Long-Awaited UES Subway Elevator Pits Neighbors Against Advocates

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — A last-ditch attempt to derail the MTA's plan to build a long-awaited elevator at an Upper East Side subway station resulted in dueling rallies on Sunday that pitted neighbors against disability advocates — and prompted more squabbling in the neighborhood's tense State Assembly race.

Sunday's rival protests centered on the 68th Street-Hunter College station on the 6 line — a heavily-used stop that the MTA has been trying since as far back as 2008 to make accessible by constructing elevators.

But the project has been beset by years of delays — in part due to opposition from residents of the nearby Imperial House apartment building, whose stated concerns have shifted over the years from aesthetic objections to worries about the new entrances' impact on traffic and infrastructure. Costs have ballooned in the meantime, from $57 million a decade ago to more than $100 million now.

Now, work has finally begun on the project, which will build a street-level elevator at the northeast corner of East 68th Street and Lexington Avenue — next to Imperial House. It will also add two more elevators within the station, plus four new or reconstructed stairway entrances from the sidewalk.

But Imperial House residents took to the street to protest that work on Sunday, calling on the MTA to revert back to its original plan, which had called for an elevator on the southeast corner, under the overhang of a Hunter College building. (The MTA revised its plans in 2020, citing "structural concerns" posed by the southeast corner.)

"When this is done, it's here forever, and our community will be stuck with this poor decision without any recourse," Imperial House president Paul Glantz said Sunday.

Now, Imperial House residents say they fear that the new elevator will obstruct sightlines for drivers pulling out of the building's garage on East 68th Street, endangering pedestrians. Others worry that the curb extension planned by the MTA to accommodate the elevator would worsen traffic by reducing the number of car lanes.

"It's only a matter of time before somebody is injured, or hopefully not even worse," Glantz said in a speech on the southeast corner.

Those arguments bear little resemblance to the concerns raised by Imperial House residents in 2012, when resident Charles Salfield told Community Board 8 that a new elevator would "change the character of our buildings." He also told the New York Times that the planned stairway entrance a block north would spoil the "residential and pristine quality of 69th Street."

Glantz cast doubt on the MTA's explanation that the southeast corner was structurally flawed, saying the agency told him in private conversations that that location had actually been dropped due to difficulties negotiating with CUNY. (The MTA, reached for comment, reiterated that it was moved due to “structural issues.”)

The few dozen anti-MTA protesters were comprised overwhelmingly of Imperial House residents, with one notable exception: Russell Squire, the chair of Community Board 8 and a candidate in the bitterly fought Assembly race playing out in the neighborhood. Squire says he adamantly supports building a new elevator — but only on the southeast corner.

"We're here to express the view of local residents, institutions, the community, that we want the elevator on the south side — not the north side," Squire told Patch.

"End the delay!"

Around the corner from the anti-MTA contingent was a smaller but vocal group voicing support for the current plan, chanting "End the delay!" and "Accessibility now!" It was co-organized by Rebecca Lamorte, a community board member and disability advocate, after Squire's plans to join were revealed the day before.

"We go through the committee gamut and we finally got it over the finish line — the MTA has broken ground," said Lamorte, who herself became disabled after an accident at a nearby 6 train station. "Now, to turn out for a cheap political hit — I'm just not about that."

Opponents of the MTA plan claimed that their demand for a south corner elevator had the support of U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney. But Maloney's campaign refuted that, telling Patch that her office had "listened to local community concerns on the project, including advocacy from the disability community.

"Carolyn does not believe that the MTA project should be delayed, and believes strongly that accessibility needs to be a priority in public transit infrastructure," spokesperson Sophia Brown said in an email.

Anti-MTA protesters also argued that putting the elevator on the southeast corner would be better for accessibility, since it would be closer to the M66 bus stop. In any case, there are few indications that the residents will succeed in stopping the plan, with work already underway.

Thus far, the MTA has dug two dozen test pits along the affected streets, while Con Edison has begun utility work on Lexington Avenue and 69th Street, an MTA spokesperson said. The reconstruction of a stairway on the northeast corner of 68th and Lexington has also started.

The MTA has also acquired the retail property at 931 Lexington Ave., currently home to Metro Pharmacy, within the Imperial House building — to eventually build a new stairway entrance there as well. The entire project, including the elevators and entrances, will cost $146 million.

Construction will take around 36 months, the MTA has said, meaning work is likely to wrap up in December 2024. The 68th Street station was first identified in 1994 as one of 100 "key stations" that the MTA would prioritize for accessibility improvements — and is now the very last of those stations that remains inaccessible.

Among those joining the pro-elevator protest on Monday was Lori Bores, a fellow member of Community Board 8 — and parent of a rival Assembly candidate — who was critical of her colleague's participation.

"Russell, in my mind, is going with the NIMBY group," she said.

Related coverage:

• Upper East Side Subway Stop Finally Becoming Accessible For $101M
  
• MTA Inches Closer To Long-Awaited Elevator At 68th St. Subway

Have an Upper East Side news tip? Contact reporter Nick Garber at nick.garber@patch.com.