Metropolitan Transportation Authority

MTA spokesman Adam Lisberg

“Superstorm Sandy was by far the worst disaster to ever befall the MTA, causing an estimated $4.7 billion worth of damage. We have made incredible strides to bring the network back, but fully restoring it to its condition before Sandy struck will take years.

“As soon as it was safe to do so, crews went into the system to assess the damage. We then began the process of pumping water from nine tubes under the East River and Newtown Creek. Metro-North and the Long Island Rail Road removed trees and boats from tracks close to water. The railroads began running trains within 24 hours of the storm, subways within two days. 80 percent of subway service was restored within five days.

“MTA New York City Transit has also established a new Sandy Recovery and Resiliency Division dedicated to launching, advancing and managing the rebuilding from Sandy, which will require years of construction and careful oversight of billions of dollars in federal aid … The goal is to protect all points where the subway system could be flooded during a storm.”

• 2,300,000 hours worked by NYCT employees on Sandy Recovery & Resiliency projects

• 500,000 feet of new cable installed (approximately 100 miles)

• 46,000 feet of track repaired

• 32,000 tons of debris removed

• 1,600 signal relays and other components repaired

• 160 switches repaired

• 20 pumps repaired

• 3 miles of stabilizing sheet piles in Rockaways