By Nicole Breskin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — Ten years ago, a ride on the elevators at two A-train stations was a trip into a community’s psyche.
Elevator walls at the 181st and 190th street stops were homes to music, family photos and any other items locals wanted to post on them — but the MTA took down the artwork in 2001 because it was deemed a fire hazard.
On Sunday, an exhibition that pays homage both to the elevator artwork, with a collection of memorabilia, and the ongoing efforts by community members to have the works reinstated, opened at the Hebrew Tabernacle on Fort Washington Avenue. It runs until Dec. 6.
The elevator saga began in the mid-1990s when the stations’ elevators were run by operators. One of the operators, Bruce Renfroe, decorated his elevator’s walls. Soon, other operators and community members joined in and the walls were covered with mementos of daily life in Washington Heights.
“It was like a moving gallery,” recalls Rosa Naparstek, of Washington Heights, who organized the forthcoming exhibition. “It was an expression of the ongoing daily life of the community in a unique venue.”
But, in 2001, the MTA took down the artwork after a complaint it was clutter. Budget cuts soon after caused the removal of the operators.
“We were very upset. It meant a lot to us,” Naparstek said. “We were told, ‘well, um, it’s an administrative decision.’”
In response, a community organization collected 3,000 signatures and held a demonstration back in 2001 to have the art reinstated, all to no avail.
But, earlier this year, the MTA agreed to restore art in the subway elevators through their Arts for Transit program, which places visual or performing arts in train stations.
Three of the four artworks per elevator are commissioned by the MTA. One is allowed to be an original community artwork.
"It's a localized project responding to a specific situation after input from the community and community leaders," said Kevin Ortiz, a spokesperson for NYC Transit. "It's part of the deal that was struck up that best met the needs of the community."
But not everyone agrees.
“It’s now a dedicated space that’s regulated and controlled,” said Naparstek. “We wanted freedom of putting whatever we want in the elevators.”
NYC Transit plans to have art in the elevators for a year, but after that it's unclear whether they'll remain gallery spaces. For now, Naparstek is content to have art back in the elevators.
“We did something that is collaborative," she said. "That will hopefully work out for us in the long run.”
