiling panels at the station have been removed to address an underlying condition, those panels will be reinstalled as soon as remedial work is complete. This maintenance has had no impact on 7 line service running at the station.”