OPINION: Subway elevators and escalators, nowhere to go but up
The topic of elevators in the subway system has often been a sore spot for the disabled community. It most recently surfaced as a hot issue when the Prospect Avenue, 53rd Street and Bay Ridge Avenue stations on the R line were renovated, but no elevators were installed.
The move produced dissatisfaction among members of the disabled community and renewed pressure to include elevators at four more stations on the R line: 59th Street, 77th Street, 86th Street and 95th Street. MTA has amended its capital plan to include them at these stations.
“Eighty-sixth Street is a very important station because so many buses stop there. People have been promised an elevator at 86th Street for a long time, and there would have problems if an elevator hadn’t been included at that station,” says one community resident.