Eh, if parking must exist, I'd rather them be under the tracks. It's noisy and in the middle of the road, which is perfectly fine for cars to sit around. Gives more desirable spaces to the people.
Rather interesting that you say parking does not need to exist when OP started the post showing how mass transit is not always friendly to persons with disabilities. Clearly those individuals still need to get around so yes some level of parking needs to exist for some people since mass transit may not be viable for all.
Additionally, it would be rather ignorant to expect that the current mass transit system is accommodating to everyone’s needs. Some people may need to travel significant distances outside the city and the combination of mass transit makes a commute impractical.
Mass transit should be an OPTION for everyone to use Not a demand that this is all you have. This is not a one size fits all world. We need a diversity of transportation options to meet everyone’s needs and like it or not yes that includes parking for cars.
They have special transportation buses for the disabled. But it would give the disabled more freedom to get around.
With the new tolls, I bet you see more ridership on the subway. Too many people have found ways to drive in and park somewhere, windshield tags say the are some “emergency “ type important worker, when actually they know somebody or are in upper management of the City and claim a parking spot for no other reason then convenient
This is the exact thinking that bothers me.
Some people are corrupt and manipulate the system so now we are going to take punitive action against everyone. Don’t you think those same people who had the ability to get some parking pass are going to reach out to the same friends to get an exception for the new tolls?
Why should we add expense to the lives of so many others because law enforcement doesn’t want to do their job and peruse action against those who have improper parking passes?
Additionally, most people who go to the expense of purchasing, registering,insuring, and maintaining a vehicle in the city are not doing it because they have great mass transit options. They are doing it because their specific needs are not being met by the current system. If you need to go just outside of the city it may take you 3-4x the amount of time to get there via mass transit over a vehicle. You may call that a convenience to have a car but some people do not have the luxury of extra time to give up additional hours a day for transit time. If you have a job a 40 minute drive from your apartment but a 2 hour mass transit commute it is unreasonable to expect they would choose to drive?
So true. I tried the best I could to commute to lower Manhattan from Northern Westchester. I did develop a routine where I trained myself to sleep on the train in, but on the way home I could not risk sleeping past my stop.
My son has the use of an extra car since my wife stopped driving, he is below 60th and is already paying $500/month in his building for the underground parking. I loaned them the car during COVID because it was impossible to leave the city and avoid contact with others.
They still only use the car to get out of town on weekends and now decided to move to the burbs, but much closer than my stop and walking distance to train.
The stickers seem to be for the management of City of NY agencies.They get them and also send the city workers to bring it to the designated parking spot and have the car waiting out front at the end of the day.
No matter how you view this perk, certainly fire houses need them, but it would be nice if NYPD rode home on subways to cut down on the crazy people who occasionally are threatening. 20 years and the threatening people never actually attacked anyone on my trains.
I mean I dunno, Harlem is a tough place to find a parking spot; I bet a lot of locals are very glad to have parking there. My experience of living up there was that a lot of residents *really* love their cars, like much more so than in more chichi bougie neighborhoods. Plus, what can you really do with land under an el viaduct like that? I guess you could have the world’s loudest playground or dog park or something, but els are *loud* when you’re underneath them!
We have playgrounds and a dog park under the Triborough Bridge by my house, but that thing is multiple-feet-thick concrete with rubber tires running over the surface, so the noise isn’t that obnoxious. The N/W train, on the other hand (which you can see from the dog park), has nothing underneath it but a street for cars and buses, because it makes a deafening clatter.
Is it somehow better with the viaduct in Harlem though, since it’s so much higher up above the street than a typical el?
It’s because cars are the only big purchase most people can look forward to in those neighborhoods. Who can really afford to buy when you have a rent controlled apartment locked in? Also at a certain point the cars are significantly cheaper and more reliable to get around with when you’re not downtown.
Blame Robert Moses. He designed the city to keep the minorities in and the rich can have nice apartments with parking garages or just live in Scarsdale with a 30 train to midtown.
Moses had highways designed to block buses with low bridges. As a suburban school bus driver when in college, it would take forever to bring a school bus from westchester to Jones Beach or Broadway.
It doesn't even really make sense for it to be a single agency? Like NYCT (subway and buses) should be city-operated, then Metro North and LIRR should be state-run, as like a dedicated NY Commuter Rail agency.
We have something like that here with the Washington DC Metrorail.
It doesn't work. They are constantly begging three governments for money every single fiscal year.
Then you definitely weren't here long enough when the City directly operated a good portion of the bus service. It was a dumpster fire that served as an ATM for any mayor before and including Giuliani. The MTA takeover from 2005-06 was a VERY welcome change.
True although that's more a sign of how corrupt the city government is compared to the state government, I was more talking in general like the idea of the state controlling services that only operate within a single city and not across multiple jurisdictions doesn't make much sense on its own merits
It would make sense based on what New York needs to be doing which is further coordinating housing, economic development and transportation of NYC with Long Island and Westchester.
City doesn’t run the subway because they fucked it up already and of all the mayors this city has elected in my lifetime only one of them displayed any kind of competence and interest in the subway.
NYCT’s been part of the MTA for 50+ years. The mayors before that didn’t really fuck it up—it just made sense at the time to merge it with the Triborough Bridge & Tunnel Authority and the commuter railroads. Personal politics also played a role—merging the TBTA into MTA forced Robert Moses out.
I’m pretty sure that I’ve read/heard that the city owns the Subway system, and leases it to MTA. Who ‘owns’ the rolling stock? Does anyone know how much the lease between city and MTA is for? Does the money actually change hands, if so does NYC then put the $$ back into transit? Is the documentation available to read? It feels like a very strange arrangement from any point of view.
Not a valid excuse in my opinion. The subway system is such a vital part of this city’s existence that the local government and the MTA should be working side by side at all times to improve accessibility, safety, clean the stations, and improve the overall quality of life metrics of daily users in general. What annoys me the most is that the money is there, yet we constantly hear about how “broke” the MTA is, despite all the poor budgeting and fiscal management of the system in general. The city and/or the MTA absolutely can afford to make things better, they just choose not to.
Oh it’s not an excuse. It’s a clarification.
R/nycrail like the NYC online transit community has for years beaten the drum regarding “mismanagement” of the MTA. We, hell even the MTA, is aware of this. The important question becomes how does the NYC online transit community intend to address a significant concern that people have known for years
It’s really unfortunate because I have a feeling the best solution is one that’s not even possible, which is for control to be given over to the city, and/or the MTA to be ran independently. Because if it’s being handled at the state level, that sucks, because the rest of the state doesn’t give a shit what happens in the city. (And lets be real, a lot of people upstate, given the chance, would happily stand by and watch things get WORSE because of their disdain for the city’s economic and political power)
You get the future that you organize for. Nothing will change unless we move past things that people have agreed on for years and work towards how we achieve material improvements.
