Laura
07-09-2008, 01:34 PM
http://www.brooklyneagle.com/categories/category.php?category_id=31&id=21692
Church Ave. Subway Station Becomes Disabled-Accessible
Elevators Installed in Newest Step of Modernization Drive
By Raanan Geberer (edit@brooklyneagle.net)
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
published online 07-08-2008
Link:
http://www.brooklyneagle.com/categories/category.php?category_id=31&id=21692
KENSINGTON — MTA New York City Transit’s program to make subway stations
accessible to the disabled, little by little, took another step forward
with the dedication of three new elevators at the Church Avenue “F” line
station yesterday.
The elevators connect the street with both platforms at the station, which
is used by more than 9,000 customers on an average weekday, according to
the MTA. In addition, closed-circuit televisions and talk-back systems
have been installed in the elevators.
The completion of this project brings the number of accessible stations
under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to 66. Among the other
Brooklyn stations that are ADA-compliant are Franklin Avenue, Flatbush
Avenue-Brooklyn College, Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue, Court
Street-Borough Hall, Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street, Marcy Avenue on the
“J” and “Z” lines, DeKalb Avenue and Rockaway Parkway-Canarsie.
While making Church Avenue an ADA-compliant station has always been a part
of the MTA’s plan, Assemblyman Jim Brennan’s (D-Kensington/Park Slope)
allocation of $500,000 of capital funding significantly accelerated the
timing of this project. The improvements at this station are particularly
meaningful for the 100 legally blind persons who regularly use this
station to and from their jobs at the New York City Industries for the
Blind’s workshop nearby, according to the MTA.
According to an agreement signed by the MTA in the 1980s, the transit
agency has committed to making 75 “key” subway stations accessible to the
disabled by the year 2020. This is the 66th station that has been made
accessible.
Some readers may be surprised that stations that merely have escalators
are not considered disabled-accessible. This is because it is hard for
wheelchair-bound riders to use them, an MTA spokesperson told the Eagle.
Furthermore, he said, many of the “deep underground station” elevators are
not considered accessible because they don’t connect the street levels
with the platform levels, but merely go to a mezzanine. Several Brooklyn
stations, such as Clark Street and High Street-Brooklyn Bridge, fall into
this category.
According to an article that appeared this past May in the New York Times,
however, the subway’s escalators and elevators have had a far from stellar
performance. “One of every six elevators and escalators in the subway
system was out of service for more than a month last year,” the article
read.
Gene Russianoff, spokesman for the advocacy group Transportation
Alternatives, said MTA New York City Transit should be praised for posting
“real-time information” on its web site about which elevators are out of
service.
The transit agency should be praised, he said, “but it has a long way to go.”
© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2008
Church Ave. Subway Station Becomes Disabled-Accessible
Elevators Installed in Newest Step of Modernization Drive
By Raanan Geberer (edit@brooklyneagle.net)
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
published online 07-08-2008
Link:
http://www.brooklyneagle.com/categories/category.php?category_id=31&id=21692
KENSINGTON — MTA New York City Transit’s program to make subway stations
accessible to the disabled, little by little, took another step forward
with the dedication of three new elevators at the Church Avenue “F” line
station yesterday.
The elevators connect the street with both platforms at the station, which
is used by more than 9,000 customers on an average weekday, according to
the MTA. In addition, closed-circuit televisions and talk-back systems
have been installed in the elevators.
The completion of this project brings the number of accessible stations
under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to 66. Among the other
Brooklyn stations that are ADA-compliant are Franklin Avenue, Flatbush
Avenue-Brooklyn College, Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue, Court
Street-Borough Hall, Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street, Marcy Avenue on the
“J” and “Z” lines, DeKalb Avenue and Rockaway Parkway-Canarsie.
While making Church Avenue an ADA-compliant station has always been a part
of the MTA’s plan, Assemblyman Jim Brennan’s (D-Kensington/Park Slope)
allocation of $500,000 of capital funding significantly accelerated the
timing of this project. The improvements at this station are particularly
meaningful for the 100 legally blind persons who regularly use this
station to and from their jobs at the New York City Industries for the
Blind’s workshop nearby, according to the MTA.
According to an agreement signed by the MTA in the 1980s, the transit
agency has committed to making 75 “key” subway stations accessible to the
disabled by the year 2020. This is the 66th station that has been made
accessible.
Some readers may be surprised that stations that merely have escalators
are not considered disabled-accessible. This is because it is hard for
wheelchair-bound riders to use them, an MTA spokesperson told the Eagle.
Furthermore, he said, many of the “deep underground station” elevators are
not considered accessible because they don’t connect the street levels
with the platform levels, but merely go to a mezzanine. Several Brooklyn
stations, such as Clark Street and High Street-Brooklyn Bridge, fall into
this category.
According to an article that appeared this past May in the New York Times,
however, the subway’s escalators and elevators have had a far from stellar
performance. “One of every six elevators and escalators in the subway
system was out of service for more than a month last year,” the article
read.
Gene Russianoff, spokesman for the advocacy group Transportation
Alternatives, said MTA New York City Transit should be praised for posting
“real-time information” on its web site about which elevators are out of
service.
The transit agency should be praised, he said, “but it has a long way to go.”
© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2008