Two new elevators opened at the Bay Ridge-95th Street subway station, on July 8, making it accessible for all commuters for the first time.
“This is a crucial connection in Bay Ridge,” said Quemuel Arroyo, the MTA’s chief accessibility officer. “It hasn’t always been easy for me to get to. I have family in this neighborhood and it was always an express bus or very expensive Uber. I’m so happy to be taking the train here now.”
The new elevators in the island-platform station include one that runs from street level to the mezzanine and another from the mezzanine to the platform, and new ADA-compliant boarding areas feature platform edges and tactile warning strips. The made-over station also includes upgraded staircases and new communications and electrical systems. Crews also upgraded employee areas and completed general repairs around the station.
Locals have been pushing the MTA to make the station accessible since 2018, and the MTA announced it would move forward with the project in 2023.and started construction the same year.
Officials said the MTA saved both time and money on construction.
“Thanks to effective project management we have been able to avoid four weekend shutdowns and save almost a million dollars in the process,” Janno Lieber, MTA chair and CEO, said. “That’s a successful project.”
Lieber noted that the project was made possible with financial assistance from the Federal Transit Administration. U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, in a statement, indicated that the funding had been provided in part by legislation passed by former president Joe Biden in 2021.
“I join the Bay Ridge community in celebrating the completion of the new ADA-compliant elevators at the Bay Ridge–95th Street station,” Malliotakis said. “These upgrades will ensure greater accessibility for our neighbors who need it most and that’s why I voted for the federal infrastructure law that brought more funds for similar transit, bridge and maritime projects to keep New York moving.”
State sen. Andrew Gounardes underscored the significance of the project for Bay Ridge residents.
“This project has been a long time coming. When I first got into elected office, there was not a single accessible station anywhere in my district,” Gounardes, who assumed the state senate role in 2019, said. “There was one elevator at Bay Parkway and that was it. Today we are celebrating the second station in Bay Ridge to have accessibility access.”
The Bay Ridge station’s new elevators complement existing accessibility at the nearby 86th Street station, which offers connections to local buses, including those to Staten Island.
“As Chair of the Finance Committee, hearing something come in under budget is obviously music to my ears,” said local Council Member Justin Brannan. “This is a great example of working with the MTA on bringing accessibility to the far reaches of the outer boroughs and reminding folks that the ADA is not just a suggestion, it’s actually the law.”
Though the MTA has made progress in reconfiguring stations to be accessible, it still has a long way to go to meet the terms of a legal settlement that requires 95% of the city’s subway stations are made ADA-accessible by 2055. Bay Ridge-95th Street is the third subway station to be made accessible this year, and is the 36th accessible station in Brooklyn.
This story first appeared on Brooklyn Paper’s sister site amNewYork.
