Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Repairs to Long-Closed Dyckman Street Station Stairs Delayed Again

 A new sign near the subway entrance says that repairs will be finished Aug. 25.
A new sign near the subway entrance says that repairs will be finished Aug. 25.
View Full Caption
DNAinfo/Lindsay Armstrong

INWOOD — Long-awaited repairs to the Dyckman Street A train station stairwell have hit another snag, forcing straphangers to wait several weeks for the entrance to reopen.

The MTA now expects to complete construction on the stairwell, at the northwest corner of Dyckman Street and Broadway, by Aug. 25, according to a sign at the site, putting it about six weeks behind the original July 11 project deadline.

An MTA worker at the site said that the delay was caused by problems with a custom handrail, which was delivered several weeks later than it was scheduled to arrive.

A spokesman for the agency confirmed it was still waiting for the railing.

Residents have complained for years of the stairwell's poor conditions, including an accumulation of trash and human waste at the site. The stairway deteriorated so much that the MTA closed one side of it for several months before deciding to make the repairs.

The MTA began construction on the stairwell in April 2014 after a protracted fight with the owners of the apartment building that houses the station entrance. 

Both the MTA and the owners of the building claimed that the other side was responsible for making repairs to the stairwell. According to the MTA, a 1926 Easement Agreement puts the responsibility for cleaning and maintaining the space on the building’s owners.

The MTA plans to sue the building’s owners, 4761 Broadway Associates, to recoup the cost of the renovation.

Residents were not happy about the project delay, saying they just wanted the stairwell to be fixed once and for all.

“It was an eyesore to begin with, and it always smelled terrible,” said Inwood resident Alberto Caceros, 27. “It has caused an inconvenience, but as long as the job gets done, it’s worth it.”