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1 Trains Bypass 168th Street Station After Elevators Break Down Again

By Carolina Pichardo | February 7, 2017 11:24am
 The 1-train skipped the 168th Street station Tuesday morning due to broken elevators.
The 1-train skipped the 168th Street station Tuesday morning due to broken elevators.
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Susanne Chester

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — All 1 trains bypassed the 168th Street 1 train station during the Tuesday morning rush hour after the station's elevators broke down for the second time in less than a week.

An MTA alert at 9:37 a.m. warned uptown riders that “due to elevator repairs,” northbound and southbound trains would not stop at the station.

MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz said two of two of the four elevators had to be shut down for repairs, although he wouldn't say what the time the elevators were shut down. One of the elevators, Ortiz said, was repaired at approximately 10:15 a.m., while crews were working on the other at approximately 11:05 a.m. It was not immediately clear whether the second elevator was back in service.

Train service was restored to the station by 11 a.m., officials said.

Two of the station's elevators also broke down last Wednesday, leaving commuters packed onto the station for nearly an hour as they waited their turn to exit the station using the two remaining elevators. There is no other way for the public to exit the station except through the elevator.

Residents say the problem with the elevators has been longstanding, but said the full extent of the safety threat posed by the limited exits peaked last week after a track fire at the 103rd Street station caused congestion on the line and left straphangers on the platform at dangerously crowded rates.

Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez held a transportation Town Hall last week, along with Public Advocate Letitia James, and several other elected officials. There were no MTA officials in attendance, elected officials said.