Editing IRT Flushing Line (section)

==== Western expansion ====
In July 1920, the [[New York Public Service Commission|New York State Public Service Commission]] announced it would extend the Flushing Line two stops west to Times Square, with an intermediate station under Bryant Park. The western end of the Bryant Park station would be {{convert|300|ft}} east of Sixth Avenue, while the eastern end would be about {{convert|100|ft}} west of Fifth Avenue.<ref name=":12">{{Cite news |date=July 25, 1920 |title=Plan New Station for 42d Street; Proposed as Part of Extension of the Queensboro Subway. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1920/07/25/archives/plan-new-station-for-42d-street-proposed-as-part-of-extension-of.html |access-date=July 12, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name="p576244392">{{cite news |date=July 25, 1920 |title=Subway Station on 42d St. Between 5th and 6th Avs. |page=A12 |work=New-York Tribune |id={{ProQuest|576244392}}}}</ref> The 42nd Street Association, a local civic group, regarded the station as very important.<ref name=":12" /> In May 1921, it was expected that contracts for the extension would be advertised shortly.<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 15, 1921 |title=East River Subway Nears Completion: Transit Commission Consulting Engineer Reports on Tube Construction |work=New York Herald |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35604540/new-york-herald/ |access-date=July 12, 2022}}</ref>

On November 9, 1921, the New York State Transit Commission opened up the contract for the extension for bidding. The extension would take a slightly different route than the one specified in the Dual Contracts. The original proposal had the line constructed under 42nd Street to a point just to the east of Broadway, which would have forced riders transferring to the [[IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line]] to walk a long distance.<ref name="Tribune1922">{{Cite news |date=November 6, 1922 |title=Queensboro Tube to be Extended West: Bids for Construction of Subway Over to 8th Ave. to be Opened Wednesday; Two Years' Job |work=New-York Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65994240/new-york-tribune/ |access-date=July 12, 2022}}</ref>

The Times Square station would be designed at a lower level than the two existing stations at Times Square. It would have two upper mezzanines connected by passageways: a mezzanine east of Seventh Avenue extending to Broadway, and one west of Seventh Avenue. Escalators would connect these upper mezzanines with the lower mezzanine, and a provision would be made to permit the installation of an escalator to the east of Seventh Avenue. There would be two entrances at street level at each of the western corners of 41st Street and Broadway, and two entrances at the northeastern corner of 41st Street and Seventh Avenue.<ref name="Tribune1922" />

On November 22, 1921, the Powers-Kennedy Contracting Corporation was awarded a contract to construct the extension on a low bid of $3,867,138, below the estimated cost of over $4 million.<ref name="Tribune1922" /> This low bid was the narrowest margin ever recorded for any large city contract, beating out the next highest bidder by 0.7 percent. While the contractor was provided four years to complete work, engineers expected to reduce the time needed to do so to as little as three years. Since work on the project had to be completed underneath the foundations of several large buildings, such as theatres, and the north end of the New York Public Library, the contractor had to provide a $1 million bond.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 28, 1921 |title=Subway Bids 0.7 P.C. Apart: Unprecedentedly Small Difference in Estimates Offered |work=The Brooklyn Times Union |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35066635/times-union/ |access-date=July 12, 2022}}</ref>

The project was expected to reduce crowding on the 42nd Street Shuttle by enabling riders to use the Queensboro Subway to directly access Times Square. 24,000 of the estimated 100,000 daily shuttle riders transferred to and from the Queensboro Subway. The line was to extend as far as Eighth Avenue to connect with the proposed [[IND Eighth Avenue Line]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 23, 1921 |title=Queensboro Subway Contract Is Awarded; $3,867,138 Bid for 42d Street Extension Let to Powers-Kennedy by Commission. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1921/11/23/archives/queensboro-subway-contract-is-awarded-3867138-bid-for-42d-street.html |access-date=July 12, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name="p576494810">{{cite news |date=November 23, 1921 |title=Subway Power Expense Added To 'L' Burdens: Impoverished System Forced to Foot Bills for Overhead, According to Check-Up of Interborough Transactions Hedley on Stand To-day Auditor Admits Campaign to Raise Fare Was Charged to I. R. T. Operating Cost |page=24 |work=New-York Tribune |id={{ProQuest|576494810}}}}</ref>

