Fate Happened At W. 181st Subway Station Before Repairs

Photograph of the W.181st Street station ceiling before the collapse by jag9889 on Flickr; now it looks like this

With the ceiling collapse at the West 181st Street subway station causing diversions and delays on the 1 line north of 168th Street at least through the weekend, concerns and complaints about the MTA's slowness to fix anything have increased. Mayor Bloomberg said, "It just goes to show the MTA has for decades underfunded what they needed to do to not just expand, but to maintain our stations," while a student said, "[The MTA] needs to improve. I don't want to waste the money getting up to school, especially considering the danger."

Luckily no one was hurt by the debris falling from the ceiling. The MTA pointed out in a press release, "Despite claims to the contrary, NYC Transit is keenly aware that the ceiling was in need of repair and restoration." The timeline/problem: The funding for the ceiling repair was proposed in 2008; a master plan for the repairs was completed in April; design started in June; and funding was approved this past Friday.

Also, depressing stat #1: The from the NY Times, which also mentions that Bloomberg's priority has been the 7 line extension, not existing subway maintenance, reports, "In the mid-1980s, the city contributed about $200 million annually, said Gene Russianoff, the staff lawyer for the Straphangers Campaign. In recent years, the city’s contribution has dropped to $75 million. Since the buying power of the dollar has eroded over the last 20 years, that means the city today is contributing only about 20 cents for every dollar it gave during the 1980s."

Depressing stat #2: The Post notes that a number of other subway stations with bad water leakage—and those stations aren't scheduled to undergo repairs. NYC Transit says water leakage doesn't necessarily mean ceiling issues and says ceilings were recently inspected.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on August 20, 2009 4:35 PM

Comments [rss]

whitecastlerock

NYC Transit says water leakage doesn't necessarily mean ceiling issues and says ceilings were recently inspected Inspector #1 "Does dat look like a leak to you?" Inspector 2, "Yeah, let's put a trash can unda it and go have some lunch." End of inspection....

Brooklynbobby

Excellent, whitecastlerock! You hit the nail on the head!

Nyctini11

They're Union right? So by "lunch" you mean 3 pints and a shot? That actually explains a lot!!

Nyctini11

Hmmm, can the Post or Gothamist get us a list of the stations that ARE scheduled for repair, since they must e in the worst shape, if they're actually doing something about it, at least let us be prepared, I can borrow my guys hard hat for my commute, cause with the leakage or better put, waterfalls that go on at west 4th, i'm a little worried.

bsalamon

so you mean bloomberg says one thing and does the other? who would have thought?

Outter Burrougher

i am shocked! shocked to find that there is gambling going on here! :)

carbonbased

Vultures! Vultures everywhere!

ckl

Really a shame the disrepair those uptown 1 stations are in, they're some of my favorites.

jchez

I know!

They were built with arched cathedral ceilings, terracotta ornamentation and chandeliers. The chandeliers are long gone, with only dirty medallions reminding us of what used to be there. The tiles have been drilled all over to hang signs or conduits and the ceilling have not been spray washed in decades, giving the stations a sense of ruin and disrepair. That became more than a sense when the ceiling collapsed. I'm sure that the repair will be an ugly patch that will make the whole place look even more decrepit and will not inspire confidence in any structural integrity.

themercenary

So true! The 157th street station is a mess and also has water issues. I am guessing it will lose part of the ceiling from the exit on the uptown side fairly soon. Too bad, if it was cleaned up and repaired it would be really neat. Same with 168th street stop.

donner

Dude's standing really close to the edge... don't jump! It can't be that bad!

kane

FTA: The MTA pointed out in a press release, "Despite claims to the contrary, NYC Transit is keenly aware that the ceiling was in need of repair and restoration."

Come on, give them a little slack. They knew there was a problem, they just didn't do shit about it. Jeez.