When Citi Field opens later tonight, Mets fans long used to the odd configuration of the Shea Stadium subway stop will find themselves facing a renovated station. While the station — with its new Mets-Willets Point name and $15 million makeover — is now somewhat handicapped accessible, it features a few odd quirks. For instance, the wheel chair ramp services only the Main St.-Flushing-bound platform. Mets fans leaving for Manhattan will have to ride a 7 train one stop and then transfer to a Manhattan-bound train.
As Heather Haddon details in Urbanite, disabled rider advocates are not happy about this odd configuration. “It should have been made a priority,” Michael Harris, head of the Disabled Riders Coalition, said to Haddon. “I’m frustrated. This was an opportunity to try to make the station right,” John Sheehan echoed. “If you sit in a game for two or three hours, you want to go home like everybody else.”
For its part, New York City Transit recognizes that this set-up is less than ideal, but as Haddon notes, even half of an accessible station is better than fully inaccessible station. “We have been able to take the first step into making this station at least partly accessible,” NYC Transit President Howard Roberts said to the amNew York reporter.
8 comments
Apparently, it was a greater priority to give the private yet taxpayer-financed Mets the unique privilege of having its name prominently displayed first in the station name, unlike every other landmark in the city. Glad they got that right!
The METS did not have anything to do with this staion revamp. It is totally on the city. And don’t go there with the Taxpayer – financed Mets. You know not of what you speak.
From Wikipedia: “The $850 million baseball park is being funded by the sale of New York City municipal bonds which are to be repaid by the Mets plus interest. The payments will offset property taxes for the lifetime of the park.”
Low-interest bonds and no property taxes for 40 years or so. Explain to me how that is NOT taxpayer financing.
Rhywun, you idiot. The Mets had nothing to do with the station name, In fact, the Mets TURNED DOWN the MTA’s offer to name the station after the Mets for a fee. The name is completely the MTA’s call.
And as for taxpayer financing, seems to me the Yankees got a few taxpayer bucks too…make that a few hundred million taxpayer bucks.
So instead they get a station named after them for free. Nicely played.
And despite being an idiot, I am vehemently against tax dollars going to these extremely wealthy enterprises. That includes the Yankees and the free promotion they’re getting with the new “Yankees/E. 153rd Street” station.
Look, people — out of towners especially — have to know where to get off the train for Mets games. It made a lot more sense to call the station Mets than to name it Citifield, only to have to change the signs all over again if Citigroup collapsed or the naming rights deal fell apart.
It makes even more sense to name the station after its location, like every single other station in the system. Instead, they chose to, in effect, give the naming rights to the team. Why is that?
we need to have some more female security at the gate to check female bags and frisk them, the male go through our stuff and comment about it, please let see at lot more female security than the men they are so rude.