Brian Kavanagh Nydia Velázquez Eric L. Adams Stephen T.

Levin
New York State Member of Brooklyn Borough New York City
Senate Congress President Council

Jo Anne Simon
New York State
Assembly

February 21, 2020

Pat Foye, Chief Executive Officer

Metropolitan Transportation Authority
2 Broadway
New York, NY 10004

Dear Mr. Foye:

We write regarding the condition of the York Street (F) subway station in Brooklyn. The station is
overcrowded, inaccessible and has only one entrance, and is therefore a prime location for a second
entrance that is accessible. As the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) plans to make 70
additional subway stations accessible through the 2020-2024 MTA Capital Program, we urge you to
ensure that York Street is one of the stations to be upgraded—by creating a second, accessible
entrance.

The York Street station is one of few stations across the system that has one entrance, with a single
staircase, for both ingress and egress. It is one of the subway system’s higher ridership stations, with
over 3 million rides a year (151st in ridership out of 424 stations, according to MTA figures from
2018). The station also has seen rapid growth in ridership, up 18% between 2013 and 2018, one of
the highest ridership increases over that period.

The station’s one staircase for entry and exit—and lack of elevators or escalators—present concerns
about safety, congestion, and accessibility. Currently, the high volume of subway riders who use the
station for daily commutes, or to visit sites such as Brooklyn Bridge Park, cause crowding on the
stairway and at the turnstiles, with people spilling out onto the adjacent sidewalk—as the enclosed
pictures show. As noted by the Brooklyn Eagle, the community has rallied around the need to
upgrade the York Street station, with over 3,000 people signing a petition in support of building a
second entrance. A local architecture firm, Delson or Sherman Architects PC, has a proposal to
create a second, accessible entrance at High Street and Jay Street, which we have enclosed for your
review.

In November 2019, Assemblymember Simon brought up concerns about a second accessible

entrance at York Street Station at the Public Hearing on the MTA Capital Program. Further, in
December 2019, Senator Kavanagh requested that the MTA include funds in its capital budget for
construction of a second entrance at York Street Station. In response, the MTA committed to review
ridership on the F line and analyze potential customer flow options at the station and provide a
briefing. We urge you to expedite this process.

As DUMBO’s population continues to grow, so does the usage of the York Street station and
consequently the demands for a safer, practical, and accessible station. We urge the MTA to create a
second, accessible entrance for York Street station as part of the system-wide plan to update stations
throughout the City.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. If you would like to discuss this further, please contact
our offices.

Sincerely,

Jo Anne Simon Nydia Velázquez Brian Kavanagh

Assemblymember Congresswoman Senator

Eric L. Adams Stephen Levin

Brooklyn Borough President Council Member

cc: Alex Elegudin, Senior Advisor for Systemwide Accessibility, MTA

Governor Andrew Cuomo
Mayor Bill de Blasio
Brooklyn Community Board 2
DUMBO Action Committee
DUMBO BID

Enclosures
York Street Station Proposal - Delson or Sherman Architects PC
Picture of York Street station entrance, 6pm, 2019
Picture of York Street platform