By Carla Zanoni
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
INWOOD — Benches reappeared on the A train platform at the 207th Street station early Sunday afternoon, more than one week after the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said it had removed the seating to clear homeless people from the station.
The newly installed seating, though, lacks the backrest the benches had previously featured.
"Seats were removed and replaced in a modified condition so that they would still be available to customers, but somewhat less inviting to the homeless," according to Charles Seaton, a spokesman for the transit authority.
Last week Seaton said the benches were removed altogether "as a means of addressing a homeless issue at the station." The spokesman said the removal of the seating would not be an "inconvenience to customers as there is usually an A train in the station, waiting to pull out for its next trip."
Straphangers and local politicians disagreed with the initial removal, voicing concern that elderly people, pregnant women and people with mobility issues would have no place to rest while waiting for trains.
"I am pleased that the benches have been restored to the 207th Street A-Train station," State Sen. Adriano Espaillat said in a statement.
A homeless woman who regularly stays on the platform surrounded by half a dozen or more suitcases sat on the reinstalled benches late Sunday afternoon.
She declined to give her name, but said she would be at the station whether the MTA provided her with a seat or not.
Inwood resident and straphanger Mildred Green, 46, said she was happy the seating had returned, but wondered if the MTA could have engaged in a more positive method to help the homeless people at the station.
"I get that they don't want people sleeping in the station, but moving the benches doesn't help someone get back on their feet," she said. "It just puts them out of sight out of mind."
