Sen. Gounardes: By Deferring Brooklyn Subway Elevator Upgrades, the State is Abandoning New Yorkers with Disabilities

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: JUNE 26, 2024

New York State Senator Andrew Gounardes released the following statement today after the MTA announced it would defer key subway station accessibility upgrades at southern Brooklyn subway stations due to the indefinite pause of congestion pricing:

“I represent outer-borough communities that rely on the MTA, despite the fact that the transit service they receive hasn’t always met the standard we need and deserve. I built political support for congestion pricing in outer-borough, working-class communities by linking the investments to direct improvements in transit service: new elevators, upgraded signals, nicer stations, better service and a system that meets the needs of families who have too often been ignored.

“That’s why it’s so deeply frustrating to learn that the MTA is planning to defer many of the accessibility upgrades we fought so hard to get included in the last Capital Plan, including the long-awaited elevators at 18th Ave D and Kings Highway N stations, as well as the Hoyt-Schermerhorn station. These elevators were so important to my neighbors that we managed to amend the already-finalized capital plan to include them.

“By deferring these legally-mandated accessibility upgrades, the MTA and the state are breaking a promise to New Yorkers with disabilities. Shame on the elected officials who are cheering this indefinite pause while providing no real alternative—they’ve cost our communities these elevators.

“For decades, successive governors and legislatures have underfunded the MTA’s capital budget, leading the system to a state of worsening disrepair and culminating in the infamous Summer of Hell. The MTA—and the elected officials that shape its budget—must not abandon these investments in sorely-needed outer-borough transit projects. If it does, the blood, sweat and tokens that I and many others invested to make these projects possible will go to waste under the cloud of yet another broken government promise.”

Press Contact:

Billy Richling

Communications Director

State Senator Andrew Gounardes

billy@senatorgounardes.nyc

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