The new year ushered in some good news for seniors, non-driving shoppers, people with disabilities, and parents with small kids in strollers as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) officially opened another ADA compliant elevator in the Bronx on Wednesday, Jan. 6, in the presence of a number of Bronx elected officials.

 

The elevator at Gun Hill Road subway station in Olinville, which serves the number 5 and 2 subway lines, is a welcome development for those who had previously struggled climbing the many flights of steps in order to access the upper platforms, all while carrying strollers, bags, wheelchairs and carts.

 

The project was part of the MTA’s 2020-24 Capital Plan, which went into effect on January 1, 2020, and included $54.8 billion in investment in the State’s subways, buses, commuter railroads, bridges and tunnels. The station was the final of eleven stations across the city to become fully ADA accessible in 2020, which, as reported by Norwood News, included the Bronx’s Bedford Park Boulevard subway station which serves the B and D lines. At least eight additional stations are set to undergo ADA-related improvements this year.

 

Present for the opening was MTA Board Member and Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities, Victor Calise, and MTA’s President of Construction & Development, Janno Lieber. Apart from the elevator improvements, Lieber said improvements were also made to the subway tracks and platform. These included stairway renovations, a customer service booth, and the expansion of the building to facilitate more access to the elevators.

 

In addition, the MTA control house at the Gun Hill Road station was expanded by 26 feet, and the upper platform was modified to accommodate the new elevator. MTA crew members also upgraded the station’s communication system with new mechanical and electrical fixtures. Liebar said overall the project was great news for the people of the area, not just those conventionally described as disabled, but also for New Yorkers who are older, parents with strollers, and for people who do their shopping by subway.

 

In June 2020, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that the MTA had planned to work on a number of Capital projects across the state, costing approximately $2 billion, during the period of reduced ridership caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

The MTA officials were joined at the elevator opening by recently elected City Councilman for the 12^th District, Kevin Riley, Assemblywoman and Bronx borough president candidate, Nathalia Fernández, State Senator and Bronx Democratic Party Chair, Jamaal T. Bailey, Speaker of the New York State Assembly Carl Heastie, and Bronx Borough President Ruben Díaz Jr.

 

“As the Bronx Borough President, I believe, as we start talking about how to get to the other side of COVID-19 and how we plan that, infrastructure is important,” said Díaz. “What happened here, it created good jobs for those who were building this train station.” He added that [despite the pandemic] it was important to move forward with infrastructure and transportation to make sure corners were not being cut, and all voices were being heard.

Meanwhile, Bailey said, “We have to redefine what we consider to be disabilities.” He added, “Sometimes there are things that we don’t necessarily see that prevent people from accessing these spaces. There are people that have these invisible disabilities that are not able to access public transportation. Let’s be clear, public transportation should be accessible to the entire public, not just a subsection of the public.”

 

For his part, Riley said Gun Hill Road subway had been part of a transit desert in the community. “To address the transit desert, we have to focus on the revitalization of our train stations within our community,” he said. “It’s very imperative that we revitalize all of the other train stations in the Bronx.”

 

The MTA said that a small number of remaining fixtures still need to be installed at Gun Hill Road station, in order for the station’s upgrade to be fully completed. These relate to the area around the station’s entrance and are projected to be completed by the end of January.

 

Meanwhile, Fernández said accessibility should be the number one priority for everyone.  “We are not the only ones in the city,” she said. “We have many, many friends and neighbors who might need more assistance in different ways. Every train station should have an elevator so New Yorkers [can] get by.”