NYC contractor to repair 2/3 of subway elevators is lagging behind other repairs

The MTA’s program to replace elevators at three subway stations in Brooklyn and Manhattan is several months behind the already extended deadline and spending nearly double the original budget, according to agency documents.

The project has come under scrutiny after a slew of breakdowns involving three newly installed elevators at the Clark Street station in Brooklyn Heights, which broke down and locked passengers on their way to Lines 2 and 3 at least a dozen times in the last months.

Elevators are the only way to get to the mezzanine leading to the stairs down to the platform at the very deep Clark Street station.

“It sucks,” said museum worker Darcy Overfelt. “Usually only one works. Sometimes there are so many people at rush hour that you have to wait.”

Officials first decided to allocate $34 million in 2014 to replace eight elevators at four stations: Clark Street, the nearest R train station on Court Street, the F and Q train stop at 63rd Street/Lexington on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, and F train stop at Roosevelt Island.

But the documents suggested that design work would not begin for another four years, until 2018, and the price had already risen by more than a quarter, to $43.5 million, according to updates contained in charts filed with the board.

Now the project budget will be at least $56 million, and the contractor Forte Construction will miss the deadline for completion of works that have already been postponed to January.

Agency officials pointed the finger at Forte in a short message released before Christmas.

Gabriella Bass

Gabriella Bass

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Gabriella Bass

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“The contractor did not provide the documents necessary to complete the work. In addition, the new elevator subcontractor involved should expedite documentation and completion of work,” the tight paragraph says. “The team is putting additional pressure on the contractor to mitigate further schedule delays.”

The problems plaguing this elevator replacement effort echo those the agency has faced on other projects large and small: excessive costs, frequent delays and reliability issues that, in this case, have trapped passengers.

Delays appear to be most severe at Court Street, which is connected to the larger Borough Hall 2, 3, 4, 5 station, where there has been little progress in weeks and construction sheds continue to block sections of busy Montagu Street. .

Two builders who spoke to The Post said they didn’t know when the project would be completed and both appeared annoyed.

“It’s almost done, but they keep changing plans,” one of them said.

An MTA spokesperson confirmed that the program has been expanded to cover some station repairs, including ceiling work.

“Clark Street Station and three other stations needed to upgrade the elevators to improve safety and reliability, which they will do – without increasing the budget from the date of the contract,” said MTA spokesman Sean Butler.

An elevator design review comes just days after a reporter for non-profit news organization The City got stuck in an elevator on Clark Street. The scribe’s experience was not isolated, according to his colleagues and the MTA.

Between the station’s opening in May – after a 6-month shutdown of the station for their installation – and December, there were 11 stops in three elevators, according to the agency.

“They were closed for several months, and literally the first week they opened, they already had problems,” said Shirley Ruiz, a 30-year-old dog walker. “They restored them. The first week we were allowed to use them, everything went downhill.”

Forte did not respond to requests for comment.

– Additional coverage by Post photographer Gabby Bass.