After a delay when we thought congestion pricing would get cancelled, the MTA is once again planning to renovate the Chambers Street J/Z station. It needs it!

The agency is preparing now to re-advertise the design-build contract; it is expected to be awarded in 2026.

Gothamist had done a story in March 2024 about $100 million worth of renovations that were coming to the station — actually called the BMT Nassau Loop — plus one at 190th in Washington Heights.  By the time I followed up a couple months later, the plans had been “paused.”

The request for proposals for the project seeks design/build services to complete historically sensitive repairs (the Chambers station is on the National Register of Historic Places), replace the stairs, install new artwork, and construct new track walls.

The station has two mezzanines at the north and south ends, and two active island platforms and one inactive center island platform with two active tracks and two non-revenue tracks. The MTA recently installed elevators servicing the north-bound and south-bound platforms from the Brooklyn Bridge Station.

It was part of a phased construction of the David N. Dinkins Manhattan Municipal Building, since they share architectural elements.