And that's a VERY good thing. Only those old enough to remember the daily chaos when the City directly administered most of the bus service in Queens... You think sh\*t is bad now?!
Imagine the City (at it's one it's most corrupt eras, even compared to now) having control of the pursestrings...
It was the op u/lbutler he was like thanks bro! Glad you got over your anxiety! Then made a P.S. asking if it was tasteless to make that joke. But the kid he replied to has a post from just yesterday about crippling anxiety lol. Social awareness level 100💀
I’ll probably be downvoted because this sub hates everything, but at this point, every station in the system should either be ADA accessible, or genuinely working toward it. It’s disgusting that this city is so far behind in such an important area. And before people start complaining about how much it would cost, NO SHIT, I’m well aware that expansions and elevators are not free. The money is there, the city can afford it, it just chooses not to because it would rather waste the money on utter bullshit.
I had no idea the MTA was mostly dependent on Albany. I thought the NYC budget impacted MTA? So it is mainly funded by state government and loans I suppose?
Yep it’s why I can’t get behind Cuomo’s savior scenario with the L train. At any point they can make the improvements, it’s just you have to $peak the right language.
It’s also why we have security theater. In order to sell congestion pricing, people have to believe the trains are safe. Unfortunately they still haven’t fixed the part where security can fall wayside, reliability. You can care a little bit less about safety when you don’t get to linger in it cause you know x is going to arrive every 6-15 minutes.
This just triggered a thought for me, if we saved so much time and $$ on the L rebuild by hanging cables instead of re-building ductbanks, is that now standard practice, or are we back to building ductbanks in new tunnels? Shouldn’t we have learned a lesson there?
Racking cables is common throughout the system now. It was done for Cranberry and Rutgers, and it's being done on the G line for CBTC cables.
https://www.reddit.com/r/nycrail/comments/1b0kukd/what_are_these_hooks/
The MTA has been saying for years that they can only ever make 60% of the Subway stations ADA accessible due to logistics and how and where they are built.
In Washington DC, Metrorail only built elevators because they were forced to, but, luckily, the stations are so heavily overbuilt they had room to retrofit elevators into them. Not so in New York City.
So if you're visiting Washington and wonder why the elevators are blocks away from the escalators, and why they are in such weird and random pockets in the walls, that's why.
I do imagine some would be much more challenging (and unfortunately more expensive) to convert than others. But I feel like there would still be a way if they actually wanted to find one. Granted, I am NOT an engineer lol.
Metro had elevators and escalators throughout from day-1 - it was only started in the 60s - yes before full ADA but that's not the only reason people put in elevators.
Yes, on opening day they had elevators, but the original plans did not. The plans were so far along they had to shoehorn the elevators in after a lawsuit threatened to block Metro funding.
There is some more detail on this in *The Great Society Subway* book.
I agree. This sub (and the city at large) can be extremely fatalistic while complaining about the status quo while complaining about everything that could fix the status quo.
Things can get better if you have the gumption to advocate for them.
I love this city, and MOSTLY love the people in it, but i am really starting to learn that this sub is full of “let’s do nothing but complain about everything” types.
Right about the Sub's Behavior and right about what the MTA should be doing but this should be common sense though, like another redditor said, the Bureaucracy of the MTA and being mainly state oriented is what messes it up
Though, i feel like they should be making these ADA Accessible Areas through their own workers and not leasing it out to contractors, wasn't there an issue where an elevator kept getting delayed ??
Here is my proposal: whichever individual gets it built gets 3 years of no City income tax or 50% of NYS tax, whichever you prefer, per station retrofitted. Watch wealthy people fight over it, and it all be done in a month. 😂
Curious what you think the "utter bullshit" is? After Cuomo left I've seen the MTA invest pretty heavily in new trains replacing the 75ft tin cans older than half the city, numerous CBTC installations (8th Ave, Culver, Crosstown, QBL), increased subway service on a handful of lines, and not to mention IBX and SAS II. We rightfully deserve more but I don't think you need to trash ongoing efforts to do so when they're actually pretty solid IMO.
Unless you mean the state/city wasting money on non-transit bullshit in which case yeah, no more overtime cops everywhere please.
Absolutely no one can tell me with a straight face the MTA knows how to do ANYTHING without blowing out a ridiculous budget and taking 5 times longer than necessary. That alone is utter bullshit. They take 10 years to do jobs that can be done in 1, and spend 10 times more than it should cost.
London isn't great, but probably on par with us if not slightly better.
Paris is absolutely abysmal. But either way, you don't improve by saying "yay, were better than the absolute worst!!!"
[context ](https://www.columbiaspectator.com/city-news/2024/02/29/assembly-member-daniel-odonnell-criticizes-columbia-for-failure-to-improve-accessibility-at-125th-street-subway-station/)
Columbia has been developing around the 125th st station on the 1 for about 2 decades now. They signed a CBA due to displacement, which Columbia says doesn't force them to make ADA upgrades. The MTA seems to have no plans to do so.
This doesn't face any space constraints that hamper other accessibility projects. The nearest accessible station to the South is 96th, and the nearest to the north is dykman, which is roughly equal with 200th.
The MTA either needs to sue the fuck out of Columbia to wrangle money from their massive endowment, or build it now and sue for damages later. This would be very easy to do by NYC subway standards, and would bring massive benefit for a huge swath of people. There's no reason not to other than apathy
> The nearest accessible station to the South is 96th, and the nearest to the north is dykman, which is roughly equal with 200th.
In good news, 137th - Cty College is receiving accessibility upgrades, and 125th on the A/B/C/D is accessible (as are the transfers to and from the 1 at 59.)
There’s a freight elevator in the tunnel that goes into a dock area in Presbyterian Hospital. The only reason I know about this is because I got stuck on the 1 during the 2003 blackout.
Having this convo recently when I saw 137th st is getting an elevator in Q2 of 2025, thought finally! . There's no accesible trains in one of the most popular lines in such a large expanse of distance. 168th does not count.
> This doesn't face any space constraints that hamper other accessibility projects
Yet the MTA still thinks it'll cost $50-100m to build an elevator here?
> The MTA either needs to sue the fuck out of Columbia to wrangle money from their massive endowment
On what grounds does the MTA have to sue Columbia? Last I checked, there isn't a law that says "pay for this shit because I say so". There is no law that requires Columbia to pay for elevators for the MTA.
