East New York's Broadway Junction gets biggest ADA-accessibility upgrade in New York City
The redesign also includes a new pedestrian overpass, expanded staircases, and wider escalators to ease congestion.
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If you’ve ever navigated Broadway Junction station, you’ve likely experienced its tight corridors, crowded transfer points, and lack of accessibility. Now, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is moving forward with a $400 million plan to overhaul the complex, aiming to make one of the system’s busiest hubs easier to use and more accessible.
“This is a massive station. It's not very convenient for our riders. There's no elevators. There's no accessibility. So, it's really critical both to this neighborhood and also to transit across our whole subway system,” said Jamie Torres-Springer.
Over the next four years, the project will bring seven new elevators serving the A, C, L, J, and Z lines, along with upgraded safety features, improved lighting, and refreshed platforms. Officials say more than a third of the workforce will come from the surrounding community.
For riders like Jasmine, the changes are long overdue. “I'm grateful because I'm struggling. You have working moms, moms coming home at a certain time. This traffic is traffic and elevators would be very much needed to be utilized.”
The redesign also includes a new pedestrian overpass, expanded staircases, and wider escalators to ease congestion. Commuters with mobility challenges say those upgrades could make a daily difference. “The upgrade is wonderful. The person with a cane like me coming down with to walk down the stairs, those steps to the stairs is difficult,” said Hubert Johnson.
Transit officials say a key milestone will come by the end of the year, when a new direct connection between the A/C and L platforms opens, cutting down transfer times and simplifying movement through the station. “This is an old station, but we're committed to making it much higher quality community and much more accessible. And we're doing it all better, faster and cheaper,” Torres-Springer said.
