Rome wasn’t built in a day — but it sure didn’t take as long as New York’s subways.
Mayor Eric Adams visited the “Eternal City” of Rome Friday and marveled at how quickly their transit terminals were constructed — while lamenting that New York City is a place where such things really take an eternity.
Hizzoner — who is in town for a meeting with Pope Francis — hailed a new metro line at Rome’s legendary Colosseum as “the real great idea” while speaking at a slaughterhouse-turned-art space in southwest Rome.
“Normally, you build a subway system in New York, you remove dirt but here… it’s almost like a real historical dig,” Adams said of the layers of history buried in Rome.
“And the time, how fast they are able to do it is another thing,” Adams said with a laugh. “When it comes down to making these major renovations, here, they are able to build without all the bureaucracy.”
Adams marveled at the rapid progress of Rome’s new subway line — which is slated to open next year — and compared it to New York City’s long-stalled $7.7 billion Second Avenue extension.
“How many years did it take to build Second Avenue,” Adams said, praising the Roman’s speedy construction.
“To expand their metro system that close to the Colosseum is just really a great feat because they are preserving the historical aspects of it while modernizing,” he added.“There’s a desire to modernize without destroying. They can live side by side.”
Adams, who visited the site of the Colosseum subway line Friday, also praised Romans’ use of tunnel-drilling technology.
“The technology I saw today…It’s far time that we are having that conversation,” he said of the technology, which seals walls as it cuts tunnels.
Rome’s new Metro C station at the Colosseum is set to open in February 2025, the city’s mayor Roberto Gualtieri announced in 2022.
Mayor Adams traveled to Italy Thursday to meet with Pope Franci in Vatican City in a trip funded by the Fratelli Tutti Foundation, which was founded by Francis via papal decree in 2021.
He’s expected to return on Monday, according to City Hall.
