By Brian Lockhart
After months of delays and complaints about faulty escalators and cleanliness, work on Flushing's Main Street subway station will be completed by April 30, Metropolitan Transit Authority President Lawrence Reuter said.
His disclosure, made in a letter to state Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Flushing), comes amid a renewed push by local politicians for a full-time station manager at the site following a Feb. 17 incident where a man fell on the tracks and subway service was interrupted.
The Flushing station is the terminus in Queens for the No. 7 subway, which shuttles passengers back and forth to Times Square.
The renovation project – installation of a new eastern entrance along Roosevelt Avenue, three escalators, an elevator, lighting, flooring and finishes – began in the fall of 1995 and was supposed to have been completed in 36 to 42 months.
During the past few months, the borough president, Community Board 7 and other local elected officials have put pressure on the MTA to hold itself and the contractor, LaQuila Construction, accountable for what they claim is shoddy workmanship.
On Jan. 6, state Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Flushing) fired off a letter to MTA President Lawrence Reuter, saying the escalators are often stopped, the station is filthy and Reuter should personally inspect it.
In a Feb. 18 response, Reuter wrote that he had visited the station on Jan. 19 and work was scheduled to be completed by April 30.
Reuter said the three escalators, in service since last March, have had sudden drops in voltage, oil leaks and frequent stoppages because of “very sensitive” comb plates that prevent dragging accidents.
He said the problems had been or were being corrected under a manufacturer's warranty. Last Friday, two of the escalators were running and the third, near the McDonald's on Roosevelt Avenue, was shut down while MTA workers performed repairs.
Reuter also told Stavisky the escalators have been purposely shut down late at night during rehabilitation work. He said commuters have also engaged the prominently displayed emergency-stop buttons. The station manager has said they are often vandalized.
In terms of the station's cleanliness, Reuter wrote to Stavisky that workers remove litter, empty trash and disinfect unsanitary areas a total of 17.5 hours per day. He said Work Experience Program personnel also perform cleaning duties there and the MTA's Mobile Wash teams steam-clean stairways, platforms and wall bases regularly.
“The frequency of cleaning is consistent with MTA standards for stations of this size and passenger usage,” Reuter said noting sanitary conditions there would be monitored closely and should improve once the renovation ended.
Reuter said the MTA was assessing damages against the contractors for the delays.
In an interview, Stavisky said she would wait to see if the work was indeed finished by the end of April before taking further action.
Dan Andrews, a spokesman for Borough President Claire Shulman, said she was scheduled to tour the finished Main Street station on May 2.
One complaint which Stavisky said Reuter did not address in his letter was her request for a full-time station manager to be assigned to Main Street.
That was also the subject of a letter an angry City Councilwoman Julia Harrison (D-Flushing) sent to Reuter on Feb. 18, one day after an unidentified man fell on the tracks, stopping subways for hours.
On Monday, Detective Joseph Cavitolo, a police spokesman, said the man had been rushed to New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens in critical condition after falling off the station platform on Feb. 17 and hitting his head on the track. He might have been under the influence of alcohol, Cavitolo said.
Neither Cavitolo nor NYHQ, however, could provide the man's name or an update on his condition.
MTA spokesmen could not provide details about how the Main Street station is managed. Local officials, including Stavisky, Harrison and CB 7 District Manager Marilyn Bitterman, have said there is one manager stationed at the Willets Point subway stop who is also supposed to oversee the Main Street station.
In an interview, Harrison said when she heard ambulance sirens at the station the day the man fell, she sent a staff member to investigate and learned of the accident and the subway delays.
She said there were crowds of confused commuters and although buses were available to bring them to other stations, only two token booth workers were on hand to handle the situation and the station manager was unavailable.
“They were doing the best they could, but there was increasing need for someone to take charge,” Harrison said.
The Times/Ledger's efforts to obtain the MTA's version of the incident were unsuccessful.
“Somebody has to be in charge. This is a very active station. The buck has to stop somewhere,” Stavisky said.
Andrews said Shulman has also demanded a full-time manager for the station.
An MTA spokesman said Harrison's letter had been received and a response was forthcoming.
Al O'Leary, another MTA spokesman, said with 468 stations throughout the city, it is difficult to have full-time managers at each one.
“The question is, what could they possibly do around the clock, 24 hours a day, seven days a week?” O'Leary said. “That's a lot of people and money to be spent.”
