What's Happening in Yonkers, NY…

The board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) recently announced that it voted in favor of the purchase of more than 500 next generation subway cars. The cars will be put to use on the Staten Island Railway and on letter subway routes across the remaining four boroughs of New York.

The good news for Yonkers is that Kawasaki, the company that won the $1.4bn contract, will be build and test the new cars at factories in Yonkers. That means new jobs for area residents. The company expects to deliver the new train cars by 2020.

Companies looking to hire new people can use poster printing to get the word out. Although the initial contract is for 535 cars, there is the option for Kawasaki to product an additional 1,077 cars. If the additional cars are included, the entire contract could be worth around $4bn.

Among the features the new cars will offer include 58-inch door widths. Current subway car doors are just 50 inches wide, which often leads to slow downs when there are many people trying to get on and off the train cars at busy stops. The increased door widths will potentially reduce the amount of time trains stay stopped at station, improving the timeliness and efficiency of the MTA's subway system.