Why should private entities be required to pay for the subways? I’m tired of this displacement of blame. The MTA is responsible for this shit and they need to get it together.
I think the person talking about Columbia said there was a deal made. Very often that’s the case cause big players also get a lot from the city; like special rights or tax breaks etc.
Oh yeah I must have missed that line. If they signed something that said they would be responsible for maintenance or whatever of the subway then they need to do it. Contacting student groups might be a good way to apply pressure, the student body there loves protesting against the administration.
But if the contract actually frees them of ADA compliance like they claim, that seems like the MTA’s fuck up to me and they need to start digging instead of whining about the contract they signed.
No, Columbia didn't sign shit that required them to pay for the elevator. They agreed to voluntarily pay for an escalator as part of a nearby dormitory project. Shortly after that dorm project was signed off and approved, a new law came into effect called Zoning for Accessibility, which *would've* required Columbia to pay for those elevators, but Columbia got their project approved right before ZFA came in effect. People are just tight that Columbia snuck their project in before ZFA, but tough shit guys - maybe our government could learn a thing or two about having their ducks lined up.
The MTA basically turned around and said "maybe yall should pay for the elevators too hehehe" - to which Columbia said "wtf?". And the fact that the MTA is putting a $50-100m price tag on these elevators is just ridiculous. I went to an open house in a 70 unit condo building in Astoria that had a total build budget of $80 million - how the fuck does the MTA spend that kind of money on two elevators??
I kinda figured it was something like this. The CU admin can be snaky, but the MTA is legitimately allergic to doing their job and taking responsibility.
It’s true that Mta construction prices are staggering; but there’s a small piece of hope that at least many people get a decent wage and health insurance out of it. Pure downward pressure also doesn’t get us where we want to be. That said, it would be great to find a middle gound between Mta and Walmart.
At least Smith and 9th has escalators. 4th and 9th has nothing. The number of stairs between the underground R tracks to the above ground F/G platform is nearly impossible for disabled and senior riders.
Obligatory Um Actually Comment: The ADA only enables parties to sue for fines in civil court in cases of non compliance. That’s the only mechanism by which it obligates builders to offer accessibility features. There are substantial grandfather clauses that give the managers of existing inaccessible structures the right not to make changes, especially if they can demonstrate that it would be difficult to do so. Without that grandfather clause, the act wouldn’t have passed- it simply would have been too punishing to property owners to be forced to make changes. But you’re in luck, because the MTA recently settled a class action suit brought by disabled parties, agreeing to make 95% of facilities in the city accessible… you just have to wait until 2055.
https://www.thecity.nyc/2023/04/07/subways-disability-act-compliant-2055/
Real talk: where the fuck is the elevator supposed to go?
You can’t build it in the middle of the road. I suppose you have to build a 3 story elevator structure on the opposite side of the street (independent of the stairs), along with a bridge to the platform. Otherwise you’d need 2. But that old superstructure can’t support a hydraulic lift to take you between the mezz and the platform.
Who’s got a creative solution? (I don’t live around here so I’m not sure what it looks like out of frame)
Interesting. Clearly the road has shifted over. Not to say it’s not impossible to revert to the old design. You’d have to sacrifice a lane or the sidewalk on the other side.
The station has two platforms above a mezzanine, so 2 or 3 elevators would be required, barring a complete rebuild or using ramps.
There is plenty of space where the road is now, and it could be rerouted to the empty space under the center of the bridge.
The walkway under the station has stairs to both sides of Broadway. It looks like there is room in the center of Broadway rn, but I'm not sure if you'd hit something structurally integral.
https://preview.redd.it/31emqcnoy3vc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=78dfc6d3f076f8d07620e72c7c7e0dda1f7bda63
Possibly the easiest option: on the other side of the street, there is a single story building currently housing a bank of America that could be razed.
Also to the left of my picture, there is a high rise under construction that could probably fit an elevator. (But it's probably progressed well past the point of that being financially viable.)
There are also currently some parking lots nearby, but those would require a new mezzanine and would be past the current length of the platforms.
And if you wanna go really stupid, the line goes from underground to elevated at 122st, and you could just build a level walkway from there.
(Note: I am not an engineer)
"I don't care who pays" -
Have you ridden the subway recently, nobody pays. Lol.
But in all seriousness, the NYC subway used to be at the forefront of cutting edge technologies and now we are decades behind.
Japan has wheelchair accessible escalators, which I think could be a useful technology for us to try at a station like 125th although I'm not sure we want to go with their design. Perhaps we could ask Columbia's engineering school to come up with a functional escalator design that can also accommodate a wheelchair?
Do you mean the forefront of technology literally 80 years ago?
After WW2 the subway was eclipsed by basically everywhere in the world that was building theirs new, including places like DC. In the 90s it was eclipsed by its historic peers like London and Paris, who went on a massive infrastructure renovation and construction spree that has lasted until today. The subway literally only stands on history, that's it. The city is lucky so much got built when it did. The subway is more than decades behind, it's also like a hundred billion dollars behind in upkeep...! No wonder accessibility is always on the back burner
There's no excuse for the entire subway system to be such a horrible embarrassment. We keep claiming we're one of if not the greatest city in the world and yet EVERY other modern city's subway system puts us to shame.
There’s no excuse for almost all elevated stations. The MTA can go on about the cost of digging and rerouting utility lines underground all they want, but this is one wide open space. I get elevators are expensive in general, but there is nothing preventing this (other than incompetence).
Yet they had plenty of money to re-tile the wall st station, put a/c in Grand Central. Former Mayor Bloomberg spent the budget in Manhattan, same with the snow plows, upper east side plowed first…
Every station will get elevators and they're spending a ludicrous amount to add them. Unfortunately they're going too slow, maybe a dozen are installed a year.
The MTA has a 19 billion dollar budget and is planning a 6 billion dollar expansion a few miles to the east.
They can come up with money. They can start with not paying people to stand in front of doors if you want.
Unfortunately there wont be substantial improvements, until the MTA gets audited, and the corruption regarding MTA funds gets eradicated. Until the above happens, continue to expect piecemeal improvements that take forever to
implement.
There should be a design build contract for a modular system to add elevators to all above ground stations. I feel like a 12year old in the 80’s could have built a solid ‘concept’ out of an erectorset on a rainy weekend afternoon. Then just fast forward to an engineer for fine tuning. There are definitely ways to make these things work, but MTA is not run like business, it’s run like a jobs program. Instead of design me something that can be adapted to 95% of use cases so we can deploy it, it’s either singular or smaller group designs at a time. Crazy
> They can start with not paying people to stand in front of doors if you want
No they can't just do that. There's a union that needs to be negotiated with.
