"First it was May 29th, then the end of August, then it was September 6th and later the end of September, yet to this day the platform remains non-accessible", said Michael Harris, a Brooklyn resident and campaign coordinator for the Disabled Riders Coalition.  Harris says that he has spoken with the TAs Office of ADA Compliance regarding this matter on several occasions.   "They first said that they were waiting for parts and the elevator would be in service by late August or early September", he said.  Hence he thought nothing of it when signs began popping up on subway platforms and a service advisory was posted on the TA's website indicating  that the elevator would be in operation on September 6th (http://disabledriders.org/cielevator.pdf).  

After the Coalition sent out an E-mail informing their membership of this, they received a telephone call from Carmelo Simeti, Director of Field Operations at the Office of ADA Compliance.  "He said that his office knew nothing about September 6th and asked me to send him a copy of that advisory, however that the elevator was scheduled for inspection on September 22nd and would be operational soon thereafter", said Harris, adding, "When I called again on the 23rd, I was told that the inspection had been completed and that we could anticipate the elevator being operational by the end of September. Not only was the elevator not in service by the end of September, it wasn't even operational by the end of October and remains that way to this day"

A glance at a subway map, or a visit to the MTA's website will show that the platform is accessible, only a call to NYC Transit's Elevator Hotline (800-734-6772) will indicate that Elevator # 313 - Stillwell Avenue West End Line is out of service, leaving many riders to not even be aware of the problem. 

That is exactly what happened recently to Mike Costello, a downtown Brooklyn resident who uses a wheelchair.  He saw that the map showed the station as accessible and hopped on a D train at Pacific Street and headed for Stilwell Avenue, only to have to turn around and head back when he got there.  "The map said that it was accessible, so I assumed it was accessible", said Costello, "A subway map is worthless if it has bad information on it."  The September, 2005 subway map indicates that the station at Coney Island is fully accessible.

The Coalition says that the TA is adding insult to injury by providing disabled riders with false information.

"The station was supposed to be fully accessible in May", said Harris, "It is now November, which means that we are going on six months and riders with disabilities are still unable to access that platform. Not only that, but we also can't seem to get a straight answer out of the TA.  This situation is absolutely inexcusable."

"All we want is an answer from the TA to the question 'what's up at Stillwell Avenue?'  Until that" elevator is put into operation I can assure you of one thing, it certainly won't be riders with disabilities", said Harris. 

"Is an honest, straightforward answer with regard to the status of the West End Line elevator at Stillwell Avenue too much to ask? I think not", he said.

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