Metropolitan Av and Lorimer St Stations are the 150th and 151st Subway Stations to Become Accessible
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See B-Roll Footage of New Elevators at Metropolitan Av and Lorimer St G and L Stations
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) today announced that the Metropolitan Av and Lorimer St stations are now accessible to customers in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The project included the installation of six new elevators, three at each station, with one street elevator and two mezzanine-to-platform elevators at each station. In addition to the new elevators, two new platform stairs were built for better passenger circulation at Metropolitan Av , and six sets of stairs were built – four on the platform and two street-level – and one set of street-level stairs was newly refurbished to meet ADA compliance at Lorimer St .
Other station upgrades include new tactile strips on platform edges for customer safety, new ADA boarding areas, new accessible fare control equipment at both station entrances, as well as new station signage, broken tile replacement on the stations’ ceilings and walls, and a new public announcement system.
The newly installed elevators include new fire alarm systems, smoke and heat detectors and cameras inside the elevator cabs, all to enhance customer safety. Each elevator is also equipped with an emergency two-way communication system which gives riders the ability to communicate with dispatchers in the event of an emergency via standard voice communications or visually by answering on-screen questions, which greatly improves communication for riders with hearing or speech disabilities. The mezzanine area around the new elevators was also regraded to create ADA accessible pathways.
“With this opening at Metropolitan Av-Lorimer St , 151 MTA subway stations are now accessible to everyone – seniors, parents with strollers, everyone,” said MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber. “We’re knocking out these ADA accessibility projects at four or five times the pace of prior MTAs, and we’re not going to slow down.”
“Making Metropolitan Av-Lorimer St accessible is a major win for Brooklyn customers, bringing not just the benefits of new elevators but also new stairwells to improve customer flow in a critical transfer station,” said New York City Transit President Richard Davey. “I especially want to thank our partners at MTA Construction & Development for delivering this project with innovative construction methods that minimized service disruptions. Customers can look forward to further improvements in the year ahead, with ten additional stations slated to receive accessibility upgrades.”
"Newly accessible stations at Metropolitan Av-Lorimer St mark the completion of Construction & Development's first Design-Build ADA package,” said MTA Construction & Development President Jamie Torres-Springer. "This exciting milestone represents the MTA's successful implementation of innovative contracting methods to deliver projects better, faster, and cheaper."
“Transforming our transit system into one that’s accessible for all remains a top priority for all of us in MTA leadership,” said MTA Chief Accessibility Officer Quemuel Arroyo. “Opening these two accessible stations is a huge step forward for subway access for Brooklynites and all New Yorkers, and marking this milestone of more than 150 accessible stations bring us one step closer to achieving an accessible system.”
The Metropolitan Av-Lorimer St upgrades were fully funded by a grant from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). This project marks the completion of an ADA-improvement package of eight subway stations, which is MTA Construction & Development’s first such package being delivered better, faster, and cheaper through innovative contracting tools such as design-build and project bundling. Metropolitan Av also received ‘State of Good Repair’ work alongside these upgrades.
The ADA upgrades at Metropolitan Av provided an opportunity for Brooklyn-based artist Jackie Chang to add two new compositions to her existing installation of six mosaics, titled Signs of Life. The artwork is centered on graphic symbols and bold text to spark contemplation as ‘food for thought’ for those traveling through the station. The new mosaics were added to the Metropolitan Av mezzanine, where all eight mosaics can now be appreciated by customers entering and leaving the station.
At Lorimer St , Brooklyn-based artist Chloë Bass was commissioned by MTA Arts & Design to create mosaic artwork for the reconfigured fare control area in the station’s entrance. Titled Personal Choice #5, the artwork features various gestures of touch in three compositions, overlaid with text written by Bass. The artwork is a poetic representation of human connections. Personal Choice #5 was unveiled as part of the station upgrade project being celebrated today.
Delivering Accessibility Projects Better, Faster, and Cheaper
The pace in which the MTA is awarding contracts for accessible projects is five times what it was before 2020. The MTA has awarded contracts for 13 stations in 2020, 10 stations in 2021, 13 stations in 2022, and 16 stations in 2023. There are accessibility upgrades funded by private developers at the 57 St station in Manhattan, and the Queensboro Plaza station in Queens.
When ridership plummeted during the COVID-19 pandemic, the MTA took the opportunity to fast-track accessibility improvements at 15 subway stations. Following today's announcement, there are 151 ADA accessible stations and 38 stations in construction for accessibility upgrades.
The 2020-2024 MTA Capital Plan includes a historic investment of $5.2 billion to make 67 subway stations ADA accessible, more than any capital plan in the MTA’s history and more than the last three capital plans combined. In addition, the Authority is delivering accessibility projects at an unprecedented pace, completing 28 ADA stations since 2020, more than double the number of ADA stations completed in the previous six years.
“Reliable public transportation is essential for countless New Yorkers, and the installation of accessible elevators at the Lorimer Street and Metropolitan Avenue stations in Williamsburg will help ensure people aren't left behind due to disability,” said Representative Nydia M. Velázquez. “I look forward to continuing to work to ensure that New York City's public transportation is accessible for all.”
“Public transit can only deliver its full potential when it provides the infrastructure and resources that allow all New Yorkers — especially New Yorkers with disabilities — to ride safely and easily,” said Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. “The new elevators and accessibility upgrades at the Lorimer are precisely the work we must be prioritizing as we build a sustainable, green city that meets the mobility needs of its residents. Thank you to the MTA for spearheading these essential improvements.”