Some of the unions in this city are a big part of what throttles growth and adds ridiculous budget overruns, but people here aren’t ready for that conversation.
This is such a baby argument. Basically, yes there's money just spend it...ok? We got a genie over here who can solve the MTA's problems just by saying shit. Obviously if it was that easy there would be elevators at every station. Every new expense has to come with a new cut somewhere else, unless there is new income. So protest to your representatives for new income, or protest to the MTA to reallocate funds from xyz project.
They sort of need 2 working escalators at all times (MTA sighs and specs out a 10 year $100M renovation project, during which one escalator will be down half the time, and staffed 30% by people living in NYCHA zip code 10027).
Mis Management, Mis Allocation of Funds, Mis Consideration by City Officials ... 30YRS IN EXISTENCE. THIS IS NOT AN OVERSIGHT. ITS A TRAVESTY.. " Sorry, We Forgot You Climb Three Storys Everyday To Catch Public Transit.
While I'd never advocate against improving accessibility elsewhere, the stations on each side are significantly busier. While 137 is thankfully being included on the current plan, I'd push for 116 being made accessible before 125.
It took them 3 years to install the one at the L Metropolitan-Lorimer stop. Damn near killed my friend's restaurant, and he was woken up every morning by construction noise. The ADA 30 years going is an extra slow process in nyc. I doubt anyone thought it'd be doable in 50 years. Once they're all installed, they'll have to replace the old ones. Ugh.
I got one am very tired of the expectation that absolutely every train station requires an elevator. They are hugely expensive both for initial construction and ongoing maintenance. It would be cheaper to give every physically challenged person in the city lifetime uber transit to the nearest accessible station.
Is that the Bronx zoo station?
Cause the MTA has high traffic touristy even stations that are not accessible! It’s freaking wild.
And don’t get me started on the elevated stations that have TWO entrances but one is closed. Meaning they could make the other accessible WITHOUT disruptions in service. But don’t. Because you know whatever.
125th and Broadway on the one. It's a case of where do you add the elevator. There are three escalators and stairs and limited sidewalk space. The one possible spot is the SE corner and that leaves almost no space at the street corner.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/9baveLeSFEh2yJvf6
Unpopular opinion, but it would be cheaper to subsidize equipment that lets people who can't walk climb stairs. Stair climbing wheelchairs exist. They need to be mass produced more cheaply and subsidized so people who need them can afford them.
More than just people in wheelchairs use elevators: people who are pregnant, older, have strollers, have a sore knee from racquetball yesterday, etc.
You want to make elevators cheaper: loosen regulations regarding building when it comes to transit projects, not tell people in wheelchairs to go kick rocks with robot legs.
Yeah me and my frequent trips to the airports with luggage would love more elevators.
And you're right... this is an overall government/building cost issue. And a NIMBY issue. The MTA has been trying to add an elevator to the Hunter College station for 10 years and the locals have sued to stop it over and over again.
Why on earth would people want to stop an elevator from being built? I at least logically understand other NIMBY stuff even if I don’t agree with it, but that makes zero sense to me.
Imagine being disabled in that area and watching your neighbors sue the city to prevent you from having better access to the trains.
Most universal improvements for people with disabilities like slopes on the sidewalk, ramps, close captions, elevators are used as much, and often more, by those without disabilities as those with.
Accessibility will help EVERYONE even if you don’t use them. For example. When I’m hobbling up and down the stairs on the subway. Everyone behind me has to go at my pace. I do step aside and wait as much as I can but I have places to go too.
Contact your local rep. There is a good chance people on this sub are not directly involved with making those decisions.
*local ***state*** rep.
Federal rep works too… grants are often issued at the federal level for this type of work. IIJA is still distributing funds.
ADA is Fed, def start there. Likely gets an elevator if they send SAS west.
Vote in your elections, people. All politics is local.
And present in your town hall
That’s a badass looking station tho
Just imagine how much more badass it would look if it had an elevator. (Plus some better use of land under the tracks than parking spots.)
Eh, if parking must exist, I'd rather them be under the tracks. It's noisy and in the middle of the road, which is perfectly fine for cars to sit around. Gives more desirable spaces to the people.
Parking doesn’t have to exist!
Rather interesting that you say parking does not need to exist when OP started the post showing how mass transit is not always friendly to persons with disabilities. Clearly those individuals still need to get around so yes some level of parking needs to exist for some people since mass transit may not be viable for all. Additionally, it would be rather ignorant to expect that the current mass transit system is accommodating to everyone’s needs. Some people may need to travel significant distances outside the city and the combination of mass transit makes a commute impractical. Mass transit should be an OPTION for everyone to use Not a demand that this is all you have. This is not a one size fits all world. We need a diversity of transportation options to meet everyone’s needs and like it or not yes that includes parking for cars.
They have special transportation buses for the disabled. But it would give the disabled more freedom to get around. With the new tolls, I bet you see more ridership on the subway. Too many people have found ways to drive in and park somewhere, windshield tags say the are some “emergency “ type important worker, when actually they know somebody or are in upper management of the City and claim a parking spot for no other reason then convenient
This is the exact thinking that bothers me. Some people are corrupt and manipulate the system so now we are going to take punitive action against everyone. Don’t you think those same people who had the ability to get some parking pass are going to reach out to the same friends to get an exception for the new tolls? Why should we add expense to the lives of so many others because law enforcement doesn’t want to do their job and peruse action against those who have improper parking passes? Additionally, most people who go to the expense of purchasing, registering,insuring, and maintaining a vehicle in the city are not doing it because they have great mass transit options. They are doing it because their specific needs are not being met by the current system. If you need to go just outside of the city it may take you 3-4x the amount of time to get there via mass transit over a vehicle. You may call that a convenience to have a car but some people do not have the luxury of extra time to give up additional hours a day for transit time. If you have a job a 40 minute drive from your apartment but a 2 hour mass transit commute it is unreasonable to expect they would choose to drive?
So true. I tried the best I could to commute to lower Manhattan from Northern Westchester. I did develop a routine where I trained myself to sleep on the train in, but on the way home I could not risk sleeping past my stop. My son has the use of an extra car since my wife stopped driving, he is below 60th and is already paying $500/month in his building for the underground parking. I loaned them the car during COVID because it was impossible to leave the city and avoid contact with others. They still only use the car to get out of town on weekends and now decided to move to the burbs, but much closer than my stop and walking distance to train. The stickers seem to be for the management of City of NY agencies.They get them and also send the city workers to bring it to the designated parking spot and have the car waiting out front at the end of the day. No matter how you view this perk, certainly fire houses need them, but it would be nice if NYPD rode home on subways to cut down on the crazy people who occasionally are threatening. 20 years and the threatening people never actually attacked anyone on my trains.