Powers-Kennedy started excavating the line westward from Grand Central in May 1922. The Flushing Line extension was to run beneath the original line from Vanderbilt to Fifth Avenue,<ref name="nyt-1922-05-14">{{Cite news |date=May 14, 1922 |title=Start Work on Forty-second Street Extension; New Link Will Run From Lexington Avenue and Forty-second Street to Forty-first Street and Eighth Avenue—Contractors Promise to Rush Work and Keep Streets Clear of Obstructions as Far as Possible |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1922/05/14/archives/start-work-on-fortysecond-street-extension-new-link-will-run-from.html |access-date=July 12, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> running as little as {{convert|4|in}} under the original line.<ref name="nyt-1926-03-21">{{Cite news |date=March 21, 1926 |title=Fifth Av. To Open Subway Station; Final Plans Are Announced for Inaugurating Queensboro Extension Tomorrow |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1926/03/21/archives/fifth-av-to-open-subway-station-final-plans-are-announced-for.html |access-date=July 12, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The tunnel also had to pass under a sewage line at [[Madison Avenue]]. The construction of the Fifth Avenue station required underpinning the [[New York Public Library Main Branch]] and extending the library's foundation downward.<ref name="nyt-1926-03-21" /> The subway tunnel ran {{Convert|35|ft||abbr=}} below ground level. During construction, workers took precautions to avoid interrupting the flow of traffic above ground and interfering with preexisting tunnels.<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 30, 1922 |title=Bryant Park Busy "Mine" |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1922/07/30/archives/bryant-park-busy-mine.html |url-status=live |access-date=August 14, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190814190118/https://www.nytimes.com/1922/07/30/archives/bryant-park-busy-mine.html |archive-date=August 14, 2019 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The contractors had completed the tunnels to Fifth Avenue by May 1923.<ref name="p103117644">{{cite news |date=May 20, 1923 |title=Rushing Work on New Subway: New Tunnel Opened to Point Under Library, Fifth Av. And 42d Street, Last Week. |page=RE1 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|103117644}}}}</ref> Local civic groups advocated for the Fifth Avenue station to be used as a temporary terminal while the permanent terminus at Times Square was being completed.<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 1, 1923 |title=Queens Subway Extension; Crossover at Fifth Avenue Station Will Hasten Opening. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1923/02/01/archives/queens-subway-extension-crossover-at-fifth-avenue-station-will.html |access-date=July 12, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name="p1114723879">{{cite news |date=January 14, 1923 |title=Want 42d St. Extension Operated in Sections: Need of Transit Is Too Great to Wait for Completion of Entire Tube |page=B2 |work=New-York Tribune |id={{ProQuest|1114723879}}}}</ref> By the end of 1923, the Transit Commission had allocated $50,000 for the construction of a temporary crossover east of the Fifth Avenue station.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 18, 1923 |title=Queens Borough Subwy.; Committees Ask That Fifth Avenue Station Be Opened. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1923/11/18/archives/queens-borough-subwy-committees-ask-that-fifth-avenue-station-be.html |access-date=July 12, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

