MTA Announces Opening of Two Elevators at Queensboro Plaza Subway Station

Thanks to Federal Support, MTA Delivers New Elevators, State of Good Repair Work and Passenger Circulation Improvements

Queensboro Plaza Station Serves 97,000 Customers Each Day

See Video of Station Accessibility Upgrades

See Video of Event

See Photos of the Event and Station Complex Upgrades

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) today announced the completion of two new elevators at the Queensboro Plaza ​​​ subway station. In addition to new elevators, crews performed state of good repair work and made passenger circulation improvements including new ADA boarding areas. This is the sixth subway station to be made accessible this year.

The project consists of two elevators, one connecting the street and mezzanine level and another connecting the mezzanine to both platforms. The project also includes:

• Expansion of the mezzanine by approx. 2100 sq ft, improving customer flow within the station

• New lighting for the expanded mezzanine

• Updates to the pedestrian bridge

• A brand new S1/M1 street stair

• New boarding areas compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with new platform edges

• Upgrades to existing street and station stairs to current ADA standards

The station's accessibility upgrade is complemented with security and communication enhancements, upgrades to the fire alarm system, installation of a new security camera system, a new public address system, and digital information screens, offering better communication with clearer announcements and greater access to information via screens.

"The MTA is delivering ADA accessibility projects five times as fast as ever before," said MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber. "Queeensboro Plaza is a key connection for 97,000 daily riders and we're thrilled that it's finally accessible to everybody, including parents with strollers and seniors as well as people with disabilities."

"Our crews worked tirelessly to complete this project in a dense urban environment, with infrastructure dating back more than 100 years," said MTA Construction & Development President Jamie Torres-Springer. "We continue to look for creative ways to move accessibility projects forward, including taking advantage of private investment to maximize the benefit for riders while minimizing cost to the MTA."

"Nearly 100,000 daily riders will benefit from a cleaner, safer and more accessible Queensboro Plaza Station," said NYC Transit President Demetrius Crichlow. "Accessibility is an essential part of what we do at Transit, and as we bring more elevators online, I'm thrilled that our teams have also been delivering historically strong elevator performance, with the fewest outages in over a decade. Riders from Astoria to Flushing can now look forward to a newly accessible ride at this critical transfer station with safe, reliable elevators."

"Improving accessibility at one of the busiest stations in Queens benefits all our riders," said MTA Chief Accessibility Officer and Senior Advisor Quemuel Arroyo. "Advancing accessibility projects at an unprecedented rate creates access to all that New York has to offer as well as educational and employment potential by creating new travel opportunities and redefining quality of life for all New Yorkers."

Queensboro Plaza is a station with high ridership, serving approximately 97,000 riders on an average weekday. This estimate includes both customers who swipe in at this station and those who are transferring between the 7 N and W trains, while also being in the center of a rapidly growing neighborhood making it a complex construction project in the heart of a busy, 11-lane wide approach to the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, two of which are bike lanes. This project is also in coordination with the construction of a redundant accessible entrance on the north side of the station under a Zoning for Accessibility (ZFA) project.

The project was made possible thanks to support from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), with the full, approximately $69 million construction cost of the project coming from federal sources. Approximately 22.5% of the project budget has been awarded to DBE firms. The project's contractor is MLJTC2 Joint Venture, and the elevator manufacturer and installer is Modern Elevator.