State Senate Transportation Chair Visits Westchester Square Subway Station

(L – R) Dan Padernacht Chair Traffic &Transportation Committee CB 8, State Senator Alessandra Biaggi, Matthew Cruz District Manager CB 10, Former Councilman James Vacca, and Kevin Daloia Transportation Alternatives. (Photo: Robert Press)

State Senate Transportation Chair Tim Kennedy Visits the Westchester Square Subway Station

By Robert Press

MTA workers are cleaning and painting the platform area one half-hour before the visit by State Senators Biaggi and Kennedy. (Photo: Robert Press)

 

While State Senate transportation committee chair Tim Kennedy and local state Senator Alessandra Biaggi were set to arrive at the Westchester Square #6 subway station at 5:45 PM, the MTA sent cleaning and painting crews, plus a supervisor, to the station at 3 PM to spruce up the station for the VIP visitors.

 

The bottom of the station over Westchester Avenue. (Photo: Robert Press)

 

Senators Biaggi and Kennedy seek input from a rider with a cane about getting to the train platform and to the street without an elevator at this station. (Photo: Robert Press)

During the tour, Senators Biaggi and Kennedy spoke with an elderly rider with a cane about getting to and from the subway platform without an elevator at the station. Notably, none of the MTA stations on either side of Westchester Square have elevators, much like most of the stations along the No. 6 train’s route.

 

Senator Kennedy said “It is time to get the MTA back on track.” He added that the MTA has 12,000 miles of track, carries millions of passengers and is the most massive subway system in the world.

 

When a reporter asked how congestion-pricing will be implemented, Sen. Kennedy said that an expert panel will study scientific data, traffic patterns and other information about the bridge and tunnel tolls to ensure people are not going to have to pay more than they should.

 

The exact cost of driving below 60th Street in Manhattan will be determined by the expert panel by 2021 — conveniently after the November 2020 elections — when congestion-pricing scheme goes into effect.

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