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For Immediate Release

October 16^th, 2005

Contact:

Michael A. Harris

Campaign Coordinator

Disabled Riders Coalition

Telephone: (914) 323-1725

Mobile: (914) 490-0518

E-mail: mediacontact@disabledriders.org

Disabled Riders Call Long-Term Times Square Elevator Outage Outrageous

TA says that there's nothing they can do

(NEW YORK, NY) - The elevator from the street to the concourse at the Times Square subway station has been out of service for over a month, leaving riders with disabilities who need to use this major station out of luck.  There is no sign of any effort to repair it and unlike with most subway elevators, the TA says that there is nothing that they can do about it...

This crucial elevator at one of the most used subway stations in the system, located adjacent to Station Booth R-142, in the Times Square Tower (7 Times Square) is owned by Boston Properties, Inc., who despite angry phone calls from disabled riders has demonstrated no efforts to repair the elevator. 

"Boston Properties proudly totes the subway station as a hallmark of the Times Square Tower property.  They have a responsibility to the riding public to maintain all of those aspects of the station that fall on their property, including the elevator," said Michael Harris, head of the Disabled Riders Coalition.

The Times Square Tower encompasses access to eight major subway lines plus the Times Square Shuttle, access to four (N,Q,R,W) of which are accessible at that station.  According to the New York City Transit Authority, the above ground portions of the station, with the exception of turnstiles are maintained by Boston Properties, while they are only responsible for the below-ground portions.

"It is bad enough that less than nine percent of New York City's subway and SIR stations are accessible to persons with disabilities, but for Boston Properties to knowingly deny access for riders with disabilities  is simply inexcusable.  The inaction on their part is demonstrative of a blatant disregard for New York's large senior citizen and disability communities," said Harris.

TA SHOULD WARN RIDERS WITH Disabilities

Transit officials say that they won't put the outage on the "Elevator Hotline", a toll-free number (800-734-6772) which disabled riders can call ahead of time to find out if an elevator or escalator is out of service, citing the fact that they don't own the property.  As such riders with disabilities have no way of knowing that the elevator is out of service until it is too late.  The Coalition sees this as an unjustifiable excuse.

"The TA knows the elevator is out of service, but does absolutely nothing to inform the public of that fact.  We believe that they are simply using their lack of ownership as an excuse," said Harris.   "The bottom line is that hey are aware that this elevator is out of service and there is simply no excuse for not informing riders.  It is one thing to say we don't own it so we can't fix it, it is quite another to say that we can't tell our customers that a problem exists".   

Harris and other disabled riders say that they have been stuck inside the station and been forced to go out of his way to get to their way to get to another accessible station in order to exit the system, then take a bus back to Times Square. 

The Disabled Riders Coalition calls upon Boston Properties and NYCT to redress this grievance by taking the following actions:

1. NYCT should immediately add the Times Square elevator outage to the elevator hotline and institute a policy change to include outages on any elevator serving the NYC subway system on the same (another example would be the elevator at Penn Station, which is part of 1 Penn Plaza);

2. Boston Properties should immediately inspect the elevator and begin to take the appropriate steps to repair the same.  In the interim signage should be placed indicating an anticipated completion date. 

"The Times Square subway station is one of the most frequently used stations in the system.  Boston Properties and NYCT owe it to the riding  public to resolve this issue in a timely manner.  Anything less is simply inexcusable," said Harris.

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For more information on the Disabled Riders Coalition, please visit our website at www.disabledriders.org.