The MTA on Thursday debuted an elevator at the Dyckman Street subway station as part of long-term work to make stations fully accessible.
The project is the result of a settlement reached with transit disability activists last month, when they agreed to make 95% of non-compliant stations accessible to people with disabilities by 2025.
"I think that this is a product of the advocacy of the disabilities community, and I can think of no better way to celebrate the anniversary of the ADA than this project," Council member Carmen de la Rosa said at a news briefing Thursday outside the station in the Manhattan neighborhood of Inwood. The Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in July 1990.
In the past seven days, the MTA opened two other fully accessible stations: the Court Square station in Queens and 8th Avenue in Manhattan, MTA Construction & Development president Jaime Torres-Springer said at the briefing.
"We are so proud we are able to get Dyckman Street made fully ADA accessible," Torres-Springer said. "Dyckman is part of our first major design-build bundle of ADA projects combining eight different station accessibility upgrades into one package."
The installation of a new elevator at Dyckman Street station is part of an effort to install 29 new elevators at subway stations across all five boroughs, officials said.
The MTA work is funded through the 2020-2024 Capital Program, which earmarks $5.2 billion to make a total of 67 stations accessible.
Since 2020, the MTA has made 20 stations fully accessible, with another 31 stations in construction. Work will be completed at nine other stations by the end of this year, Torres-Springer said.
At the briefing, Sen. Robert Jackson, a Democrat whose district includes Inwood, said riders of the 1 line at the Dyckman Street station will have access to the northbound platform when using the elevator.
"By ensuring accessibility for the Bronx-bound platform, and the entire station, they are creating a more connected and accommodating community," Jackson said. "And [with] this step forward, accessibility will have a lasting and positive impact."