Senator Benjamin Joins Transit Activists and Announce New Legislation

This morning, New York State Senator Brian A. Benjamin, City Council Member Mark Levine, Assemblymember Danny O’Donnell, and transit and disability advocates gathered at Frederick Douglass Circle to call for the Metropolitan Transit Authority to prioritize making three subway stations on the Upper West Side ADA accessible while they are being refurbished, and to advocate for appropriate steps to ease the burden of these renovations on the neighborhoods they serve.

If the MTA had given the community proper notice, there would have been more time to adequately communicate the impact that these station closures would have,” said Senator Benjamin. “I have introduced legislation to address this, requiring that the MTA give community boards in a ten block radius ninety days' notification when a subway station is closed for repairs or renovations.”

Senator Benjamin’s legislation, S8141 ensures communities are not blindsided by station closings in the future by requiring that the Metropolitan Transit Authority give ninety days' notice to community boards when a subway station will be closed for repairs and/or renovations.