As expected, New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Monday, Nov. 10, 2014 officially opened its Fulton Street Transit Center, linking nine (eventually to be 11) subway lines and related facilities in lower Manhattan.
Subway riders and other pedestrians in downtown Manhattan, alerted to the pending opening, began using the new hub at 5:00 a.m. local time, with most adapting quickly to new walkway travel patterns as if the station had been there for years.
Retail space remains largely empty at present. Last December MTA awarded a contract to Sydney, Australia-based Westfield Group to oversee retail business operations at the center. Westfield Group, operating in the U.S. since 1987, has its U.S. headquarters in Century City, Calif.
MTA, city, and state officials marked the opening at a ceremony Sunday, Nov. 9, which included remarks on the adjacent Dey St. Concourse, eventually to link the E train and the PATH transit hub, located west of Fulton Street Transit Center at the World Trade Center.