MTA to Add Elevators to 50 More Subway Stations, Transit President Says
Fifty subway stations will be getting new elevators to improve access for disabled passengers, after the MTA board unexpectedly decided last week to allocate $3 billion from unspent funds.
“It’s a real victory for accessibility advocates that the announcement came out of the blue at the board meeting,” New York City Transit Authority President Andy Byford said in an interview with Transit New York during a disability-awareness event on Friday.
Byford referred to the board decision as “a huge victory” for his Fast Forward modernization plan, launched in May 2018, which included a goal to build elevators at 50 stations within five years.
Only about 25 percent of the 472 subway stations in New York City are now accessible to the disabled, and those are unevenly distributed. The MTA has been facing fierce criticism from disability-rights groups for not increasing accessibility quickly enough. The agency is also fighting several lawsuits brought by those groups in state and federal courts.
The 50 stations will include major hubs, such as Broadway Junction, which serves the A, C, J, Z and L lines in Brooklyn at the intersection of Broadway and Conway Street. Alex Elegudin, NYCT’s senior advisor for Systemwide Accessibility, said they were hoping to release the full list in the next month or two.
Elegudin presented a list of 20 stations to be prioritized during a discussion in February. “Those are most likely on the list” of improved stations, he said in an interview.
The funding to expand accessible stations, which was to be allocated in the MTA 2020–2024 Capital Program, will come from $7 billion of unspent funds from the current 2015–2019 plan. This came after a suggestion from board member Lawrence Schwartz at an MTA meeting last week when he said, “I’m asking to look and see if there’s a way that we can accelerate now moving out of the next five-year capital program. … Let’s start construction on getting these additional elevators built at these 50 additional stations.”
Byford said he is trying to have the list of stations released sooner. “In any case, that won’t hold up getting on with what we’re now authorized to do.”
Groups representing disabled passengers welcomed the news, though some still have concerns. “I’m just worried that because they spend the money now, they might cut the funding for elevators in the next capital plan,” said Jessica Murray from the Rise and Resist Elevator Action Group.
“Anything that the MTA could do to speed up the process of installing [elevators at] 50 more stations is going to be really helpful,” said Colin Wright, senior advocacy associate of TransitCenter, an organization which works to improve public transportation. “If the MTA is able to move up the capital plan without coming at the expense of other critical projects, then this is great news.”
Joseph Rappaport, executive director of the Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled, said their goal is still to seek a legally binding agreement for full accessibility. “The money is always there for transit projects if the MTA wants to do.… The real question is commitment.”
Here are the stations that the MTA prioritized for improvement in February and are likely to be on the list:
- Livonia Avenue, L Line, Brooklyn
- Broadway Junction, A / C Lines, Brooklyn
- Broadway Junction, J / Z Lines, Brooklyn
- Broadway Junction, L Line, Brooklyn
- Borough Hall (South Bound), 4 / 5 Lines, Brooklyn
- Avenue H (North Bound), Q Line, Brooklyn
- Church Avenue, B / Q Lines, Brooklyn
- Junius Street, 3 Line, Brooklyn
- Lorimer Street, L Line, Brooklyn
- Metropolitan Avenue, G Line, Brooklyn
- 36th Street, D / N / R Lines, Brooklyn
- 6th Avenue, L Line, Manhattan
- Delancey Street — Essex Street, J / Z / M Lines, Manhattan
- Delancey Street — Essex Street, F Line, Manhattan
- 14th Street, F / M Lines, Manhattan
- 14th Street, 1 / 2 / 3 Lines, Manhattan
- Dyckman Street (North Bound), 1 Line, Manhattan
- Queensboro Plaza, 7 / N / W Lines, Queens
- Beach 67 Street — Gaston, A Line, Queens
- 170th Street, 4 Line, Bronx
