FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM NOVEMBER 9, 2017 • THE QUEENS COURIER 11
Astoria moms to MTA: Install elevators at stations
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com / @AngelaMatua
Dozens of Queens mothers gathered at
the Astoria Boulevard subway station on
Saturday to demand that the MTA add
elevators to at least one of the new stations
on the W line currently closed for
repairs.
Th e 30th Avenue and 36th Avenue stations
on the N/W line in Astoria will be
closed until June for renovations that
were announced by Governor Andrew
Cuomo last January.
Upgrades will include structural repairs;
new and rehabilitated station entrances;
improved mezzanines and platforms;
and other amenities like USB ports, digital
screens and countdown clocks.
But many residents argue that the agency
is neglecting to add a crucial amenity
— an elevator. In October, elected offi -
cials along with transit activists held a
press conference to highlight how diffi -
cult it is for people in wheelchairs and for
the elderly to navigate the subway system
without elevators.
On Nov. 4, several organizations including
Hearts Across Queens, MOMally and
UP-STAND rallied at Columbus Triangle
in Astoria to highlight the plight of a
constituency that they argue is not oft en
thought about: caregivers with young
children.
Megan Stotts, the founder of the 1,200-
group called Hearts Across Queens, said
she decided to help organize this rally
because she personally knows how diffi -
cult it can be to navigate the city’s public
transportation system while pregnant.
Stotts, an Astoria resident who works in
the fi nancial district, suff ered from a placental
abruption during her fi rst pregnancy.
Th e complication occurs when a woman’s
placenta detaches from the womb.
Her son, who is now 2 years old, needed
many follow-up doctor visits aft er he
was born.
During her pregnancy, Stotts had to
walk up the 50 or so steps at the Astoria
Boulevard station, and the stop near her
offi ce in Manhattan also didn’t have an
elevator. She walked to a diff erent station
a mile away that had an elevator because
she preferred the longer walk to trying to
navigate the stairs.
Stotts’ child was also too small for a
stroller, which is required to be collapsed
when brought on to city buses, or a carrier.
Instead, she was forced to spend “a ton
of money on cabs” to transport her child
to appointments.
“We want the MTA to know what a slap
in the face it is for parents, the elderly and
diff erently-abled people to close down
our stations and inconvenience people for
art work and for benches where people
can’t fi t,” she said. “I need those benches
that they’re taking out. I need to get
off my feet.”
Stotts is referring to the MTA’s plans to
remove some seats from cars and instead
install grab bars to fi t more people in
each car.
Th e expectant mother, who lives
between the 30th Avenue and Astoria
Boulevard stops, is also frustrated because
an elevator that was announced for construction
at the Astoria Boulevard station
in 2012 has not been fi nished.
“I just want an elevator on the N/W
line,” she said. “It would be really nice
to have somebody on MTA staff representing
families and expecting mothers
because clearly with these renovations
that’s not happening,” she said.
MTA offi cials previously told QNS that
there is funding in the 2015-19 Capital
Program to replace 42 elevators and 32
escalators and funding to make an additional
19 stations accessible. Some stations,
they argued, are impossible to make
ADA-compliant without complete reconstruction
and track re-alignment.
“Increasing accessibility is a priority
for the MTA and elevators are being
added where possible, through the “Key
Stations” plan to make 100 major stations
accessible by 2020, as well as additional
non-Key Stations being made accessible
in the next few years via the MTA capital
plan,” said MTA spokesperson Shams
Tarek. “In Astoria, new elevators will
be added to the Astoria Boulevard station,
and the MTA’s fully accessible bus
fl eet provides strong service across the
neighborhood – including connections to
accessible stations nearby.”
Photo courtesy of UP-STAND
Astoria families are demanding that the MTA install elevators at W line stations.
YOU GOTTA SEE IT
TO BELIEVE IT!
NEW APARTMENTS. NEW AMENITIES. NEW EVERYTHING.
The newly remade and remodeled LeFrak City is truly a sight to behold. With renovated apartments,
an array of brand new premium amenities, and all the perks of the Queens community, LeFrak City is
the perfect place to call home.
LEFRAKCITY.COM | 888.449.3158 Premium No Fee Studios, 1, 2, & 3 Bedrooms