Outgoing New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg joined officials of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Dec. 20 for the first ride on the extension of the MTA New York City Transit (NYC Transit) 7 Subway line, the first extension funded by the city in more than 60 years.

The extension provides a connection to Manhattan’s Far West Side, which has undergone extensive development in recent years. The $2.4 billion project is scheduled to be complete this summer.

“Today’s historic ride is yet another symbol of how New York City has become a place where big projects can get done,” said Bloomberg. “This project is the linchpin of an ambitious transit-oriented, mixed-use development that is already transforming Manhattan’s Far West Side.”

As part of the redevelopment of ­Hudson Yards, a 45-block area on ­Manhattan’s Far West Side, the city and the MTA worked together to extend the 7 Subway line farther west from its current terminus at Times Square to the new ­station at 34th Street and Eleventh Avenue.

The station at 34th Street and Eleventh Avenue will be accessible; it will be the first station in the system to have two high-rise incline elevators that will provide access to riders between the upper mezzanine and lower mezzanine, 108 feet below street level. Four high-rise escalators will also be installed at the station.