Plans to install the long-awaited elevator at Mosholu Parkway subway station, which serves the 4 line, and which is located at the border of Jerome Park and Norwood, are finally taking shape according to The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Replacement elevators are also set to be installed at three existing accessible Bronx subway stations as part of two new, public-private partnerships, the agency announced on Nov. 30.

 

Given the proximity of Mosholu Parkway station, located at the intersection of Mosholu Parkway and Jerome Avenue, to a number of local hospitals and healthcare facilities, including Norwood’s Montefiore Medical Center, located at 111 East 210th Street, and NYC Health + Hospitals/North Central Bronx, located at 3424 Kossuth Avenue, local elected officials, health workers, activists, residents and out patients have been organizing and signing petitions, and calling for an elevator to be installed at the station since at least 2018, as reported.

 

The Mosholu Parkway subway elevator project finally got MTA budget approval in September 2019 and in December that year, more details were announced regarding the plan, along with those of other planned upgrades to Kingsbridge Road and Burnside Avenue stations.

 

In the context of the announcement, MTA construction and development president, Jamie Torres-Springer, said, “MTA Construction and Development is always innovating as we advance systemwide accessibility better, faster, and cheaper.” He added, “This latest package of subway station ADA upgrades includes the MTA’s first public-private partnership.”

 

MTA officials announced news of the Mosholu Parkway elevator progress in what was described as a “sweeping package of accessibility upgrades” which will make nine more New York City Subway stations accessible, replace and upgrade elevators at another five subway stations, and make seven Long Island Rail Road stations in Queens, Nassau and Suffolk Counties fully accessible for the first time.

 

MTA officials said its board approved two contracts to advance the ADA upgrades to the NYC Transit system under the referenced public-private partnership (P3) delivery model, the first in MTA history to use this model, which officials said requires the developer to finance a portion of the project with equity, which is only repaid if the project is built and maintained to MTA standards.

 

Under a second contract which is separate from the Long Island Rail Road announced upgrades, Borough Hall Station in Brooklyn, serving the 2, 3, 4 and 5 lines, will also be made fully accessible.

 

Torres-Springer added that the new method of contracting allowed the agency to get the best value for money, referencing again that the delivery partner will finance the work and maintain the elevators and receive payments only if they meet what he called the MTA’s high standards.

The P3 stations at which new elevators will be installed include:

• Mosholu Parkway Station 4
• Junius Street Station 3
• Church Av b, q
• Sheepshead Bay Station b, q
• Rockaway Boulevard Station a
• Kings Highway Station f
• Woodhaven Boulevard Station m, r
• Steinway Street Station m, r

The P3 stations at which replacement elevators will be installed are:

• 161st Street-Yankee Stadium Station b, d
• 161st Street-Yankee Stadium Station 4
• 3rd Avenue-149th Street 2, 5
• 34th Street-Penn Station a, c, e
• Euclid Avenue Station a, c

 

In reference to the high need for the elevator, due to the close proximity of the station to the two Norwood hospitals, the busy Jerome Avenue / Gun Hill Road commercial district, and a dense network of homes, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz (A.D. 81) reacted to the news, saying, “This is a continuation of progress towards a longtime goal of many people in our community.”

 

He added, “The effort to get an elevator installed here was propelled forward by a multi-thousand signature petition drive led by now-Council Member Eric Dinowitz and then-Community Board 7 chair, Jean Hill. Although I am traditionally leery of relying on private companies to provide public services, I am encouraged to learn that this new contract dramatically increases the MTA’s expectations regarding elevator uptime and service alerts. Both are elements of the aforementioned maintenance agreement.”

 

As reported, Bedford Park Boulevard station which serves the B and D trains finally had an elevator installed in October 2020, while East Gun Hill Road station serving the 2 and the 5 lines was made accessible with a newly installed elevator in January 2021. Meanwhile, the MTA’s latest wireless subway connectivity plan was announced in August, as reported.

 

Not everyone is satisfied with the current D service, with one rider calling out MTA on Dec. 8, writing, “The D train has no maps, no stop announcements, no LED screens above the seats, nothing to signal time either. It’s just vibes in these train carts. OMG @mta, are you seeing this?” We’ve asked the MTA for comment and will update this story should we receive feedback.

 

Norwood News also previously raised the fact that there was only seating in the Kingsbridge Road subway station on some but not all platforms. MTA officials responded, saying that like many stations, benches are placed at Kingsbridge Road to prioritize seating opportunities for the platform that serves the highest number of waiting customers, i.e. in the direction of peak travel.

 

They said that at the Kingsbridge Road station, that direction of peak travel was on the southbound platform, where they said there are two benches. They added that the addition of benches is carried out as needed, based on community requests and reviews by station management, and the MTA’s planning teams.

 

We asked if there was not a peak time for travel in each direction, depending on the time of day, thereby necessitating seats on all platforms. We did not receive an immediate response.

 

The D train has no maps, no stop announcements, no LED screens above the seats, nothing to signal the time either. It’s just vibes in these train carts omg @mta are you seeing this

— 🪐👽 (@sierritax) December 8, 2022

 

As reported, Norwood News also asked the MTA for details of when the weekend maintenance work on the B/D line would conclude in the Bronx, which is requiring riders to temporarily use the 4 line at weekends. We did not receive an immediate response.

Meanwhile, MTA chief accessibility officer, Quemuel Arroyo, said of the latest accessibility announcement, “The MTA is fully committed to make the entire system accessible, not just subways but the LIRR and Metro-North too.” He added, “With these new elevators spread throughout the subway system and across Long Island, a large number of riders with disabilities, customers with children in strollers and visitors with luggage will benefit from an easier way to access mass transit.”

 

For a list of the latest general Bronx transportation updates, click here.