Washington Heights Has One Of NYC'S Worst Subway Stations, Riders Say

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — Upper Manhattanites who complain about their commutes now have some data to back up their gripes. A station in Washington Heights has been named among the five worst in New York City, according to a new rider survey conducted by the MTA.

Open for two weeks in mid-June, the survey gathered around 175,000 responses from subway riders, who were asked to describe their satisfaction with the lines and stations they used most frequently. The results were released on Monday during an MTA public meeting.

Five stations emerged as the city's worst, in terms of customer satisfaction, including one in Washington Heights — the 191st Street 1 train station on Broadway.

It was tied for the second-lowest overall rated station in the city, with just a 29 percent overall score.

Here are conditions within the station people gave as justification for their low rating of the 191st Street stop.

• Personal security: 26 percent of people mentioned
• Cleanliness: 23 percent of people mentioned
• People behaving erratically: 17 percent of people mentioned
• Homelessness: 16 percent of people mentioned

Its average weekday ridership during June 2022 was 4,823 riders a day, according to the MTA.

The 191st Street 1 train stop in Washington Heights received negative coverage earlier this year when a photo of used syringes and trash in the station went semi-viral on uptown social media pages.

In the aftermath, Council Member Carmen De La Rosa led a multi-agency walkthrough of the station to address where it needed help most.

After the walkthrough, De La Rosa released the following preliminary takeaways and action plans.

• "Encourage Manhattan Community Board 12 to prioritize the 181st and 191st Street stations and tunnels in all future meetings.
• $25 million Capital Project funded by the Department of Transportation (DOT) for the full renovation of the 191st Street tunnel in 2025 (already in the works.)
• Establish a direct line of communication to the Department of Social Services (DSS) for homeless outreach and services at local train stations.
• Ask for increased frequency of tunnel cleanups from two times per month to consistent weekly cleanups.
• Request security camera installments in the 191st Street tunnel.

The Rest Of The Survey

The other four lowest rated subway stops in the city were all also in Upper Manhattan.

• Central Park North 110th Street - 2, 3 train station: 19 percent rated
• 116th Street - 6 train station: 29 percent rated
• Third Ave-149th Street - 2, 5 train station: 29 percent rated
• 125th Street - 2, 3 train station: 29 percent rated

Overall, subway riders reported a 48 percent satisfaction rate across the system during the June survey. The highest-rated station in the entire system was Eastern Parkway–Brooklyn Museum station on the 2-3 lines, where about 91 percent of riders had good things to say.

Most of the "best" stations are either newly constructed or were recently renovated, said Shanifah Riera, the MTA's acting chief customer officer, during Monday's meeting.

With the survey results in hand, Riera said the MTA will "look at these findings in greater detail in an effort to help define and support improvements and initiatives.

Patch reporter Nick Garber contributed to this report.