MTA Releases Plan for Subway Station Without Elevator

New York State Sen. Cordell Cleare, chair of the committee on aging, wrote a letter in August calling on Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) chair and CEO Janno Lieber to include plans for implementing an elevator at the 125th Street and Broadway subway station in the MTA’s 2025-2029 Capital Plan. The MTA released its proposed plan on September 25, with no mention of the train station, the Columbia Daily Spectator reports. The Elevator Lobby — a joint initiative by the Morningside Heights Community Coalition, Morningside Retirement Health Services, local institutions, civic organizations and residents — has been heading recent efforts to bring the elevator to fruition. Columbia University’s consulting firm, responsible for creating the plans for the 125th Street station escalator expansion, submitted elevator plans at 60% completion to the MTA for review and comment. But no plans, updates or funding for the elevator initiative at 125th have been publicly announced. “We anticipate beginning the planning and design phase of this project in the coming months, and we will continue to coordinate this work with the MTA to ensure that our upgrades are delivered as quickly as possible and with minimal disruption to the day-to-day operations of the station,” a University spokesperson said.