Sept. 2, 2015 By Jackie Strawbridge
The majority of New York City’s worst-condition subway stations are in Queens, a new report from the Citizens Budget Commission has found.
The CBC, a New York finance-oriented nonprofit, released a report Wednesday that examines both the quality of subway stations citywide and the MTA’s system for repairing them. Leveraging MTA data on station conditions, the CBC identified the system’s 33 poorest-condition stations, about half of which are in Queens.
A station is in bad condition when a significant portion of its “structural components” – its platform edges, stairs and other pieces related to its functionality – are found to be in disrepair.
The City’s worst station is 52nd Street-Roosevelt Avenue on the 7 line in Sunnyside/Woodside, where 23 of 29 structural components, or 79 percent, need repair.
Other stations with substantial disrepair include 30th Avenue on the N/Q in Astoria (72 percent of structural components), 103 Street-Corona Plaza on the 7 (68 percent) and 36 Avenue on the N/Q in Astoria (67 percent).
The CBC’s report throws cold water on a repair plan that the MTA devised in 2010. The agency switched from its previous method of repairing entire stations at a time to addressing individual station components on a priority basis.
The MTA told the New York Senate at the time, “the new strategy will address more stations in a shorter period of time, while continuing to maintain high standards. The overall goal is to eliminate components [in the worst disrepair] within 15 years and thereafter to maintain a state of good repair at all [stations].”
However, according to the CBC, the pace of the MTA’s structural component repair – about 280 components per year – is too slow to keep up with station wear and tear, leaving “dismal prospects” for completing all necessary repairs.
To mitigate the MTA’s seemingly futile task, the CBC made three primary recommendations: prioritizing repairs over system expansion projects, improving project management and seeking public-private partnerships.
“We appreciate the CBC’s thoughtful analysis. We are pursuing opportunities to squeeze costs from our 2015-19 Capital Program by using negotiated and other innovative procurement methods,” MTA spokesperson Kevin Ortiz said in an email.
However, Ortiz added, “we respectfully disagree with their recommendation to reduce spending on expansion projects.”
“At a time when growing ridership is leading to crowding and delays, we must pursue expansion projects that will accommodate more customers as well as provide new connections and opportunities for our customers,” Ortiz said.
State Sen. Mike Gianaris said he is not happy with the current condition of the stations. “For too long, our mass transit system has been in need of improvement, especially the N, Q and 7 lines. The MTA has failed to recognize the rapid growth of our neighborhoods and our infrastructure is not keeping pace.”
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3 Comments
How can a Borough President boast about Queens all the time, you know “the world’s borough”, yet so much of Queens with few exceptions are filled with garbage, awful road conditions, poor quality of life and now add to that list some of the worst subway stations in NYC.
Yet gazillions of dollars are thrown at the LIC Court Square 7 Subway station and and the 11th Avenue Hudson Yards magnificent 7 train station, while most of Queens subway stations look like third world crap. Jamaica’s 169th street F station is a mess of everything falling apart and a horrible sewage smell that has been going on for years. The 179th St F station not only has a homeless problem but stairs in poor condition that are ripe for a law suit.
Ironic too, how many of these subway stations are located in communities of color. Food for thought.
Yet, Melinda Katz has no problem giving $300,000 to a Manhattan Park, while most of Queens falls into squalor. This is what happens when you have poor leadership that has been bought by big money and real estate developers, people who do not really give a crap and a focus on “certain” neighborhoods.
I mean what does that tell you about the morals of Melinda Katz who is always speaking about how wonderful Queens is, but the reality is most of it has turned to crap and she and others have help move the crap along.
https://cleanupjamaicaqueens.wordpress.com/
I’d be happy climbing up a rope to the platforms as long as trains ran on time.
I lived off of the 52nd Street stop for a while, at least one staircase was always down and the metrocard swipe broke constantly. It used to shake long after the train would pass. I’m not surprised at all, hopefully they fix it soon.