New Yorkers have been waiting since 1929 for a subway line running underneath Second Avenue.
New Yorkers will ring in 2017 with three new subway stations, the first segment of a line that had been under discussion for nearly a century.
"Right now, there is a lot of cynicism and skepticism about our projects. We're going to restore credibility. #2ndAveSubway will open Jan 1," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo tweeted Monday.
New Yorkers have been waiting since 1929 for a subway line running underneath Second Avenue, a north-south artery along the eastern side of Manhattan.
The new segment cost $4.4 billion and is an extension of the existing Q line, with stations on 72nd, 86th and 96th Streets.
It's the largest extension of New York's metro in 50 years and will link the tony Upper East Side neighborhood with Brooklyn's beachfront Coney Island.
The new stations feature works by contemporary artists including painter and photographer Chuck Close.
The Second Avenue line is meant to one day run the length of Manhattan, from the southern tip of the island to Harlem at the top, helping to relieve the burden on other oversaturated lines.
A completion date has not been set. It's also not known when the second section, expected to cost $6 billion and extend the line into Harlem, will be finished.