Well folks, the MTA finally provided me with real human response. Check it out:
Response (Doug Sussman) - 01/24/2010 07:21 PM
Dear Ms. Fader:
I'm sorry that you continue to find MTA email responses to be impersonal and "canned". I do not think the previous response is too generic, and the answer is correct.
But here are some additional specific answers that I trust you will find acceptable.
Given the lack of any recurring source to fund our capital program, it is not at all possible to give you a time frame to make all 468 subway stations accessible for our customers with disabilities. Indeed, I cannot imagine that every station will ever be made fully accessible. We require about $25 billion for the next five years for All basic capital improvements within our 5,000 square mile service area. As of now, no such plan has been approved by the approved by our funding partners.
Elevator maintenance and cleaning is on a regular schedule. If defacing or vandalism of any elevator is experienced, if reported to the elevator/escalator section of our website, it will indeed be inestigated and corrected as soon as possible.
I trust that these responses are more on target and specific. Your comments are duly noted and appreciated.
Sincerely,
Douglas R. Sussman
Director
Community Affairs
Hi there! Found your blog through your comment on my blog, and it brought back such memories of my years living in NYC with a toddler! Boy do I remember folding up the umbrella stroller, hoisting my daughter onto one hip while somehow hanging on to the folded-up stroller with the other hand, and making our slow way down (or worse, up!) allllll those stairs. Hideous. We usually took the bus because that was *easier*! Phew. Out here in suburb land, we sure do take our cars for granted. Good for you for keeping the MTA honest.
ReplyDeleteHi Laura!
ReplyDeleteYes! It is truly a travesty that the MTA cannot manage to care about the mothers that are riding their subways.
And you're right! There's just no easy way to do it! You're holding the baby on one hip and trying to manuever down the stairs in an uncomfortable way. It sucks!
P.S. Laura, I am now your follower!
ReplyDeletewe have the same situation here in the 'underground'. I'm so shocked they wouldn't make all the stations accessible to begin with, when building them.
ReplyDeletethe first and last time I used the train with my son I went with my husband (thankfully) and we had to navigate like 8 flights of stairs total!! they were so steep too. it wasn't like I was able to choose another station with an elevator, since some of the stairs were between train lines in stations we needed to transfer at. no ramps, NOTHING! horrible steep stairs. I was terrified we'd drop the whole stroller down the stairs.
That stinks! And the London Underground is SUPPOSED to be cleaner and more convenient than the NYC subway system. Apparently this is a myth. You know what I like about the underground? They give you estimated times for train arrival. There is an actual schedule. The day the NYC MTA does that, I will personally bake the CEO a chocolate cake.
ReplyDelete