Pols Demand State Fund MTA Repairs After Subway Ceiling Collapse

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, NY — A group of elected officials called on the state to fund a plan to upgrade the city's aging subway system a week after the roof of the Borough Hall station collapsed onto a straphanger.

Borough President Eric Adams, Assemblywoman Jo Anne Simon and Councilman Stephen Levin met outside the station Thursday to get funding for the MTA's "Fast Forward" plan of modernizing the system.

"Borough Hall is not only my office, it's my subway station," Adams wrote on Twitter. "Last week's ceiling collapse, which happened at my doorstep, is something I take personally. Our safety is on the line."

As part of their efforts, the lawmakers asked Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state government to convene a special session to vote on funding for the plan that could cost a reported $19 billion in the first five years. MTA officials previously said estimates for it haven't been finalized.

The push comes a week after parts of the ceiling of the Borough Hall subway station collapsed and hit a woman standing on the platform of the 4 and 5 line, according to the MTA and FDNY.

Photos posted online showed debris all over the platform and light fixtures dangling from the roof.

The 27-year-old victim, Molly Scott, told the Gothamist that a doctor later confirmed she suffered a concussion from the incident and was considering suing the city over the injury.

"I really would like to see some action on this, as there is a lot more ceiling left to fall at Borough Hall, and I don't know that the next person it falls on will be as lucky as I was," Scott told the Gothamist.

"I want to do whatever it takes to actually have some change happen."

Straphangers at the station said it's been falling apart for months and it seemed only a matter of time before disaster struck.

"There seems to be some pretty significant issues that aren't at all being addressed," Brooklyn Heights resident Jason Rabinowitz previously told Patch. "Pieces of the wall fall off routinely."

Rabinowitz said the station's countdown clock has been shut off for months because of water damage to the ceiling, duct tape has been holding the turnstile together and tiles fall off the walls.

Andy Byford, NYC Transit President, blamed the collapse on significant water damage and said Borough Hall was an old station, the New York Daily News reported.

"Clearly, this kind of thing shouldn't happen," Byford said at the station.

The "Fast Forward" plan, which Byford unveiled in May, would modernize most of the subway's signals, make more stations accessible to disabled riders and repair crumbling stations.

The MTA told Curbed that there's already $43 million in their capital plan to fix the Borough Hall station.

Image: NYCAlerts/Twitter