뉴욕 한인들이 가장 많이 애용하는 7번 전철 종착역이 기존의 타임스스퀘어에서 허든슨야드까지 13일 연장 개통됐다.

뉴욕 맨해튼에서 전철이 연장 개통된 것은 26년만의 일이다. 허드슨야드 역은 허드슨강과 가까운 11애버뉴와 34스트리트에 위치했으며 대규모 전시장인 제이콥 재빗센터가 앞에 있다.
허드슨 강쪽엔 뉴저지와 연결되는 페리호 선착장이 있어 뉴저지의 통근자들도 편리하게 이용할 수 있을 전망이다.
뉴욕메트로폴리탄교통공사(MTA)는 평일 출퇴근시간대를 기준으로 하루 평균 3만5000명이 허드슨야드역을 이용할 것으로 보고 있다.
연장구간은 총 1.5마일(약 2.4km)로 지난 2011년 본격적인 공사에 들어가 무력 24억달러의 예산이 투입된 끝에 개통(開通)을 보게 됐다. 7번전철의 연장은 지난 2007년부터 추진된 것으로 마이클 블룸버그 시장 시절인 2013년 개통될 예정이었으나 엘리베이터 등 내부 시설 공사 문제로 지연돼왔다.
모두 18개 노선과 환승(換乘)이 되는 7번 전철은 맨해튼에서 롱아일랜드시티를 지나 퀸즈 우드사이드-엘머스트-플러싱까지 연결된다.
플러싱 등 동쪽 끝의 역들을 중심으로 한인들의 집단 거주지가 있어 누구보다 많이 이용하는 등 숱한 애환이 담겨 있는 전철이기도 하다.
뉴욕=임지환기자 newsroh@gmail.com
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Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project
The Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project is a joint venture by the New York City Department of City Planning and Metropolitan Transportation Authority to encourage development on Manhattan's far West Side along the Hudson River in Manhattan, New York City. The project includes a rezoning of the Far West Side into a new neighborhood called Hudson Yards, an extension of the New York City Subway's 7 trains to the area's eponymous subway station at 11th Avenue, and a renovation of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.
The centerpiece of the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project is the Hudson Yards neighborhood, a 26-to-28-acre (10.5 to 11.3 ha) mixed-use real estate development by Related Companies and Oxford Properties. The new construction is supposedly the largest ever of its kind. According to its master plan, created by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, Hudson Yards is expected to consist of 16 skyscrapers containing more than 12,700,000 square feet (1,180,000 m2) of new office, residential, and retail space. Among its components will be six million square feet (560,000 m2) of commercial office space, a 750,000-square-foot (70,000 m2) retail center with two levels of restaurants, cafes, markets and bars, a hotel, a cultural space, about 5,000 residences, a 750-seat school, and 14 acres (5.7 ha) of public open space.
The project was developed after the city lost its bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics and then decided not to build the proposed West Side Stadium for the New York Jets over the MTA's John D. Caemmerer West Side Yard. Hudson Yards broke ground on December 4, 2012; the first tower, an 895-foot (273 m) office building in the southeast corner of the site, is expected to be complete in 2015.
The new neighborhood is bordered on the east by Seventh and Eighth Avenues, on the south by West 28th and 30th Streets, on the north by West 43rd Street, and on the west by Hudson River Park and the Hudson River; the new platform upon which most of the development will be built is bordered by 10th and 12th Avenues and by 30th and 33rd Streets. It is expected to cost more than US$20 billion and may eventually see 65,000 visitors a day. As of June 2015, construction is overseen by Related Companies' executive vice president, Timur Galen. <자료 참조 www.en.wikipedia.org>