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Broken Turnstile Adds to Inwood Subway Woes

By Carla Zanoni | January 21, 2011 11:37am

By Carla Zanoni

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

INWOOD — When the MTA announced it would be reconstructing the Dyckman 1 train station and all stations north of it over a 20-month period, most riders braced for inevitable detour headaches.

But when the only turnstile available to enter or exit the northbound side of the 207th Street station began breaking down regularly last month, upper Manhattan commuters' headaches only got worse.

"The backlog at rush hour was terrible and customers trying to get on the uptown train were simply out of luck because they had to wait for hundreds of people to exit through the emergency exit before they could get on the platform," 10-year Inwood resident Lili Grossman wrote in an e-mail.

Grossman, who previously went toe-to-toe with the MTA about weekend construction times at the Dyckman Street station, said the problem with the turnstile began around Dec. 20 and has been an ongoing issue for riders.

The problem began when the uptown turnstile at 207th Street periodically stopped accepting MetroCard swipes. The uptown side of the platform does not have a station agent, forcing frustrated straphangers to enter the platform through the emergency exit when the turnstile is broken.

"What bugs me so much about this is that the uptown side of 207th Street is now dealing with all the overflow from people who cannot use the uptown Dyckman station," Grossman said. "One would think that every effort would be made to make sure 207th Street is in tip top shape."

Deirdre Parker, a spokeswoman for the MTA, said that she became aware of turnstile problems at 207th Street station as early as Dec. 20 and explained the issue was likely caused by water damage to the card reading system during inclement weather.

The turnstile is vulnerable to water damage because it currently does not have a canopy over it as a result of the construction, Parker said.

"Workers installed a drip pan over the [the card-reading mechanism at the turnstile] to protect it because of the platform canopy replacement work," Parker said. "However, in inclement weather with blowing rain and snow, the equipment still suffered water intrusion."

"We are working to resolve this issue," Parker added.