New subway station's elevators keep breaking down
NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - The sign on an elevator door says "please excuse the inconvenience." And that is exactly how commuters who rely on the 63rd Street and 3rd Avenue subway station would describe this. Day after day, whether or not the brand-new elevators in the brand new station will work is a gamble.
Last Friday, all four elevators were out of service. In most other subway stops, most riders would use the stairs or an escalator. But this end of the 63rd Street station doesn't have either.
The elevators were due to be fixed Monday. But now the sign says it will be October 28.
That is a hassle for able-bodied riders. But Dustin Jones is in a wheelchair. He told Fox 5 that he avoids the station because of the problems. Dustin said that other elevators at other stations around the city are also always out of service. That affects the disabled, moms with strollers, delivery people, tourists with luggage, and the elderly.
Add the malfunctioning elevators to the growing list of MTA complaints. Crowded train cars were the norm Monday morning, the result of major signal and circuit breaker issues on the f line. Those issues affected riders all the way into Manhattan. At one point, the MTA tweeted that riders should expect issues on the A, B, C, D, G, and M lines. The Q and L lines also had delays.
By some accounts 2017 has been one of the worst years for metro issues, costing riders a whopping $307 million in lost wages each year.
The MTA told Fox 5 it is looking into the issues with the elevators at 63rd Street.