86th Street elevators ready for liftoff

The 86th Street R station in Bay Ridge will become ADA accessible this week.

The MTA announced Monday that it is adding nine elevators across four stations to expand accessibility during the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

According to the MTA, the 86th Street station has been upgraded with two ADA compliant elevators, which will travel from the street to the mezzanine and from the mezzanine to the platform level, which required a complete overhaul of the station’s communications systems, including LAN and CCTV.

In addition, the Bay Ridge station also received new mosaic bands and artwork, a new ADA-compliant employee locker room and restroom, and upgrades to the booth to include an ADA-compliant deal tray.

The east side of Fourth Avenue was also rebuilt to include a sidewalk bulb-out, providing seamless travel to the elevator, increasing passenger waiting space and eliminating the need for buses to pull into and out of traffic.

“When we talk about modernizing mass transit, it’s not just about better signals and newer train cars,” said Sarah Feinberg, interim president of MTA New York City Transit. “It’s about making sure all of our customers can use the system with ease. Make no mistake: we have a long way to go toward accomplishing this goal and today’s anniversary is by no means a victory lap. There is much work that still needs to be done, but this latest package of stations brings us one step closer toward achieving a more equitable and accessible system.”

The MTA called on the U.S. Senate to provide $3.9 billion in emergency federal funding for 2020.

“Adding four new, accessible stations with elevators will make a big difference in the lives of our customers with disabilities,” said Janno Lieber, president of MTA Construction & Development. “But the critically important work of making 70 more stations fully ADA compliant as part of the 2020-2024 Capital Plan cannot be achieved if the plan’s funding is cut as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. Accessibility must and will always remain a core priority of any capital plan, but our ambitious 70-station plan only works if we have a fully funded MTA.”

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