You are reading

MTA to Build Elevators at Steinway Street Station Following Years of Local Advocacy

Steinway Street station in Astoria (Photo: By Luigi Novi CC By 4.0)

Dec. 15, 2021 By Christian Murray

The MTA will be constructing elevators at the Steinway Street M/R subway station—although it will be several years before they are completed.

State Sen. Michael Gianaris, who has been calling for elevators at the station for years, made the announcement Tuesday and said that the MTA has finally provided a timeline as to when it anticipates their completion.

According to the MTA, the contract for new elevators will be awarded next summer, and construction is scheduled to take 36 months after the contract is awarded.

“After years of pushing for accessibility improvements, the MTA listened to western Queens residents, activists and elected leaders advocating for better subway access. These improvements will go a long way to making our subway available for all,” Gianaris said.

“While there is still a long way to go in making the entire subway system 100 percent accessible, these elevators represent a step forward.”

The MTA completed construction of a set of elevators at the Astoria Blvd subway station in July 2020

Steinway Street will not be the first elevators installed in Astoria after pressure from Gianaris and other Queens officials. The MTA constructed elevators at the Astoria Blvd station that were completed in July 2020.

The MTA has also made provision in its next capital plan to construct elevators at the 33rd Street-Rawson Avenue and 46th Street stations on the 7-line, in addition to Court Square/23rd Street on the E/M-lines.

State Sen. Michael Gianaris at the 36th Avenue subway station in 2017 calling on the MTA to include elevators as part of its overhaul of four stations along the N/W line in Astoria. The MTA, however, did not include elevators in its revamp (Photo: Tara Law)

Gianaris has been a longtime advocate for transit accessibility, pressing the MTA to install elevators throughout the entire subway system. He has been very critical of the agency in recent years– particularly when it spent $150 million to overhaul four stations along the N /W line in Astoria and didn’t include elevators.

The agency revamped the 30th Avenue, 36th Avenue, 39 Avenue-Dutch Kills and Broadway stations over the past 3 years. Gianaris and transit advocates argued that the MTA focused too heavily on aesthetics by not building elevators at the stations.

email the author: news@queenspost.com

2 Comments

Click for Comments 
MRLIC

Yeah Latty. But how long before the MTA elevators break down.
Some new elevators broke down.
soon after opeming and every few werks it seems after fixing them. Shoddy work by the contractors.

Reply
Larry Penner

Here are two ways to obtain financial support to pay for accelerating the number of subway stations to reach compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). . The MTA receives $1.5 billion in annual assistance from various Federal Transit Administration formula funding grant programs. The MTA $51 billion 2020 – 2024 Five Year Capital Plan has programmed significant funding to dramatically increase the number of additional subway stations reaching full ADA compliance Why not ask any major business, developer, college or hospital who benefit from subway stations adjacent to their facility to sponsor installation of elevator(s). Let them split the cost 50% with the MTA NYC Transit in exchange for naming rights to the elevator(s).

(Larry Penner — transportation advocate, historian and writer who previously worked for the Federal Transit Administration Region 2 NY Office. This included the development, review, approval and oversight for grants supporting billions in capital projects and programs on behalf of the MTA, NYC Transit along with 30 other NY & NJ transit agencies).

.

Reply

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

MTA opens three new modernized elevators at the Queens Plaza subway station in Long Island City

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced the opening of three new modernized elevators at the Queens Plaza E/M/R subway station in Long Island City earlier this month as part of a larger accessibility and safety upgrades throughout the transit system.

The work included a full replacement of the cab and equipment within the cab, shaft and pit, along with two new elevator head houses located at street level. Crews also made modifications to the shaft and pit as needed to allow for new equipment. The elevator machine room and electrical and mechanical equipment received replacements and other modernization efforts for reliability.

Queens Together launches ‘Unofficial US Open Dining Guide’ encouraging fans to sample restaurants along the 7 line

Aug. 20, 2025 By Shane O’Brien

The US Open returns to Flushing Meadows Corona Park this Sunday, with more than 1 million attendees anticipated to take mass transit to the iconic annual tennis event. With hundreds of thousands of fans set to take the 7 out to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, there is a world of delicious local eateries lying beneath the elevated train tracks should any fan wish to stop en-route to the US Open.

Can Queens’ food scene thrive with both trucks and restaurants?

Aug. 19, 2025 By Jessica Militello

In Jackson Heights at 4 p.m. on a Thursday afternoon, Roosevelt Avenue is buzzing with energy as commuters file in and out of subway cars and onto the street and cars and trucks grapple to get down the busy road. The street is filled with rows of shops and restaurants, along with food carts, street vendors and food trucks along the avenue. The almost-but-not-quite the weekend lag leaves hungry commuters faced with another choice to make throughout their day and the array of food truck options in busy areas like Jackson Heights offers customers convenience and delicious food without breaking the bank, two features that can feel vital, particularly with rising costs of living and pressure from inflation.