When Alexis Batista was a student at the Globe Institute of Technology, in Lower Manhattan, he lived a few feet away from the 174-175 St. subway station in the Bronx. Instead, he would travel for 30 minutes by bus to the nearest station with an elevator. As a wheelchair user, Batista, 37, is one of the thousands of New Yorkers impacted by the lack of accessible stations.
Sometimes, he found a broken elevator. “I would break into tears,” he explained. Batista would then retake the bus he took early, transfer to another bus that dropped him off at 135th St. station, which is wheelchair accessible. His trip could take up to 2 hours but if 174-175 St. were accessible it would take 45 minutes.
On occasions, he’d call Fire or Police Department to carry him down to the platform. “The shame I’d feel being carried down the stairs,” said Batista, who now resides in the Upper West Side.
Batista’s experience is shared by numerous wheelchairs users who rely on public transportation. Currently, only 24% of the 472 stations in New York City are wheelchair accessible. This translates into loss of independence, frustration with navigating the subway system, and additional traveling time, which impact their work situation.
According to a 2018 report ‘Service Denied: Accessibility and the New York City Subway System’ by NYC Comptroller: “Those living in areas without accessible stations will struggle to reach the 2.7 million jobs in areas that are accessible by subway, while the 608,258 jobs in neighborhoods without subway accessibility are even more challenging to access.”
When Batista was a Bronx resident, he traveled to an accessible station in a borough where 68% of stations were inaccessible. As an Upper West Side resident, that number lowers to 26%.
“It’s unfair,” said Arquelia Vega, 47, after leaving the 96 St. station in the Upper West Side. “This is a rich country, put some elevators. I don’t understand why there are elevators only in certain places,” she added.
The report establishes that “these barriers to the labor market exacerbate the high rates of unemployment and low rates of workforce participation among the disabled.” According to the Census, the employment rate for the mobility-impaired aged 25 to 65 is 23%, for the non-disabled population is 74%
In 2016, Disabilities Rights Advocates, a nationwide non-profit, sued the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, or MTA, for violating the American Disability Act, which states that after extensive renovations to a station, an elevator needs to be installed, as happened in Middletown Road station that year.
The MTA have defended its decision arguing that sometimes installing an elevator is no economically feasible. Dustin Jones, a Board Member of the Center for the Independence of the Disabled in New York City, doesn’t believe economic the argument. “There is money for WIFI and retrofitting buses, but no money for a civil rights issue,” he said.
Judge Geoffrey S. Berman, from the Southern District of New York ruled in favor of DRA The decision is not binding, but it’s a first step towards the day wheelchairs could access any of the 472 subway stations. The MTA Press office was reached but declined to comment for this story.