Plans for the audit follow a federal lawsuit filed last week claiming that the project's main contractors overcharged the station's builder, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, causing the project to come in millions of dollars over budget. "We want to make sure that the increase in cost was legitimate, and that proper procedures were followed in awarding and monitoring the contract," Hevesi spokesman David Neustadt told the New York Post for Sunday editions.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Newark last Sunday by Daidone Electric, a subcontractor on the project. It claims the project's three main contractors — Yonkers Contracting, Tully Construction and A.J. Pegno Construction — shortchanged Daidone even as they overbilled the Port Authority.

Roger Markowitz, a lawyer for Yonkers, Tully and Pegno, has denied the allegations. The three contractors bid $16 million for the project but were ultimately paid $37 million, the Post has reported.