The Rockaway Park–Beach 116th Street subway station has become so dilapidated that the MTA has fenced off nearly half of its platform, forcing some riders to walk through several cars just to exit the train when they reach the stop.
An internal MTA memo obtained by Gothamist shows the station, which is at the end of the Rockaway shuttle line, has been a headache for the agency since at least October. When full-length, 10-car trains arrive at the stop, transit workers are directed to help escort riders on the rear five cars into the front five so that they can get onto the platform.
“We will have two dedicated platform conductors to assist passengers who need to detrain from the north end of the train,” the memo said.
Gothamist observed crews making the unusual maneuver several times in recent months.
Half of the cars on full length trains that arrives at Rockaway Park line up with blocked off areas on the station’s platform.
Ramsey Khalifeh / Gothamist
The problem currently affects fewer than 5% of trains that stop at the station, but it makes those trains largely inaccessible for commuters in wheelchairs. Still, the issues threaten to cause further headaches if the platform isn’t fixed ahead of the busy summer season, when the MTA runs more full-length trains to accommodate all the New Yorkers who flock to the peninsula’s beaches.
“The platform itself is beginning to collapse. There’s about a foot gap between where the regular platform is and then the platform that’s collapsing is. It’s creating a hazard,” said a subway operator who asked not to be named because they aren’t allowed to speak to the press about the station’s problems. “If it collapses, they’re going to have to shut down the whole station.”
Bill Amarosa Jr., head of subways at NYC Transit, said in a statement the platform poses “no safety risk” and his team is waiting for “warmer weather” to fix the problem. He did not provide an exact timeline for the repairs to be completed, but said work would begin by the spring.
“Due to displacement of concrete at the back end of the Rockaway Park–Beach 116th Street station — an end of the station where only 25 out of 602 trains per week stop — some riders need to walk forward to exit from the front of those arriving trains,” Amarosa said.
Part of the platform at Rockaway Park is sunken, forcing the MTA to install a little ramp.
Ramsey Khalifeh / Gothamist
The station is one of more than 150 New York City subway stations that at least partially comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The three stations leading up to the Rockaway Park terminal all lack ramps and elevators.
A 2023 report from state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s office found the Rockaways have one of the city’s largest shares of disabled residents, but largely lack accessible transit options. The report noted the area has a relatively older population and many residents rely on paratransit to get around.
