The Parkchester 6 train station just became a lot friendlier for riders with disabilities. Riders can now take advantage of new elevators and other improvements.
The Jan. 9 announcement from the MTA comes after years of community advocacy for greater accessibility at the station, which sees 7,000 daily riders, and after long delays during the COVID-19 pandemic.
At a press conference with local elected officials and residents, MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said the station now has new elevators that service the street, mezzanine and platform levels of the station, along with improved stairways and sidewalks, yellow safety strips along the platforms, better lighting, an additional turnstile, new OMNY machines and a new customer service center.
The construction also included state-of-good-repair work and was completed on budget, Lieber said.
Taking a page from Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s emphasis on the cost of living for New Yorkers, he said that modernizing stations is key to ensuring that people can stay in the city. To that end, the MTA will “turbo charge the accessibility effort,” he said.
The subway system is “the best way to get around, and it’s one of the few things that actually makes New York affordable,” Lieber said.
Assembly Member Karines Reyes said the announcement made for “a joyous day and a long time coming.”
The Parkchester station is one of the busiest in the borough and serves a community with many seniors, and having to walk from the street up three flights of stairs made the station “difficult to navigate since its inception,” she said, adding that many residents bought cars instead of using public transportation.
“I know for me, as a young mom in this community, having to carry my children and their stroller up and down these stairs was burdensome, to say the least,” Reyes said.
She thanked community members who organized email campaigns, petitions and rallies to make the project happen. “When we organize, we win,” she said.
Quemuel Arroyo, Chief Accessibility Officer for the MTA, said that throughout his life, he has seen people with strollers struggling to get up the Parkchester station steps.
Arroyo said everyone benefits from modernized MTA stations, whether they have a temporary or permanent disability or are just carrying a heavy load. But accessibility also means access to opportunity, he said.
“The story that’s being told here is about belonging. It’s about who gets to have access to education, jobs and all that this community has to offer.”
Lieber said MTA, under his leadership, is finishing accessibility improvements at five times the pace of past MTAs.
In the Bronx, accessibility construction at the Middletown Road 6 train station broke ground in October 2025, and work is now in progress at six other stations in the borough: East 149th Street-Grand Concourse (2, 4 and 5 trains), 167th Street (B and D trains), Burnside Avenue and Kingsbridge Road (4 train) and Van Cortlandt Park-242nd Street (1 train).
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
