Harlem Residents Call For Elevator Installation At Station

Harlem, NYC, residents are making a push for an elevator-installation project at the 1 line, 125th Street Broadway station, Patch reports. In a letter sent to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a group of Harlem officials asked the governor — who controls the NYC Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) — to consider installing elevators at the above-ground station. Used by 7,600 daily commuters on an average, pre-pandemic weekday, the station sits atop a 54-ft-high bridge that towers over Broadway. While the 1 line station contains escalators, it lacks any elevators, leaving the station inaccessible to wheelchair users, parents with strollers and many senior citizens. Several lawmakers and officials are asking Hochul to fund the elevators as part of the MTA’s Capital Plan. The timing is open-ended, which could allow for the possibility that the project could be added to the MTA’s ongoing 2020-2024 plan, or to a future funding round. The governor’s office did not immediately respond to the request.