The MTA’s inspector common stated Thursday that he was “deeply concerned” concerning the poor situation of emergency exits within the subway system, as detailed in a report launched by his workplace.
“I saw firsthand some of the issues highlighted in our audit during site visits,” MTA IG Daniel Cort stated in an announcement. “I am deeply concerned about the poor conditions we observed.”
Investigators with the Workplace of the MTA Inspector Basic (OIG) inspected 65 of the subway system’s 549 emergency exit stairwells between October and December of final 12 months, and located 35 of them to have “serious defects,” in response to the report.
Many handrails have been noticed to be both disconnected, unsupported or each all through the elevated monitor system. (MTA / OIG)
Of these, 18 exits — 28% of these inspected by the IG — “should not be considered adequate for safe egress or access,” in response to the report. The opposite 17 emergency exits “require repair in the short-to-medium term.”
Investigators discovered one of many underground escape route’s hatches wouldn’t open from the within, and cited “several others” as being tough to open.
Different emergency egresses, investigators wrote, “had inadequate lighting or no lighting at all; OIG and NYC Transit staff had to navigate these facilities by flashlight because no backup lighting was in place.”
The inspections additionally turned up cracked concrete, corrosion and different structural deficiencies, in response to the report.
At left, a lightweight fixture is pictured severely broken as a consequence of water infiltration; short-term lighting with uncovered wiring was additionally current. At proper, entrance lighting at monitor stage was inoperable. (MTA / OIG)
The IG’s workplace additionally inspected tunnel benchwalls resulting in emergency exits, and emergency walkways alongside elevated traces, assessing 163 MTA property in complete. Investigators wrote that 41% of those had defects that required rapid or near-term consideration.
Scattered at common intervals all through the system’s roughly 440 miles of underground monitor, emergency exit stairwells present a last-ditch technique of getting passengers stranded on a subway out of the system and onto the road.
OIG questioned this critical structural situation, above, which was not listed in inspection reviews. After OIG recognized this defect in the course of the web site go to, MoW-Engineering inspected and deemed it protected. (MTA / OIG)
At the least one emergency exit was used final week, when the MTA evacuated some 3,500 passengers caught on two stranded F trains after a transformer explosion took out third-rail energy in downtown Brooklyn.
“Three thousand five hundred customers were just evacuated last week, and it was done safely,” NYC Transit President Demetrius Crichlow informed reporters Thursday. “Our goal, obviously, is to keep our customers on trains. But if the unfortunate event comes that we have to evacuate, we’re confident that we can do it safely.”
“We’re really attentive to emergency exits,” stated MTA Chairman Janno Lieber. “We’re absolutely committed [to them], not just because it’s the law and the code, but it’s a practical matter: Our riders need them and our employees need them.”
MTA Chairman Janno Lieber is pictured in Brooklyn on Friday, April 5, 2024. (Theodore Parisienne for New York Each day Information)
The OIG report states that some defects have been addressed by upkeep groups on the spot in the course of the investigators’ go to. Different situations obtained “prompt repair” after being referred to as in.
The report calls on the MTA to revise a slew of practices round inspections, reporting and repairs, solely a few of which have been accepted by the transit company.
Transit officers agreed to repair the remaining extreme points recognized by OIG, and accepted a number of suggestions to overtake the best way inspections are carried out, plus make adjustments to inspection schedules to permit extra time for repairs.
The MTA, although, rejected a suggestion that it modify its staffing to fulfill spot-repair wants, as a substitute saying staffing could be guided by the company’s yearly monetary plan.
Structural cracks will be seen in a column adjoining to a metallic ladder under an emergency-exit hatch. (MTA / OIG)
The MTA additionally rejected the advice that it ought to higher monitor the situation of lighting across the emergency exits, countering that transit employees’ flashlights have been ample in an emergency.
“[A]dequate emergency egress lighting is comprised of both lighting fixtures and employees’ PPE [personal protective equipment], which includes flashlights,” the MTA responded. “To that end, existing policies concerning emergency evacuations within the system require employees to use their flashlights to illuminate the path of egress.”
Initially Revealed: December 19, 2024 at 7:12 PM EST
