The subway system's maddening accessibility problem may be even worse than previously known.
According to a report released Tuesday by City Comptroller Scott Stringer, more than half of the city's 122 neighborhoods served by the system lack a single accessible station, and thus meet the criteria for "ADA Transit Deserts." Those 62 neighborhoods—the vast majority of which are outside of Manhattan, with the largest share in Brooklyn—are home to 199,242 mobility-impaired residents. Combined with seniors and children under the age of five, a total of 640,000 New Yorkers are currently "locked out" of the subway system, the report found.
"For every inaccessible station, there is a New Yorker who can’t get to work, pick up their children from daycare, or visit their doctors," Stringer said in a statement. "It’s simple—a person's livelihood should not be dictated by their mobility status, and we must take action immediately to address this crisis."
Currently, around 80 percent of the city's stations—355 out of 472 stops—are not accessible. The MTA's own data shows that existing elevator service has slipped significantly over the last five years, and that the number of unfilled elevator and escalator maintenance positions at the agency is growing.
via NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer
The barriers to the labor market are particularly significant, and can exacerbate the high rates of unemployment and low rates of workforce participation among the disabled, according to the report.
"I don't think that most people understand just how critical accessible subways are to employment opportunities for people with disabilities," Susan Dooha, executive director of the Center for Independence of the Disabled, NY, told Gothamist. She added that only 29 percent of people with disabilities are employed, in part because of this lack of transit equity. "It's one of the top barriers to employment. It affects access to health care. It affects where people can live. It affects how easily people can live."
To remedy this worsening problem, Stringer—who, incidentally, is widely believed to be mulling a run for mayor—is now calling for congestion pricing, an $8 billion Transit Bond Act, and the swift implementation of the Fast Forward plan. Unveiled in May by new NYCTA President Andy Byford, the sweeping proposal would make 50 new stations ADA accessible in the next five years, in addition to modernizing the subway's crumbling signal and switch systems, ramping up new car orders, and re-imagining the city's bus network.
Byford has repeatedly said that improving accessibility will be one of his top priorities. He reportedly met with mobility-impaired riders earlier this year, some of whom are named in two class-action lawsuits against the MTA. Those suits allege that mobility-impaired New Yorkers are "blatantly denied" access to many subway stations, and are forced to contend with "the most inaccessible major transportation system in the nation."
A spokesperson for the MTA did not respond to a request for comment.