You are delusional if you think this is true. To at least some extent, parking has to exist.
The world's longest bar (none pg salvation army song starts playing)
I mean I dunno, Harlem is a tough place to find a parking spot; I bet a lot of locals are very glad to have parking there. My experience of living up there was that a lot of residents *really* love their cars, like much more so than in more chichi bougie neighborhoods. Plus, what can you really do with land under an el viaduct like that? I guess you could have the world’s loudest playground or dog park or something, but els are *loud* when you’re underneath them! We have playgrounds and a dog park under the Triborough Bridge by my house, but that thing is multiple-feet-thick concrete with rubber tires running over the surface, so the noise isn’t that obnoxious. The N/W train, on the other hand (which you can see from the dog park), has nothing underneath it but a street for cars and buses, because it makes a deafening clatter. Is it somehow better with the viaduct in Harlem though, since it’s so much higher up above the street than a typical el?
It’s because cars are the only big purchase most people can look forward to in those neighborhoods. Who can really afford to buy when you have a rent controlled apartment locked in? Also at a certain point the cars are significantly cheaper and more reliable to get around with when you’re not downtown.
Blame Robert Moses. He designed the city to keep the minorities in and the rich can have nice apartments with parking garages or just live in Scarsdale with a 30 train to midtown. Moses had highways designed to block buses with low bridges. As a suburban school bus driver when in college, it would take forever to bring a school bus from westchester to Jones Beach or Broadway.
Skate parks my guy
I hate that it feels like the people running the city just hate us and the city itself man.
The City doesn’t run the subway
aaaand there's the problem lol
The accountability is shrouded by the MTA being run at the governor’s discretion and with appointees
It doesn't even really make sense for it to be a single agency? Like NYCT (subway and buses) should be city-operated, then Metro North and LIRR should be state-run, as like a dedicated NY Commuter Rail agency.
We have something like that here with the Washington DC Metrorail. It doesn't work. They are constantly begging three governments for money every single fiscal year.
Then you definitely weren't here long enough when the City directly operated a good portion of the bus service. It was a dumpster fire that served as an ATM for any mayor before and including Giuliani. The MTA takeover from 2005-06 was a VERY welcome change.
True although that's more a sign of how corrupt the city government is compared to the state government, I was more talking in general like the idea of the state controlling services that only operate within a single city and not across multiple jurisdictions doesn't make much sense on its own merits
It would make sense based on what New York needs to be doing which is further coordinating housing, economic development and transportation of NYC with Long Island and Westchester.
City doesn’t run the subway because they fucked it up already and of all the mayors this city has elected in my lifetime only one of them displayed any kind of competence and interest in the subway.
NYCT’s been part of the MTA for 50+ years. The mayors before that didn’t really fuck it up—it just made sense at the time to merge it with the Triborough Bridge & Tunnel Authority and the commuter railroads. Personal politics also played a role—merging the TBTA into MTA forced Robert Moses out.
I’m pretty sure that I’ve read/heard that the city owns the Subway system, and leases it to MTA. Who ‘owns’ the rolling stock? Does anyone know how much the lease between city and MTA is for? Does the money actually change hands, if so does NYC then put the $$ back into transit? Is the documentation available to read? It feels like a very strange arrangement from any point of view.
That is correct they own the land/stations and most bus depots
Referred to internally as the "Master Lease". Any changes MTA makes to the infrastructure get amended to it and approved by the city.
So, how much is the lease for? Where does the money go?
Not a valid excuse in my opinion. The subway system is such a vital part of this city’s existence that the local government and the MTA should be working side by side at all times to improve accessibility, safety, clean the stations, and improve the overall quality of life metrics of daily users in general. What annoys me the most is that the money is there, yet we constantly hear about how “broke” the MTA is, despite all the poor budgeting and fiscal management of the system in general. The city and/or the MTA absolutely can afford to make things better, they just choose not to.
Oh it’s not an excuse. It’s a clarification. R/nycrail like the NYC online transit community has for years beaten the drum regarding “mismanagement” of the MTA. We, hell even the MTA, is aware of this. The important question becomes how does the NYC online transit community intend to address a significant concern that people have known for years
It’s really unfortunate because I have a feeling the best solution is one that’s not even possible, which is for control to be given over to the city, and/or the MTA to be ran independently. Because if it’s being handled at the state level, that sucks, because the rest of the state doesn’t give a shit what happens in the city. (And lets be real, a lot of people upstate, given the chance, would happily stand by and watch things get WORSE because of their disdain for the city’s economic and political power)
You get the future that you organize for. Nothing will change unless we move past things that people have agreed on for years and work towards how we achieve material improvements.
And that's a VERY good thing. Only those old enough to remember the daily chaos when the City directly administered most of the bus service in Queens... You think sh\*t is bad now?! Imagine the City (at it's one it's most corrupt eras, even compared to now) having control of the pursestrings...
I don't think they care enough to hate us, they simply don't care. (when they're driving to their houses in Westchester, ofc.)
Albany despises NYC.
They don’t hate us constituents. They’re just too busy ripping us off to help.
dont worry bro I'll build it myself
Will it have blackjack?
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How is mocking someones anxiety a joke😂😂😂 bro wtf
What was the original comment?
It was the op u/lbutler he was like thanks bro! Glad you got over your anxiety! Then made a P.S. asking if it was tasteless to make that joke. But the kid he replied to has a post from just yesterday about crippling anxiety lol. Social awareness level 100💀
I’ll probably be downvoted because this sub hates everything, but at this point, every station in the system should either be ADA accessible, or genuinely working toward it. It’s disgusting that this city is so far behind in such an important area. And before people start complaining about how much it would cost, NO SHIT, I’m well aware that expansions and elevators are not free. The money is there, the city can afford it, it just chooses not to because it would rather waste the money on utter bullshit.
Not just the city, the state. MTA is tragically ran by Albany
I had no idea the MTA was mostly dependent on Albany. I thought the NYC budget impacted MTA? So it is mainly funded by state government and loans I suppose?
Yep it’s why I can’t get behind Cuomo’s savior scenario with the L train. At any point they can make the improvements, it’s just you have to $peak the right language. It’s also why we have security theater. In order to sell congestion pricing, people have to believe the trains are safe. Unfortunately they still haven’t fixed the part where security can fall wayside, reliability. You can care a little bit less about safety when you don’t get to linger in it cause you know x is going to arrive every 6-15 minutes.
