Judge Keeps NY Elevator Operators in Place With Order

New York State Acting Supreme Court Justice J. Machelle Sweeting signed an order on August 4 keeping NYC Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) elevator operators on the job inside three Washington Heights stops on the A train line and two more on the No. 1 train where some riders descend as far as 180 ft below the street, New York Daily News reports. “This court finds that the elimination of the elevator attendant position does amount to a closing, a closing of the means of access to a subway station, by means of not having access to the elevator,” said Sweeting. The judge set dates for additional hearings on August 30-31 and September 1 to determine if the removal of elevator operators would violate city Human Rights law by denying a service currently available to disabled riders. “The MTA is wildly out of touch on this issue,” Transport Workers Union Local 100 President Richard Davis told the source. “Riders want more uniformed staff in the subways, not less — especially in these stations, which are 15 to 20 stories below ground and require taking an elevator to get in or out.”