D. writes: “Are they developing that basketball court on the triangle just north of Canal along Sixth Avenue?”

The answer is no, but they are reconstructing what is called the Grand Canal Court (because it’s between Grand and Canal) and it will be closed for two years, provided construction stays on schedule. The MTA chose the site — which is Parks Department property — as a spot for a new substation for the Eighth Avenue line. The authority is rehabbing the whole line, and this is part of a huge project.

The substations run all along the system, since they convert power that comes from the power plants in AC to DC, which the trains run on. The system is also over 100 years old, so they are upgrading and rehabbing most of the substations. However, they are also adding new ones along the way to add to redundancy abilities — in other words, when one substation fails, one nearby can fill in. This is one of those new ones.

The court will be closed until the first quarter of 2025.

Seems like the empty plaza across the street would have worked as well? But what do I know.