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
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.
More on Queensboro Plaza’s North Side Elevator
In addition to building a fully accessible entrance on the south side at the Queensboro Plaza station, in August 2022, the MTA and New York City Department of City Planning announced the City Planning Commission authorization of an accessible entrance on the station's north side through the Zoning for Accessibility (ZFA) program, anticipated to be completed by 2025. The north side entrance will be financed, constructed, and maintained by the developer of 25-01 Queens Plaza North under the Zoning for Accessibility’s transit improvement bonus program, saving the MTA millions of dollars in construction and maintenance costs.
The building of an accessible entrance on the Queensboro Plaza north side is the second transit improvement bonus approved by the City Planning Commission (CPC) under ZFA, which enables developers to improve access to public transit in the busiest areas of the city in exchange for an increase in their building’s density. To learn more about Zoning for Accessibility, visit our website.
“Queensboro Plaza is an essential station for our district, one of the most transit-oriented in the city, and I’m so glad to see it made more accessible,” said State Senator Kristen Gonzalez. “Thank you to the MTA for their efficiency and for working diligently with us to improve convenience for customers during construction.”
"For far too long, disabled New Yorkers have been left behind by transit in the city they call home, unable to easily get where they need to go and forced to take lengthy alternative routes,” said Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani. “Now, with the completion of these improvements, we stand one step closer to making the MTA the universally accessible public transit system that New Yorkers deserve."
“Every day, 97,000 New Yorkers ride the subway at Queensboro Plaza, including seniors, people with disabilities, and parents with strollers. These new elevators will ensure that this station is ADA compliant to encourage even more of our neighbors to take public transportation,” said Council Member Julie Won. “When I was pregnant with my children, I would struggle to climb the steps to catch the train at Queensboro Plaza. I’m thrilled that mothers like me, and thousands of neighbors will have universal access to fast, cheap, and climate-friendly ways to travel around our city. We look forward to the elevators and other accessibility improvements at 33 Street-Rawson Street and 46 Street-Bliss Plaza in our district.”
"People of all abilities should have equal access to our mass transit system, and the new elevators at Queensboro Plaza will help ensure just that," said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. "I thank the MTA for this important upgrade, along with the other upgrades made at the station that will increase the safety and security of our commuters."