The East Side once hosted two elevated lines, and a subway -- the Second and the Third Avenue Elevateds, built in the late 19th Century, and the Lexington Avenue Subway, which opened in 1918. The Second Ave. El closed in 1942, and carried 374 million passengers at its peak in 1921. In 1995, total ridership on the Lexington line was 180 million.

Old-timers recall the permanent jump in ridership on the Lexington Avenue line after the Third Avenue Elevated closed in 1955.

The conference was spurred by a combination of constituent complaints to Miller and the pending LIRR East Side Access initiative (see MTR #124). That project, which will bring LIRR trains into Grand Central Terminal through a tunnel under 63rd Street, could crowd out funding for other transit capacity initiatives and bring an additional 20,000 onto the overcrowded Lexington Ave. line.

Current efforts to revive the partially finished Second Avenue subway project, with three completed sections of tunnel, revolve around NYC Transit's Manhattan East Side Alternatives (MESA) study. The study offers several alternatives for the East Side, including a light rail line on the Lower East Side and construction of the Second Avenue subway from 63rd Street to 125th Street. Still, the project has no capital budget whatsoever.

"My office receives calls every day about what a horrible experience taking the Lexington line can be. The Second Avenue subway is a necessity now, not a luxury," said Miller.