MTA rejects PSCC's request to make Grand Army Plaza, 7th Avenue/9th Street subway stations accessible.
MTA New York City Transit (NYCT) is in the midst of a program to make 100 of its approximately 470 subway stations fully accessible to the elderly and disabled by 2020. A few of these stations are at street level, making the task easy, but most require the installation of as few as one and as many as seven elevators. All NYCT buses are accessible.
Early this year, the Civic Council asked MTA New York City Transit (NYCT) to make two subway stations serving Park Slope fully accessible to the elderly and disabled, by installing elevators. These stations, chosen after careful study by the Civic Council's Livable Streets Committee, were Grand Army Plaza and 7th Avenue/9th Street. The committee considered passenger volume, connections to bus routes, and proximity to cultural and health-care institutions. In addition, the Grand Army Plaza station is close to a senior-citizens residence.
In a letter sent to PSCC President Ken Freeman, NYCT has rejected the Civic Council's request. In rejecting Grand Army Plaza, NYCT noted that the next station on the 2/3 lines, Eastern Parkway-Brooklyn Museum, is among the 100 stations to be made accessible. While this would not help residents of the northern part of Park Slope, it would be satisfactory for access to the Museum, the Botanic Garden, the Central Library, and the eastern side of Grand Army Plaza.
NYCT's rejection of 7th Avenue/9th Street is another matter. We challenge the basis on which Church Avenue (F line) is being made accessible while 7th Avenue/9th Street is not, and will request a detailed explanation from NYCT, noting how Church Avenue does not meet each of the MTA's criteria for being made accessible.
NYCT's assertion that the 7th Avenue/9th Street station is "sandwiched" between Church Avenue and Jay Street-Borough Hall (the latter to become accessible by 2011) is absurd. As Civic Council Trustee Eric McClure said, "That's one hell of a big sandwich."
We encourage you to read NYCT's letter and let us know your thoughts on this.
Michael Cairl
Chair, Livable Streets Committee