As reported in November 2023, plans to install the long-awaited elevators at Mosholu Parkway subway station, located at the border of Bedford Park and Norwood and which serves the 4 line, finally started to take shape in December 2022, when MTA officials said its board approved two contracts to advance ADA upgrades to the NYC Transit system under a public-private partnership (P3) delivery model, including Mosholu Parkway station.

 

The Mosholu Parkway subway elevator project had gotten MTA budget approval in September 2019 and in December that year, more details were announced regarding the plan, along with those of other planned upgrades to Kingsbridge Road and Burnside Avenue stations.

 

MTA said in November 2023 the Mosholu Parkway elevator installation would be part of a bundle of ADA upgrades, but that no specific timeline would be available until the contractor finalized their schedule. As reported, construction barriers placed on one side of Jerome Avenue underneath the subway station, to allow for preparatory work, were later opened up to allow sidewalk access on that same side of the avenue, and a sign was placed on the barrier indicating the elevator installation was due to be completed by Q3 2025.

 

We contacted the MTA more recently for an update on the timeline and an agency official said, “Two elevators are being installed at the station, one to each platform. Work has been underway at these areas for several months, [which] remain active work sites. The barricades on both sides are planned to be removed by the end of 2024, when the elevators will be commissioned and placed in service.”

 

The official added, “Due to ongoing design coordination with DOT, some sidewalk work may occur beyond this time period, but the majority of the barricades will be cleared by then.”

 

Given the proximity of the station to Tracey Towers, which houses a number of older adults and is adjacent to the station,  as well as to Norwood’s Montefiore Medical Center, located at 111 East 210th Street, and NYC Health + Hospitals/North Central Bronx, located at 3424 Kossuth Avenue, local elected officials, health workers, activists, residents, and out-patients have been organizing and calling for the elevators to be installed at the station since at least 2018, as reported.

As previously reported, the “P3” project stations in which new elevators will be installed include:

• Mosholu Parkway Station 4
• Junius Street Station 3
• Church Av b, q
• Sheepshead Bay Station b, q
• Rockaway Boulevard Station a
• Kings Highway Station f
• Woodhaven Boulevard Station m, r
• Steinway Street Station m, r

The P3 stations at which replacement elevators will be installed are:

• 161st Street-Yankee Stadium Station b, d
• 161st Street-Yankee Stadium Station 4
• 3rd Avenue-149th Street 2, 5
• 34th Street-Penn Station a, c, e
• Euclid Avenue Station a, c

 

MTA chief accessibility officer, Quemuel Arroyo, had previously said of the latest accessibility announcement, “The MTA is fully committed to make the entire system accessible, not just subways but the LIRR and Metro-North too.” He added, “With these new elevators spread throughout the subway system and across Long Island, a large number of riders with disabilities, customers with children in strollers and visitors with luggage will benefit from an easier way to access mass transit.”

 

Norwood News previously raised the fact that there was only seating in the Kingsbridge Road subway station on some but not all platforms, when we witnessed some older adults struggling with exhaustion while standing with bags on the subway platform, especially during hot summer months. MTA officials responded, saying that like many stations, benches are placed at Kingsbridge Road to prioritize seating opportunities for the platform that serves the highest number of waiting customers, i.e. in the direction of peak travel.

 

They said that at the Kingsbridge Road station, that direction of peak travel was on the southbound platform, where they said there are two benches. They added that the addition of benches is carried out as needed, based on community requests and reviews by station management, and the MTA’s planning teams.

 

We asked if there was not a peak time for travel in each direction, depending on the time of day, thereby necessitating seats on all platforms. We did not receive an immediate response.

 

Read our recent story on updates from the MTA to the required track maintenance on the tracks serving the 4 train, which has been causing the suspension of weekend services of the 4 train in recent months here.

 

Click here to read our recent story about temporary entrance closures at the Norwood-East 205th Street subway station.