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September 23, 2018
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163 St-Amsterdam Av Station to Reopen After Structural Repairs & Functional ImprovementsRepairs to Structural Steel, Concrete Slabs and Tiled Walls, as well as Functional Improvements, to be Completed On Time
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The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) today announced that the 163 St-Amsterdam Av station on the C line will reopen for service in both directions on the afternoon of Thursday, Sept. 27, following work to repair deteriorating infrastructure and update the station environment with functional improvements such as digital signage for real-time service information, enhanced wayfinding and station entrances, modern energy-efficient lighting and updated security equipment.
“We’re so excited to be returning this station to the neighborhood better than it has ever been, after much-needed repairs and improvements,” said MTA New York City Transit President Andy Byford. “Structural fixes as well as modern touches like more real-time service info, energy-efficient lighting and updated security system mean a safer, easier to use station for our customers.”
The 163 St-Amsterdam Av station closed in March 2018 to give crews access to the station, platforms and tracks for major repairs without exposing customers to construction and demolition zones. Crews performed repairs to concrete slabs and steel columns, conducted waterproofing in areas of known leakage, cleaned and repaired rusted infrastructure, replaced floor slabs and existing tiles on platform and mezzanine walls, and power-washed the concrete floors and wall tiles. Entrances were upgraded with either digital information totems or improved signage, countdown clocks, new illuminated guardrails and security cameras in select locations. The station was enhanced throughout with brighter, energy-efficient LED lighting, Help Point intercoms that allow customers to communicate quickly and directly with staff, and countdown clocks.
Portions of the tiled walls, which were in need of replacement or power washing, were replaced with four glass mosaic murals by New York-based artist Firelei Báez. The mosaics, which feature patterns and symbols of the cultural communities represented in the Washington Heights neighborhood, brighten and enliven the walls along the station mezzanine stairs and on both platforms.
More than 4,400 weekday customers use the station, which originally opened in September 1932 when the entire Eighth Avenue AC line began serving the west side of Manhattan. The historic station wall tiles and mosaics were preserved during this station overhaul.
MTA New York City Transit is making structural repairs and functional improvements to subway stations in all five boroughs. In May, President Byford announced a new subway station initiative as part of the Fast Forward Plan to modernize subway, bus and paratransit services, that would group together stations in the same geographic area under group station managers that would be accountable for every part of the station environment from cleanliness to customer service. The Fast Forward Plan also seeks to advance major repair and revitalization projects in more than 150 stations in the next five years, and an additional 150 stations in the following five years. The Plan also seeks to dramatically and rapidly expand system accessibility, including an immediate goal to have no customer be more than two stations away from an accessible station within five years. |
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