The temporary terminal at Fifth Avenue was nearly complete by February 1926.<ref name="nyt-1926-02-21">{{Cite news |date=February 21, 1926 |title=Queens Tube Trains to 5th Av. In March; Subway Extension Completed From Grand Central to Near Sixth Avenue. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1926/02/21/archives/queens-tube-trains-to-5th-av-in-march-subway-extension-completed.html |access-date=July 10, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name="p1112728483">{{cite news |date=February 21, 1926 |title=Queensboro Line 5th Ave. Stations Open in March: Tracks Now Installed Between Grand Central and Near Sixth Avenue |page=8 |work=The New York Herald, New York Tribune |id={{ProQuest|1112728483}}}}</ref> The station had two entrances on the south side of 42nd Street (one next to the library and the other next to the park). A third entrance was placed within the [[Stern's|Stern Brothers]] building on the north side.<ref name="nyt-1926-02-21" /><ref name="p1112728483" /> Stern's funded the construction of the entrance inside its building, which also included storefront windows.<ref name="p1676686432">{{cite magazine |date=February 23, 1926 |title=Store News —' Retail Service: Stern's To Have Subway Entrance; To Open In Fall: Will Provide Only Access To Queensboro Extension On North Side Of 42D Street— Will Instal Display Windows |magazine=Women's Wear |volume=32 |issue=44 |page=6 |id={{ProQuest|1676686432}}}}</ref> These entrances connected with a mezzanine above the platform. The platform was to be {{convert|480|ft}} long, though only a {{convert|300|ft|adj=mid}} section would be used initially.<ref name="nyt-1926-02-21" /><ref name="p1112728483" />[[File:Queensboro Subway Service Extended To Times Square Station 1927.jpg|thumb|Queensboro Subway Service Extended To Times Square station 1927]]The Fifth Avenue station opened on March 22, 1926, extending the IRT Flushing Line one stop to the west from the line's previous terminus at Grand Central.<ref name="p1112743933">{{cite news |date=March 23, 1926 |title=Queens Subway Runs to 5th Ave. Amid Ceremony: Bryant Park Station Will Mark Terminal of New Extension Until Tunnel Is Finished to 8th Avenue |page=1 |work=The New York Herald, New York Tribune |id={{ProQuest|1112743933}}}}</ref><ref name="nyt-1926-03-232">{{Cite news |date=March 23, 1926 |title=Fifth Av. Station of Subway Opened; Ceremonies at Library Mark Completion of First Part of Queensboro Extension |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1926/03/23/archives/fifth-av-station-of-subway-opened-ceremonies-at-library-mark.html |access-date=July 10, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hhvVAAAAMAAJ |title=Annual Report of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company For The Year Ended June 30, 1925 |date=1925 |publisher=Interborough Rapid Transit Company |page=4 |language=en}}</ref> In fall 1926, it was announced that the line would be completed by January 1, 1927.<ref name="OpeningNear">{{Cite news |date=March 2, 1927 |title=Nearly Year Late, New Station to be Open in 2 Weeks: Date for Extending Queens Subway Service to Times Square Long Delayed |work=The Brooklyn Times Union |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35066351/times-union/ |access-date=July 12, 2022}}</ref>

On February 8, 1927, the [[New York City Board of Transportation]] informed the New York State Transit Commission that work on the Times Square station was sufficiently completed to enable the start of train service beginning on February 19, 1927 with the completion of work to a point between Eighth Avenue and Seventh Avenue. Plans for the construction of an extension of the line to between Eighth Avenue and Ninth Avenue to provide a physical connection with the IND Eighth Avenue Line were underway.<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 9, 1927 |title=Times Square Tube Station To Open Soon: Train Operation on Queensboro Line Will Begin Feb. 19 |work=The Brooklyn Citizen |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35063157/the-brooklyn-citizen/ |access-date=July 12, 2022}}</ref>

On March 1, 1927, the opening of the line was set for March 15, the third time an opening date was set for the line. Work had been postponed given the amount of work that remained to be completed. The opening of the line was about a year behind the April 29, 1926 date specified in the contract. The delay was the result of surprisingly difficult construction. The Board of Transportation had withheld retained percentages, as allowed in the contract, penalizing the contractor, and trying to incentivize it to speed up work. No retained percentages were provided to the contractor until February 1927.<ref name="OpeningNear" /> The Flushing Line was extended to [[Times Square (IRT Flushing Line)|Times Square]] on March 14, 1927.<ref name="nyt-1927-03-1522">{{Cite news |date=March 15, 1927 |title=New Queens Subway Opened to Times Sq.; Service Starts at Once After a Celebration by City and Civic Leaders |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/03/15/archives/new-queens-subway-opened-to-times-sq-service-starts-at-once-after-a.html |access-date=July 10, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/stream/annualreport7192newy#page/12/mode/2up/search/pelham |title=State of New York Department of Public Service Metropolitan Division Transit Commission Seventh Annual Report For The Calendar Year 1927 |date=1928 |publisher=New York State Transit Commission |page=13 |language=en}}</ref>