An elevator outage at 42 St-Time Square R train platform. (Credit: Delan Li)
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s decision to halt congestion pricing has one community of subway riders fighting for their rights.
Accessibility advocates have pushed the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for years to add elevators in 23 subway stations, including some inside the busiest train stops in Midtown. There’s no funding for needed upgrades, dealing a blow to any New Yorker with accessibility issues and parents with strollers.
This is due to the indefinite hold on congestion pricing announced by Gov. Hochul. She stated that congestion pricing was originally established before the COVID-19 pandemic, during a time when most commuters worked in offices five days a week, crime rates were lower, and tourism was thriving.
“Circumstances have changed, and we must respond to the facts on the ground, not to the rhetoric from five years ago,” she said.
Subway accessibility in New York City has long been an issue. According to a 2023 New York City Council report, only 29% of subway stations are fully accessible to people with disabilities, leaving over 70% of stations without elevators or ramps. For the city’s 3 million residents with disabilities, this lack of infrastructure severely limits mobility and access to public transportation. Stations that have elevators aren’t a sure bet because they often have outages and maintenance issues, according to the report.
The report also showed that, on average, 34 elevators were out of service on any given day in January 2023. Equipment operated by third parties performed worse, with outages lasting an average of 4.4 days compared to 1.6 days for MTA-operated elevators. The five worst-performing third party-managed sites for the study period were: 42nd Street-Bryant Park station (39th Street and 6th Avenue elevator); Howard Beach station (one elevator at entrance and another leading to the Queens-bound track); Times Square-Port Authority station (44th Street and 8th Avenue southwest entrance elevator and lift); 28th Street station (28th Street and Park Avenue South southwest entrance elevator); and 14th St- Union Square station (14th Street and 4th Avenue entrance escalators). The report emphasizes that finding information on which third-party operators manage specific equipment is very challenging. It recommends that the MTA should publicly list third-party operators and the equipment under their care to increase transparency.
On Sept. 8 subway accessibility advocates launched a multi-location protest of the governor’s decision in New York City. Organized by groups including the Democratic Socialists of America, and Riders Alliance, a membership organization of bus and subway commuters, the Citywide Subway Canvassing Day aimed to highlight how the funding pause disproportionately affects vulnerable New Yorkers.
Joshua Goodman from Riders Alliance canvassing people at 168th St. (Credit: Delan Li)
Advocates spread out across 23 subway stations, talking to riders about the importance of accessible transit and the potential impact of the congestion pricing pause.
April Coughlin, a “wheeler” since the age of 6 and a disability rights activist, said that the event highlighted the struggles that she faces regularly. After canvassing the 168th Street subway station in Washington Heights for the protest, Coughlin — with her 5-year-old son in tow riding a scooter — needed to take a detour to get home, because the 1 train platform at 168th lacks an elevator to the platform.
“It’s not just about me anymore. Trying to juggle accessibility issues with a little one makes everything ten times harder,” she said.
Nicole Murray, an organizer of DSA, explained the canvassing strategy.
“Most people will agree that subway stations should be accessible. So, we start by asking, ‘Do you think this station could use an elevator?’ Most people say yes, and then we tell them it’s not going to happen because Governor Hochul canceled the funding.” And then she encouraged people to scan a QR code and fill out a form, which tells Governor Hochul not to defund the subway. “Canceling congestion pricing has ripple effects. The more delays there are, the more expensive these projects become. It’s a snowball effect—the longer this drags on, the more difficult it will be to get the funding we need to make these improvements,” she further explained the wider impact of the Governor’s decision.
Joshua Goodman, a member of Riders Alliance, elaborated on the broader consequences of the funding delay.
“Even when stations are partially accessible, they often fail to meet the needs of wheelchair users. At 42nd Street, for example, the ramp connecting the A-C-E to the 6th and 7th Avenue lines is too steep. So, if you’re in a wheelchair, it’s essentially inaccessible,” he said.
“People end up paying with their time or even paying for a car ride, which can be a lot more expensive. The subway is supposed to be a public service that’s affordable for most people, but when it’s not accessible, it’s like being forced to pay for a private school when public school should be an option,” Murray added.
According to the report, delays in capital projects have already extended elevator outages in several stations, sometimes by months. The overall cost of the MTA’s planned accessibility upgrades is estimated at $16.5 billion, a significant portion of the $54.8 billion 2020-2024 capital plan. The funding for these upgrades was intended to come primarily from congestion pricing which designed to raise billions in revenue specifically for transit improvements. Without this revenue, the MTA would faces a substantial budget deficit of about $400-plus million in 2027-28.
Goodman said the MTA has provided little in response to their future plans. He mentioned that when attending MTA board meetings, “they just say this is the governor’s decision.” While some MTA staffers, according to Goodman, were deeply disappointed by the congestion pricing pause, he expressed his frustration that there wasn’t more pushback. “There are people at the MTA who were extremely committed to congestion pricing and its implementation,” he said, “but the agency hasn’t come out strongly enough to fight the decision.”
He added that there has been no meaningful engagement from the governor’s office on how to move forward, leaving advocates in the dark about potential solutions. “There’s no public forum for us to have a real conversation about this,” Goodman said.
Columbia News Service reached out to the governor’s office and the MTA for comment; neither responded.
Murray emphasized that it’s not just about accessibility for people with disabilities—it’s about the values of a progressive society.
“We are locking out thousands of people from a crucial public service. It’s not just unfair—it’s morally wrong. This is not the kind of city we want to live in,” Murray said.
About the author(s)
Delan Li, originally from Beijing, is a M.S. student at Columbia Journalism School, she covers social justice, race, gender, and environmental issues.