Clinton Hill, Brooklyn – House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08) announced that he and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer secured $1,000,000 through the government funding law to help make the Classon Av G train station fully accessible. This funding will be used to install elevators and other ADA-compliant amenities at the station and ensure equitable access for the Clinton Hill community. This is part of the MTA’s largest design-build bundle of accessibility upgrades awarded to date. The total package spans a construction budget of approximately $850 million, including approximately $500 million in federal investments to upgrade 13 stations across all five boroughs. 

Leader Jeffries was joined at the event by MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber, MTA Construction and Development President Jamie Torres-Springer and Council Member Crystal Hudson.

“The G train is an incredibly important subway line for the Clinton Hill, Fort Greene and Bedford-Stuyvesant communities that I am privileged to represent,” said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. “Today represents an incredibly positive step forward, particularly to make sure that those with physical challenges and those who have slowed down a little bit as they’ve become older can move back and forth and do the things necessary to live their best life. I’m proud that millions of dollars for this project have come from the federal government, in connection with the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that, under the leadership of President Biden and the partnership with Democrats in the Senate under Leader Chuck Schumer and Democrats in the House of Representatives, we were able to get over the finish line last Congress. Democrats will continue to put people over politics and deliver for the communities we are privileged to represent.”

“Working with Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, I’m proud our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law created the funding to power critical modernization and accessibility upgrades like these at Classon Avenue G Station in Brooklyn,” said U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. “With federal investments like this $57 million, MTA can take on more projects to keep all New Yorkers moving and keep our economy going strong. These much-needed accessibility upgrades, including three elevators and a wider mezzanine, are key to modernizing the system and making public transit more accessible for the riding public, especially for New Yorkers with disabilities, who have long suffered from poor access to our region’s mass transit.”

“In recent years, the MTA has been making dramatic gains toward full system accessibility,” said MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber. “Investments in transit accessibility benefit all New Yorkers – seniors, shoppers and stroller-pushing parents as well as people with disabilities – and we are deeply grateful to federal leaders like Senator Schumer and House Democratic Leader Jeffries for assuring MTA captures its share of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds to continue that unprecedented progress.”

“Classon Av is part of the largest bundle of accessibility upgrades the MTA has ever undertaken,” said MTA Construction & Development President Jamie Torres-Springer. “Today’s groundbreaking exemplifies how innovations like design-build and bundling help us deliver critical accessibility projects better, faster, and cheaper.”

“I’m just so proud to stand here with Leader Jeffries, with the heads of the MTA, and to make sure that every member of our communities has full access to the MTA, and specifically to this Classon Avenue G stop. We have community members who are wheelchair-bound. We have community members who might have mobility issues. I want to make sure that beyond those who might have disabilities, we also are thinking about our older adults and making everything just a little bit easier for them to have access to,” said Council Member Crystal Hudson. “We can’t get it done alone at the local level. We need to make sure that our state government and our federal government are strong partners in providing these upgrades for our community.” 

“Everyone should be able to use our subway stations – whether you have a disability, a child in a stroller, or just can’t always use the stairs,” said MTA Chief Accessibility Officer Quemuel Arroyo. “I’m so excited to kick off the elevator construction at Classon Avenue and ensure anyone traveling to Clinton Hill or the Pratt Institute has an accessible transit option.”

The anticipated completion date for Classon Av is Q4 2026. The project encompasses a multitude of accessibility upgrades and related station improvements, including:

• Three new elevators; one connecting the street level to the mezzanine and two connecting the mezzanine to the platforms serving both directions.
• Four new raised boarding areas compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with new platform edge tactile strips.
• Staircases will be refurbished to ADA standards, receiving new stair treads, new handrails and related repairs.
  • The staircase connecting the mezzanine to street level will be relocated to accommodate the new street-to-mezzanine elevator, rebuilt and widened to improve passenger circulation.
  • Two currently closed mezzanine-to-platform staircases will be reopened, increasing the total number of mezzanine-to-platform staircases from four to six.
• One new curb ramp at the northwest corner of the plaza where the new street elevator is located.
• New turnstiles equipped with OMNY readers, including an automated wide-aisle fare gate to create an ADA-accessible path from the mezzanine to the mezzanine-to-platform elevators.
• Replacement of communications and public announcement systems, including upgrades to customer information screens.
• Related to the station accessibility work, the station will receive upgrades to fire alarms, sprinklers and lighting, as well as targeted structural repairs and painting.

More information on the announcement can be found from the MTA here.

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