Design-Build Project Improves Accessibility, Safety and Commuter Experience
Developer Responsible for Maintaining Elevators for 25 Years
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) today announced the completion of station and accessibility upgrades at the Church Av subway station in Brooklyn. Upgrades include a new entrance mid-block on East 18 St, complete with two new street to platform elevators, two new stairways, a new fare array, and a new transfer bridge with a customer information screen. In addition to the new elevators, crews made accessibility upgrades to the platform edge to install new boarding areas and tactile edge strips.
“I am so proud of the way that we are knocking out these ADA projects, five times as fast as our MTA predecessors,” said MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber. “Every New Yorker deserves to be able to use our amazing subway system. It's a lifeline and an affordability solution, and there is a special link between affordability and the populations we serve with accessibility projects.”
“Church Av is our sixth newly accessible station this year, and we were able to create an entirely new entrance with minimal disruptions to subway service,” said MTA Construction & Development President Jamie Torres-Springer. “The project’s public-private partnership is a great example of the innovative procurement methods that the new MTA is implementing to deliver accessibility better, faster and cheaper.”
“Providing accessible stations is key to ensuring NYC Transit can provide safe, efficient and reliable service for all riders and the upgrades made at Church Av do just that,” said NYC Transit President Demetrius Crichlow. “I look forward to continuing to deliver on this mission as we build out our network of accessible subway stations.”
“For me, accessibility means giving me the ability to get out of my house every day in the morning, so I can go to work, go to school, go to my doctor's appointment, but also to enjoy all that New York has to offer,” said MTA Chief Accessibility Officer Quemuel Arroyo. “With this project, we are telling all New Yorkers that they belong.”
Crews constructed a new entrance, which houses two new elevators and two staircases, a new customer transfer bridge connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn-bound platforms with a new customer information screen, and a new fare array complete with three new turnstiles and two new exit gates. Other accessibility improvements included reconstruction of platform edges to install new ADA raised boarding areas and yellow tactile edge strip along the platform length.
Throughout the station, crews upgraded communications and electrical systems and performed state of good repair work on structural steel and concrete. The station also received State of Good Repair work as part of the MTA’s “Revive” program. New mosaic tile artwork will be unveiled at the station in early 2026. The Church Av station serves nearly 10,000 weekday daily riders.
Approximately 30% of the project budget was awarded to Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) firms. The design-build team for the Church Av station upgrades includes Urbahn Architects, Dewberry, Forte Construction and EAE Halmar International, and the elevator manufacturer and installer is Otis Elevator.
Church Av is the second newly accessible station to open in ADA Package 3. This bundle of accessibility upgrades is the first in MTA history to be awarded using a public-private partnership (P3) model, which requires that the contractor finance the project with equity and bonds to be reimbursed in installments only if the project is built and maintained to MTA standards. This package encompasses accessibility upgrades at thirteen subway stations throughout Brooklyn and Queens. New accessibility at: Church Av , Mosholu Pkwy , Sheepshead Bay , Rockaway Blvd , Kings Hwy , Woodhaven Blvd , Steinway St and Junius St . The package also contains elevator replacements at five stations: 34 St-Penn Station , 161 St - Yankee Stadium , 161 St-Yankee Stadium , Euclid Avenue , and 3 Av-149 St .
“I’m thrilled to celebrate the opening of the new ADA-accessible elevator at Church Avenue — a long-awaited improvement that will greatly benefit our seniors, riders with disabilities, families, and the broader Flatbush and Kensington communities,” said Assembly Member Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn. “The MTA has been an invaluable partner in addressing accessibility needs across our district, and I applaud their continued commitment to investing in our neighborhood and improving transit equity. I encourage the MTA to keep this momentum going to deliver a safer and more convenient transit system for all.”
“For so many of us in District 40, public transit isn't a luxury, it's our lifeline,” said Council Member Rita Joseph. “With this new ADA elevator and much needed station improvements, we are taking a meaningful step forward in making sure transit in our community is transit for all. When we create accessible stations, we are creating independence, opportunities and dignity.”