KENSINGTON — MTA New York City Transit's program to make subway stations accessible to the disabled, little by little, took another step forward with the dedication of three new elevators at the Church Avenue "F" line station yesterday.

The elevators connect the street with both platforms at the station, which is used by more than 9,000 customers on an average weekday, according to the MTA. In addition, closed-circuit televisions and talk-back systems have been installed in the elevators.

The completion of this project brings the number of accessible stations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to 66. Among the other Brooklyn stations that are ADA-compliant are Franklin Avenue, Flatbush Avenue-Brooklyn College, Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue, Court Street-Borough Hall, Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street, Marcy Avenue on the "J" and "Z" lines, DeKalb Avenue and Rockaway Parkway-Canarsie.

While making Church Avenue an ADA-compliant station has always been a part of the MTA's plan, Assemblyman Jim Brennan's (D-Kensington/Park Slope) allocation of $500,000 of capital funding significantly accelerated the timing of this project. The improvements at this station are particularly meaningful for the 100 legally blind persons who regularly use this station to and from their jobs at the New York City Industries for the Blind's workshop nearby, according to the MTA.

According to an agreement signed by the MTA in the 1980s, the transit agency has committed to making 75 "key" subway stations accessible to the disabled by the year 2020. This is the 66th station that has been made accessible.

Some readers may be surprised that stations that merely have escalators are not considered disabled-accessible. This is because it is hard for wheelchair-bound riders to use them, an MTA spokesperson told the Eagle.

Furthermore, he said, many of the "deep underground station" elevators are not considered accessible because they don't connect the street levels with the platform levels, but merely go to a mezzanine. Several Brooklyn stations, such as Clark Street and High Street-Brooklyn Bridge, fall into this category.

According to an article that appeared this past May in the New York Times, however, the subway's escalators and elevators have had a far from stellar performance. "One of every six elevators and escalators in the subway system was out of service for more than a month last year," the article read.

Gene Russianoff, spokesman for the advocacy group Transportation Alternatives, said MTA New York City Transit should be praised for posting "real-time information" on its web site about which elevators are out of service.

The transit agency should be praised, he said, "but it has a long way to go."

© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2008