Astoria Boulevard station elevator (Sen. Michael Gianaris Flickr)
July 24, 2020 By Allie Griffin
Brand new elevators at the Astoria Boulevard N/W station opened to customers today, after many months of construction.
Two street-to-mezzanine elevators and two mezzanine-to-platform elevators were put into service today at the station.
Local leaders — who have pushed for elevators at the station for years to make it ADA accessible — celebrated their opening.
“The long wait for new subway elevators at Astoria Boulevard is finally over,” State Sen. Mike Gianaris said. “While there is more to be done to have a truly accessible subway system, today’s achievement is a step forward for all transit passengers.”
#AstoriaBlvd elevators are fully operational pic.twitter.com/QzzAf9exB6
— Sen. Mike Gianaris (@SenGianaris) July 24, 2020
Council Member Costa Constantinides also applauded the accomplishment.
“All stairways and newly installed elevators at the Astoria Blvd station are now open,” he tweeted. “Glad to see this work completed and hope we can still make every station in Astoria accessible to everyone.”
Transit advocates said the elevators will help many more Queens residents get around the city.
“The elevators at Astoria Boulevard opening today will give neighborhood residents with disabilities, parents with strollers, and older riders in Astoria more access to life in New York City,” said Colin Wright, Senior Advocacy Associate at Transit Center.
The Astoria Boulevard station underwent a major station revamp and was shuttered from March 2019 through December 2019. The former mezzanine was demolished and completely rebuilt.
The station reopened in December, while construction teams continued work on the elevators.
NYC Transit has been repairing and rehabilitating the entire elevated Astoria N/W line since 2017 — repairing both its tracks and station interiors.
The MTA has come under fire in the past for not including accessibility upgrades like elevators in station renovations. In 2018, Gianaris issued a report rating the MTA subway system the least accessible major transit network in North America.
