Need a lift? MTA’s elevators sure do
Nearly one-fifth of city subway elevators and escalators are so old that they chronically break down, MTA officials admit.
And making matters worse, they often stay out of service for extended stretches because the agency has trouble getting the parts to fix them.
Many of the lifts are more than two decades old, with parts so specialized that they are hard to track down or no longer available, according to MTA CFO Michael Chubak at a hearing last week.
“Some elevators and escalators are more than 20 years old, and it’s hard to get parts to fix them,” he said.
Chubak made the comment during a City Council budget hearing Tuesday after Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez asked why the elevators at 168th and 181st streets in Washington Heights have repeatedly broken down for years and each time take several hours or days to be fixed.
The two stations don’t have stairs on the platforms, so the elevators are the only way to get to and from trains. At least one of the elevators breaks about once a week, according to Rodriguez.
“By failing to renovate aging elevators across the subway system, the MTA is putting riders at risk,” the councilman said.
“It’s their responsibility to make sure these elevators are well maintained and restored when necessary. Our residents are paying more and more for these services and deserve the peace of mind.”
Of the 248 elevators in the system, 41, or 16.5 percent, are more than 20 years old. And 39 out of 224 escalators in the system — more than 17 percent — have also passed the two-decade mark, MTA officials said.
The agency keeps a stock of unusual parts on hand in case of a breakdown, but many of the ele- vators and escalators don’t match up, so the agency often has to order out for specialized parts.
On average last week, there were 16 elevators and 22 escalators out each day, according to an alert list on the agency’s Web site.
The MTA is currently replacing some aging units with new ones, but the process is taking years.
The transit agency is so behind that it is still working on machinery that was part of the 2010-14 capital program. It hasn’t gotten to the 76 units slated for the 2015-19 capital plan, according to officials.
Riders say they are frustrated with how often the elevators and escalators break down and how long it takes the MTA to fix them.
“I hate encountering the escalators when they aren’t working,” said Maria Flores, a 57-year-old nanny. “There are hardly elevators so we lift the strollers up and down the steps, which is a huge issue, especially for people who are disabled.”
In the 28 months that he’s lived in the city, wheelchair user Chris Pangilinan has come across 214 broken elevators, or more than one a week. The transit advocate moved to an area that has two stations with elevators — Jay Street/Metrotech and Borough Hall — so he has options.
“It’s completely unacceptable,” he said. “The elevators and escalators aren’t prioritized by the MTA and the governor. It’s not an impossible problem. It’s a matter of accountability and making it a priority.”