MTA Still Not Always Disability Friendly

New York City can seem like an obstacle course to people who use wheelchairs or have other disabilities. The MTA lists more than 150 accessible subway stations and continues to add elevators, but there are still issues. 

Disability advocates sued the MTA because many stations were inaccessible. A 2022 settlement requires the MTA to make all of its subway stations accessible by 2055. Right now problems persist and recently New York Lawyers for Public Interest (NYLPI) teamed with advocates to write a letter asking the City Council to do more. 

“Nearly 1 million of New Yorkers identify as living with a disability, with a large proportion reliant on accessible mass transit to get around. And yet, more than 35 years after passage of the American with Disabilities Act, all modes of mass transportation in New York City – including the subway, buses, Access-A-Ride paratransit, taxis and for-hire vehicles, and even the sidewalks and streets – are fraught with accessibility barriers,” said Christopher Schuyler, Managing Attorney, Disability Justice Program at NYLPI.

Steep subway steps make it impossible for some to use a station that doesn’t have an elevator. Photo by Francisca Lorca.

For some people with disabilities, it is a tale of two cities. Julia Taylor has a difficult time. The 22-year-old suffers from a connective tissue disorder called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome that affects her joints and makes it difficult to walk. She uses a wheelchair and has found that challenging in New York City’s subway system

But 59-year-old Gregory Taylor (not related to Julia Taylor) became disabled as an adult after he broke his neck. He likes to take the bus and the train to get  around the city. He has managed to find a way. “I would honestly say it’s sufficient for right now,” he said.

Taylor on the other hand doesn’t find subways helpful. “I ended up dropping out of college trying to figure out what to do.” She moved away and then came back to live on the Upper West Side. 

The neighborhood is accessible. The area is mostly flat which easier because she can walk short distances and she works in a coffee shop near her apartment.

 “I walk, but I have been at this job for a few years now. There was a point when I did have to take the subway or the bus, and that was definitely a little more taxing. So, hopefully I don’t have to move out of this neighborhood for the foreseeable future, because walking has been a lot easier,” she said.

Gregory Taylor moved to an accessible apartment in Queens in 2025. It has extra room that makes it easier for him to move around. His new neighborhood is just a few blocks from the train station and bus stops nearby. “The buses are the best cause you can get on and all of them got the ramp,” he said. 

Still, he and others with disabilities wish the MTA made it easier. “They could always do more. But right now, I can get around pretty good,” he said.

In his letter to the city council, NYLPL Managing Attorney Christopher Schuyler cited barriers to accessible transportation, which lead  people with disabilities to experience disproportionately low employment rates, worse health outcomes, and less overall engagement with all the city has to offer.

Going up stairs is impossible for some would-be subway travelers. Photo by Francisca Lorca.

He wrote, “The city owes it to New Yorkers with disabilities to ensure that its transportation networks are fully accessible, which will improve the lives of not just those within the disability community, but also seniors, people with small children, delivery workers – and everyone else!”