$3M Revamp Of St. Albans LIRR Station Won't Include Elevators

ST. ALBANS, QUEENS — The MTA is spending $3 million to renovate the Long Island Rail Road station in St. Albans, but elevators aren't part of the plan.

It's not alone. The St. Albans station is one of 18 LIRR stops in Queens that do not comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the landmark law that details accessibility requirements.

It's a number that City Comptroller Scott Stringer called "troubling" in a recent letter to LIRR President Phillip Eng — and a number that may not change anytime soon.

Planned accessibility improvements at the Murray Hill and Hunterspoint Avenue LIRR stations in Queens have fallen victim to years-long delays, according to Stringer.

In the case of the St. Albans and Hollis LIRR stations, such plans don't exist in the first place.

"This issue isn’t just about basic maintenance – it's an issue of fairness," Stringer wrote. "Behind every motionless elevator or deteriorating station there are New Yorkers who can’t travel."

Matters could change when the MTA, which operates the LIRR, releases its next plan for capital projects.

"Details about the next capital program for the maintenance, repair and upgrade of LIRR infrastructure will be available in the coming months and the current historic reorganization of the MTA and its agencies will focus resources on customer-facing improvements more than ever before," an LIRR spokesperson told the Queens Daily Eagle.

But the transit authority has a history of using loopholes to skirt the ADA's requirements, arguing that such fixes are only mandatory if they're not disproportionately expensive.

A federal judge in March ruled that the agency must install an elevator whenever a renovation affects a subway station's "usability," unless that isn't feasible.