The Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) recently announced the completion of its renovations at the 68th Street-Hunter College subway on the Upper East Side, marking its transition into a fully accessible station. The $177 million project included $140 million in federal funding.
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The announcement was made on December 20. The station, which serves roughly 20,000 straphangers per day, now has three new elevators as well as upgraded platforms and an extended mezzanine. One elevator goes from the street to the mezzanine, while the others go from the mezzanine directly to the train platform.
Photo: Marc A. Hermann / MTA
Photo: Marc A. Hermann / MTA
“The new elevators at the 68 St-Hunter College Station are a step forward in increasing accessibility for the entire system, and all transit riders will benefit from the upgrades inside the station as well,” Upper East Side Councilmember Keith Powers said.
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Besides the new Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-compliant additions, which will assist thousands of differently abled and senior citizens, the station also features a new concession stand, upgraded lighting and tiles, steel and concrete repairs, and artwork by mosaic artist and CUNY Hunter graduate Lisa Corinne Davis.
Photo: Marc A. Hermann / MTA
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“As demonstrated by the recent pace of projects opening, today’s MTA is on a mission to make our subway system much more accessible,” MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said in a press statement. “These improvements wouldn’t be possible without the support of the Biden Administration, which contributed $140 million towards this project through USDOT and our congressional delegation, including Senate Majority Leader Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.”
The project to revamp the popular 6 train line has been in the works since 2008; the MTA proposed the building of elevators at the station under its 2010-2014 MTA Capital Program, which in turn was part of the MTA’s 100 Key ADA-accessible stations program. However, the MTA experienced repeated delays, and construction only got off the ground in 2022.
The MTA also recently announced the completions of renovations at another 6 line station at 14th Street.
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It’s a nicely redesigned station, but at an extraordinary cost.
With the renovations, the MTA gives elevators and/or escalators to many Manhattan locations and “good” neighborhoods elsewhere, but not in central Queens including, despite recent many months long renovations, to the R/W and #7 stations by Elmhurst Hospital. And, at Roosevelt/74th, a ridiculous, tiny elevator system, and that’s the station for the free LaGuardia bus plus has a Queens bus terminal and all the trains. Truly outrageous.