Escalators Break At Brand New Second Avenue Subway Station

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Construction crews are working to repair escalators at the 83rd Street entrance to the Second Avenue Subway, marking the first major malfunction since the line opened on January 1, an MTA spokesman told Patch.

Three escalators broke Tuesday after suffering water damage when the station's sprinkler system was triggered by a faulty alarm, the MTA spokesman said. The escalators were still listed as down on the MTA's website Wednesday morning, with a "TBD" repair date.

Because the escalators were damaged by water, the repair job is more complicated than a normal malfunction, the spokesman said. Construction crews need to test each individual step — more than 250 — for safety.

Passengers are being instructed to use the station's 86th Street entrance while repair work is ongoing, an MTA spokesman said. Extra staff has been deployed to the station to direct foot traffic in the right direction.

The Second Avenue Subway opened on the Upper East Side on Jan. 1 nearly 100 years after is was first proposed and after almost a decade of constant construction work on the Upper East Side. In the months prior to the subway line's opening, an independent engineer consulting the MTA reported concerns over the testing pace of key systems such as — you guessed it — fire alarms.

In order to meet a self-imposed New Year's deadline, the MTA deployed an aggressive testing schedule to complete the required inspections before opening.

Photo by MTA via Flickr/Creative Commons