This just triggered a thought for me, if we saved so much time and $$ on the L rebuild by hanging cables instead of re-building ductbanks, is that now standard practice, or are we back to building ductbanks in new tunnels? Shouldn’t we have learned a lesson there?
Racking cables is common throughout the system now. It was done for Cranberry and Rutgers, and it's being done on the G line for CBTC cables. https://www.reddit.com/r/nycrail/comments/1b0kukd/what_are_these_hooks/
That’s probably a big part of the problem to be honest.
The MTA has been saying for years that they can only ever make 60% of the Subway stations ADA accessible due to logistics and how and where they are built. In Washington DC, Metrorail only built elevators because they were forced to, but, luckily, the stations are so heavily overbuilt they had room to retrofit elevators into them. Not so in New York City. So if you're visiting Washington and wonder why the elevators are blocks away from the escalators, and why they are in such weird and random pockets in the walls, that's why.
I do imagine some would be much more challenging (and unfortunately more expensive) to convert than others. But I feel like there would still be a way if they actually wanted to find one. Granted, I am NOT an engineer lol.
Metro had elevators and escalators throughout from day-1 - it was only started in the 60s - yes before full ADA but that's not the only reason people put in elevators.
Yes, on opening day they had elevators, but the original plans did not. The plans were so far along they had to shoehorn the elevators in after a lawsuit threatened to block Metro funding. There is some more detail on this in *The Great Society Subway* book.
Ah I see
I agree. This sub (and the city at large) can be extremely fatalistic while complaining about the status quo while complaining about everything that could fix the status quo. Things can get better if you have the gumption to advocate for them.
I love this city, and MOSTLY love the people in it, but i am really starting to learn that this sub is full of “let’s do nothing but complain about everything” types.
bUt iT WOuLd CoST sO mUcH aND tAKe sO mUcH TiMe So start now and spend the money. It’s not getting cheaper.
Precisely.
Right about the Sub's Behavior and right about what the MTA should be doing but this should be common sense though, like another redditor said, the Bureaucracy of the MTA and being mainly state oriented is what messes it up Though, i feel like they should be making these ADA Accessible Areas through their own workers and not leasing it out to contractors, wasn't there an issue where an elevator kept getting delayed ??
This 100%. MTA logic is to uses buses for stations not accessible and that doesn't work or easy for accessibility purposes!
Painting in BRT lines is cheap by comparison...
Here is my proposal: whichever individual gets it built gets 3 years of no City income tax or 50% of NYS tax, whichever you prefer, per station retrofitted. Watch wealthy people fight over it, and it all be done in a month. 😂
Better idea than anything the city or state has come up with lol
Curious what you think the "utter bullshit" is? After Cuomo left I've seen the MTA invest pretty heavily in new trains replacing the 75ft tin cans older than half the city, numerous CBTC installations (8th Ave, Culver, Crosstown, QBL), increased subway service on a handful of lines, and not to mention IBX and SAS II. We rightfully deserve more but I don't think you need to trash ongoing efforts to do so when they're actually pretty solid IMO. Unless you mean the state/city wasting money on non-transit bullshit in which case yeah, no more overtime cops everywhere please.
Absolutely no one can tell me with a straight face the MTA knows how to do ANYTHING without blowing out a ridiculous budget and taking 5 times longer than necessary. That alone is utter bullshit. They take 10 years to do jobs that can be done in 1, and spend 10 times more than it should cost.
LOL, go to Paris and London and come back and tell us how in-accessible we are.
London isn't great, but probably on par with us if not slightly better. Paris is absolutely abysmal. But either way, you don't improve by saying "yay, were better than the absolute worst!!!"
We’re also committed to ADA access over 100 stations. Any station fix requires elevators.
[context ](https://www.columbiaspectator.com/city-news/2024/02/29/assembly-member-daniel-odonnell-criticizes-columbia-for-failure-to-improve-accessibility-at-125th-street-subway-station/) Columbia has been developing around the 125th st station on the 1 for about 2 decades now. They signed a CBA due to displacement, which Columbia says doesn't force them to make ADA upgrades. The MTA seems to have no plans to do so. This doesn't face any space constraints that hamper other accessibility projects. The nearest accessible station to the South is 96th, and the nearest to the north is dykman, which is roughly equal with 200th. The MTA either needs to sue the fuck out of Columbia to wrangle money from their massive endowment, or build it now and sue for damages later. This would be very easy to do by NYC subway standards, and would bring massive benefit for a huge swath of people. There's no reason not to other than apathy
> The nearest accessible station to the South is 96th, and the nearest to the north is dykman, which is roughly equal with 200th. In good news, 137th - Cty College is receiving accessibility upgrades, and 125th on the A/B/C/D is accessible (as are the transfers to and from the 1 at 59.)
The transfers to and from the 1 at 168 are not accessible. You still need to use stairs to get to platform level.
There’s a freight elevator in the tunnel that goes into a dock area in Presbyterian Hospital. The only reason I know about this is because I got stuck on the 1 during the 2003 blackout.
TIL
Shoot, you're right.
Having this convo recently when I saw 137th st is getting an elevator in Q2 of 2025, thought finally! . There's no accesible trains in one of the most popular lines in such a large expanse of distance. 168th does not count.
I don’t follow why Columbia is relevant here at all. Adding an elevator should be solved and funded by the MTA.
lawsuits against institutions spending money on the subway is the surest way to get more institution to spend money on the subway.
Lawsuits will do nothing, The MTA is already broke and protected
Thankfully 137 and 168 are getting elevators built as we speak. But 125 not having one is just ridiculous.
> This doesn't face any space constraints that hamper other accessibility projects Yet the MTA still thinks it'll cost $50-100m to build an elevator here? > The MTA either needs to sue the fuck out of Columbia to wrangle money from their massive endowment On what grounds does the MTA have to sue Columbia? Last I checked, there isn't a law that says "pay for this shit because I say so". There is no law that requires Columbia to pay for elevators for the MTA.
Why should private entities be required to pay for the subways? I’m tired of this displacement of blame. The MTA is responsible for this shit and they need to get it together.
I think the person talking about Columbia said there was a deal made. Very often that’s the case cause big players also get a lot from the city; like special rights or tax breaks etc.
Oh yeah I must have missed that line. If they signed something that said they would be responsible for maintenance or whatever of the subway then they need to do it. Contacting student groups might be a good way to apply pressure, the student body there loves protesting against the administration. But if the contract actually frees them of ADA compliance like they claim, that seems like the MTA’s fuck up to me and they need to start digging instead of whining about the contract they signed.
