Home MTA Absurdity New 59th St. station entrace to open after two years

New 59th St. station entrace to open after two years

by Benjamin Kabak

A new entrance at one of the busiest stations in the system is set to open this weekend. Just watch the ice. (Wikipedia.org)

Stories like this one are what make the MTA so damn entertaining. Two years ago, the MTA, with the blessing of Vornado Realty Trust, constructed a new entrance for the uber-busy stop at 59th Street-Lexington Avenue.

Serving the 4, 5, 6, N, R and W trains as well as a crowd of workers in midtown and shoppers at Bloomingdales, this stop on the East Side is one of the busiest in the system. So another entrance seemed reasonable.

But for two years, this entrance has sat shuttered with the turnstiles rarin’ to go. Why? Because Vornado Realty, the owners for the entrance’s building, refused to construct a canopy to protect customers from ice falling off the eaves of the 54-story building.

Well, the dispute has been resolved, and this two-year-old “new” entrance will open this weekend. Phew.

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2 comments

Victoria February 2, 2007 - 4:20 pm

what was Vornado’s reasoning?? they wanted people to fall on the ice or something?

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Benjamin Kabak February 2, 2007 - 4:23 pm

I think they simply did not want to be responsible for constructing the cover at a cost to them. They probably wanted the MTA to foot the bill.

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