Lefferts Blvd subway station to get facelift

– after extensive lobbying efforts of Guyanese advocacy group

By Vishnu Bisram

The subway train station at Lefferts Boulevard in the heart of the Guyanese community in Richmond Hill, Queens, will undergo a complete transformation largely as a result of extensive lobbying efforts from a group of Guyanese residing in the surrounding areas.

The sub-way station is the end/start of the line of the A train and is one of the busiest stations in the outer borough of Queens utilised by thousands of Guyanese and persons of other nationalities who reside in the area.

The facility is an elevated terminal station located at the intersection of Lefferts Boulevard and Liberty Avenue. It was built in 1915 and residents say it is badly in need of a facelift as well as an elevator for persons with disability and are unable to climb steps.

Guyanese had lobbied for an elevator at the station and the City has agreed to the request some 18 months later. The effort to transform the subway station was spearheaded by the Richmond Hill Economic Development Corporation (RHEDC) comprised of mostly Guyanese and Punjabis. Vishnu Mahadeo is the organisation’s President.

In August 2010, the RHEDC wrote to the New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority informing the agency that it is in violation of the American Disability Act of 1990 with regards to the condition of the station. The act requires that all public facilities be made accessible to people with disabilities.

RHEDC challenged the MTA that it is in violation of the Act. In October 2010, the MTA responded to the complaint and agreed to conduct a study to determine if the station was in violation of the ADA and whether it is feasible and practical to make the station accessible to the disabled and to wheelchair users.

The study came back with a positive feedback from the MTA saying Lefferts Blvd can become ADA compatible with some adjustment to the structure. The MTA agreed to have dialogue with the stakeholders in Richmond Hill on how to proceed with the project. Officials of the MTA and Guyanese community leaders met several times over the last year at the station to plan the structure.

Last week, the MTA sent two of its top representatives including its architect to a town hall meeting held in Richmond Hill where a commitment was made to rehabilitate the Lefferts Blvd subway station taking into consideration the concerns raised by the residents.

The MTA has said that its capital expenditure has catered for the rehabilitation of the station and that work is expected to begin by year-end. The spokespersons of the MTA thanked the Richmond Hill advocates for bringing the matter to its attention and for working with the MTA to find a solution.

RHEDC President Vishnu Mahadeo said although his organisation was mostly on the frontline of the advocacy work, he does not want to take full credit for the achievement which he said belongs to the community.

As part of the facelift, it is expected that the station will have an elevator from the street level to the waiting area where tickets are purchased and then continuing up to the boarding level of train platforms. There will also be new steps on both sides of the avenue and all the way up to the platform, a new roof, a viewing gallery, a waiting room, and upgrading of the track will be done.