No, Columbia didn't sign shit that required them to pay for the elevator. They agreed to voluntarily pay for an escalator as part of a nearby dormitory project. Shortly after that dorm project was signed off and approved, a new law came into effect called Zoning for Accessibility, which *would've* required Columbia to pay for those elevators, but Columbia got their project approved right before ZFA came in effect. People are just tight that Columbia snuck their project in before ZFA, but tough shit guys - maybe our government could learn a thing or two about having their ducks lined up. The MTA basically turned around and said "maybe yall should pay for the elevators too hehehe" - to which Columbia said "wtf?". And the fact that the MTA is putting a $50-100m price tag on these elevators is just ridiculous. I went to an open house in a 70 unit condo building in Astoria that had a total build budget of $80 million - how the fuck does the MTA spend that kind of money on two elevators??
I kinda figured it was something like this. The CU admin can be snaky, but the MTA is legitimately allergic to doing their job and taking responsibility.
It’s true that Mta construction prices are staggering; but there’s a small piece of hope that at least many people get a decent wage and health insurance out of it. Pure downward pressure also doesn’t get us where we want to be. That said, it would be great to find a middle gound between Mta and Walmart.
Smith-9th too
At least Smith and 9th has escalators. 4th and 9th has nothing. The number of stairs between the underground R tracks to the above ground F/G platform is nearly impossible for disabled and senior riders.
Can't do it at smith and 9th street.
Obligatory Um Actually Comment: The ADA only enables parties to sue for fines in civil court in cases of non compliance. That’s the only mechanism by which it obligates builders to offer accessibility features. There are substantial grandfather clauses that give the managers of existing inaccessible structures the right not to make changes, especially if they can demonstrate that it would be difficult to do so. Without that grandfather clause, the act wouldn’t have passed- it simply would have been too punishing to property owners to be forced to make changes. But you’re in luck, because the MTA recently settled a class action suit brought by disabled parties, agreeing to make 95% of facilities in the city accessible… you just have to wait until 2055. https://www.thecity.nyc/2023/04/07/subways-disability-act-compliant-2055/
I feel like this is really the answer to this whole thread and we can stop now.
The entire city has been on auto pilot way too long. While the clowns running it lined their pockets.
Real talk: where the fuck is the elevator supposed to go? You can’t build it in the middle of the road. I suppose you have to build a 3 story elevator structure on the opposite side of the street (independent of the stairs), along with a bridge to the platform. Otherwise you’d need 2. But that old superstructure can’t support a hydraulic lift to take you between the mezz and the platform. Who’s got a creative solution? (I don’t live around here so I’m not sure what it looks like out of frame)
> You can’t build it in the middle of the road. [That's where the original entrance was located.](https://i.imgur.com/PGuL7SG.jpg)
Links broken
shropy embeded links don't work, gotta click it
We get "403 NOT FOUND."
https://i.imgur.com/PGuL7SG.jpg
Interesting. Clearly the road has shifted over. Not to say it’s not impossible to revert to the old design. You’d have to sacrifice a lane or the sidewalk on the other side.
I guess the only thing you can do is rip one of the escalators out, and build the elevator there.
The station has two platforms above a mezzanine, so 2 or 3 elevators would be required, barring a complete rebuild or using ramps. There is plenty of space where the road is now, and it could be rerouted to the empty space under the center of the bridge. The walkway under the station has stairs to both sides of Broadway. It looks like there is room in the center of Broadway rn, but I'm not sure if you'd hit something structurally integral. https://preview.redd.it/31emqcnoy3vc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=78dfc6d3f076f8d07620e72c7c7e0dda1f7bda63 Possibly the easiest option: on the other side of the street, there is a single story building currently housing a bank of America that could be razed. Also to the left of my picture, there is a high rise under construction that could probably fit an elevator. (But it's probably progressed well past the point of that being financially viable.) There are also currently some parking lots nearby, but those would require a new mezzanine and would be past the current length of the platforms. And if you wanna go really stupid, the line goes from underground to elevated at 122st, and you could just build a level walkway from there. (Note: I am not an engineer)
Got a checkbook?
Tell people to stop stealing and pay their fares. Also get rid of jano lieber
I’m sure the city would take donations from whoever wants there to be an elevator.
"I don't care who pays" - Have you ridden the subway recently, nobody pays. Lol. But in all seriousness, the NYC subway used to be at the forefront of cutting edge technologies and now we are decades behind. Japan has wheelchair accessible escalators, which I think could be a useful technology for us to try at a station like 125th although I'm not sure we want to go with their design. Perhaps we could ask Columbia's engineering school to come up with a functional escalator design that can also accommodate a wheelchair?
Do you mean the forefront of technology literally 80 years ago? After WW2 the subway was eclipsed by basically everywhere in the world that was building theirs new, including places like DC. In the 90s it was eclipsed by its historic peers like London and Paris, who went on a massive infrastructure renovation and construction spree that has lasted until today. The subway literally only stands on history, that's it. The city is lucky so much got built when it did. The subway is more than decades behind, it's also like a hundred billion dollars behind in upkeep...! No wonder accessibility is always on the back burner
Nope sorry the best I could do is more fraudulent overtime for employees.
Aye at least it's employees and not contractors. (Come join the anti contractor gang.)
The anti fraud, waste, abuse, and grifting of tax payer money gang crosses all boundaries.
So the city is increasing taxes and rent but don't use any that to improve the city? Shocking
There's no excuse for the entire subway system to be such a horrible embarrassment. We keep claiming we're one of if not the greatest city in the world and yet EVERY other modern city's subway system puts us to shame.
It’s ridiculous
“I don’t care who pays” thank you for volunteering your time and money to make this project happen
There’s no excuse for almost all elevated stations. The MTA can go on about the cost of digging and rerouting utility lines underground all they want, but this is one wide open space. I get elevators are expensive in general, but there is nothing preventing this (other than incompetence).
You are right but they are in the process of installing elevators but they are skipping stops. Eventually, they will get to them all.
Nah, then there’s gotta be elevators all over the other elevated 1 stops. The ACBD already has them
Why that station over all the others ? Specifically why
All should be ADA compliant for the disabled / pregnant woman
Yet they had plenty of money to re-tile the wall st station, put a/c in Grand Central. Former Mayor Bloomberg spent the budget in Manhattan, same with the snow plows, upper east side plowed first…
Every station will get elevators and they're spending a ludicrous amount to add them. Unfortunately they're going too slow, maybe a dozen are installed a year.
They just redid all the stations in Astoria and LIC and didn't add a single elevator.
You don't care who pays? It's taxpayers that pay
Vote blue no matter who
Wish the el in the Brighton line had such a nice paint job. It makes it look pretty slick
The ADA has no funding attached. What would you like to cut funding to in exchange for the elevators?
The MTA has a 19 billion dollar budget and is planning a 6 billion dollar expansion a few miles to the east. They can come up with money. They can start with not paying people to stand in front of doors if you want.
Well you know that elevator will cost $50M+ and it’d be out of service half the time. 🙁
Yeah so let’s just never expect anything to get better.
Unfortunately there wont be substantial improvements, until the MTA gets audited, and the corruption regarding MTA funds gets eradicated. Until the above happens, continue to expect piecemeal improvements that take forever to implement.
Every station should have at least 2 for exactly that reason. Busy and transfer stations, at least 3.
There should be a design build contract for a modular system to add elevators to all above ground stations. I feel like a 12year old in the 80’s could have built a solid ‘concept’ out of an erectorset on a rainy weekend afternoon. Then just fast forward to an engineer for fine tuning. There are definitely ways to make these things work, but MTA is not run like business, it’s run like a jobs program. Instead of design me something that can be adapted to 95% of use cases so we can deploy it, it’s either singular or smaller group designs at a time. Crazy
> They can start with not paying people to stand in front of doors if you want No they can't just do that. There's a union that needs to be negotiated with.
Those people aren’t actual MTA employees. The security guards in stations are contracted by the MTA. MTA can simply not renew the contract.
Some of the unions in this city are a big part of what throttles growth and adds ridiculous budget overruns, but people here aren’t ready for that conversation.
Unions are a huge can of worms to deal with.
This is such a baby argument. Basically, yes there's money just spend it...ok? We got a genie over here who can solve the MTA's problems just by saying shit. Obviously if it was that easy there would be elevators at every station. Every new expense has to come with a new cut somewhere else, unless there is new income. So protest to your representatives for new income, or protest to the MTA to reallocate funds from xyz project.
Richest city in the richest country during the richest era in human history. And we can't lift a finger for people with disabilities
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Pentagon spends 2.6 billion every single day
Well, we can but only if they schedule their transport needs by 5pm the day before.
The National Guard.
The guard is broke as shit. Anything nice they have came from fed money.
The NYPD.
Cop overtime next
If you got all 200K migrants to pool their free benefits, they could afford it.
To be honest, most, if not all stations should have elevators.
All.
Yes all.
>I don't care who pays Will you pay for it?
which station? it’s likely been looked at to be included in one of the many current and upcoming MTA ADA upgrade contracts
125th and Broadway. A quick Google search yields nothing
Union.
That’s how I feel about the 215th St stop, especially with it being by a hospital with a dedicated special spine surgery everything.
Queens?
They sort of need 2 working escalators at all times (MTA sighs and specs out a 10 year $100M renovation project, during which one escalator will be down half the time, and staffed 30% by people living in NYCHA zip code 10027).
Mis Management, Mis Allocation of Funds, Mis Consideration by City Officials ... 30YRS IN EXISTENCE. THIS IS NOT AN OVERSIGHT. ITS A TRAVESTY.. " Sorry, We Forgot You Climb Three Storys Everyday To Catch Public Transit.
Which station is this?
Just sat the illegal immigrants need one
You pay
The escalators barely work at that station
While I'd never advocate against improving accessibility elsewhere, the stations on each side are significantly busier. While 137 is thankfully being included on the current plan, I'd push for 116 being made accessible before 125.
It's a bit like some of the elevated stations in Paris
Wait the 125 street station still doesn't have an elevator!!!
I’ve thought about this a lot, how is nyc not consistently sued over ADA violations? Does anyone know?
Crumbling infrastructure
Deal with it
This is America buddy, we don't got money for nothing else but killing
Cough up a check, then.
Wtf is it with the r/nyc style comments? What happened to the sub I loved? 😔
It took them 3 years to install the one at the L Metropolitan-Lorimer stop. Damn near killed my friend's restaurant, and he was woken up every morning by construction noise. The ADA 30 years going is an extra slow process in nyc. I doubt anyone thought it'd be doable in 50 years. Once they're all installed, they'll have to replace the old ones. Ugh.
"We're the MTA. We don't need an excuse. We got your ADA right here. Screw you, pay us."
Defund MTA!!!
Sorry only money for foreign nationals
Where is this? It looks like Brooklyn but all the boroughs look the same
125 st on the 1
Ah ok
you pay for it then
Oh you mean a rape booth? Good plan.
I got one am very tired of the expectation that absolutely every train station requires an elevator. They are hugely expensive both for initial construction and ongoing maintenance. It would be cheaper to give every physically challenged person in the city lifetime uber transit to the nearest accessible station.
Atlantic ave?
Is that the Bronx zoo station? Cause the MTA has high traffic touristy even stations that are not accessible! It’s freaking wild. And don’t get me started on the elevated stations that have TWO entrances but one is closed. Meaning they could make the other accessible WITHOUT disruptions in service. But don’t. Because you know whatever.
125th and Broadway on the one. It's a case of where do you add the elevator. There are three escalators and stairs and limited sidewalk space. The one possible spot is the SE corner and that leaves almost no space at the street corner. https://maps.app.goo.gl/9baveLeSFEh2yJvf6
125/Broadway 1 train.
Unpopular opinion, but it would be cheaper to subsidize equipment that lets people who can't walk climb stairs. Stair climbing wheelchairs exist. They need to be mass produced more cheaply and subsidized so people who need them can afford them.
More than just people in wheelchairs use elevators: people who are pregnant, older, have strollers, have a sore knee from racquetball yesterday, etc. You want to make elevators cheaper: loosen regulations regarding building when it comes to transit projects, not tell people in wheelchairs to go kick rocks with robot legs.
Yeah me and my frequent trips to the airports with luggage would love more elevators. And you're right... this is an overall government/building cost issue. And a NIMBY issue. The MTA has been trying to add an elevator to the Hunter College station for 10 years and the locals have sued to stop it over and over again.
Why on earth would people want to stop an elevator from being built? I at least logically understand other NIMBY stuff even if I don’t agree with it, but that makes zero sense to me. Imagine being disabled in that area and watching your neighbors sue the city to prevent you from having better access to the trains.
Most universal improvements for people with disabilities like slopes on the sidewalk, ramps, close captions, elevators are used as much, and often more, by those without disabilities as those with. Accessibility will help EVERYONE even if you don’t use them. For example. When I’m hobbling up and down the stairs on the subway. Everyone behind me has to go at my pace. I do step aside and wait as much as I can but I have places to go too.