The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s emergency exits are a gauntlet of risks, with crumbling partitions, uncovered wiring — and even damaged handrails on paths 30 toes above floor, a scathing new audit discovered.
Officers with MTA Inspector Common Daniel G. Cort’s workplace inspected 163 places and located a whopping 41% wanted rapid or near-future repairs — whereas 54% of the 65 emergency exit stairwells reviewed have been affected by “severe defects,” in keeping with the audit launched Thursday.
“I noticed first-hand a number of the points highlighted in our audit throughout website visits, and I’m deeply involved in regards to the poor situations we noticed,” Cort mentioned in a press release.
Exits from the subways and MTA services have been rife with tripping hazards, obstructions, nonexistent lighting, corrosion, the audit discovered.
Inspectors discovered subway emergency exits have been affected by hazards, together with a hatch that did not open from the within, structural defects with concrete ceilings and partitions reported as “severely cracked and decrepit.”
Emergency exit paths want secure and unobstructed emergency exit doorways, stairwells, walkways alongside elevated tracks and walkways in subway tunnels, in keeping with auditors. The paths can be utilized by riders throughout an emergency or by staff for repairs and inspections.
Inspectors additionally discovered leaks and poor drainage have been resulting in corrosion and structural injury.
Elevated tracks have been much more perilous — with free or damaged handrails typically stretching greater than 100 toes, the audit mentioned.
Even in areas 30 toes above avenue degree, the handrails have been so free that “if vital weight have been to be placed on the handrails, they might not maintain,” in keeping with the report. The report didn’t say the place essentially the most harmful handrails have been positioned, however famous free handrails occurred extra typically in Queens and Brooklyn than the Bronx.
Subway exists typically contained “filthy or damaged” lighting fixtures offering poor or typically no lighting in any respect, in keeping with the audit. In some situations, auditors reportedly needed to navigate by flashlight.
The report famous essentially the most rapid pitfalls had been mounted by MTA staff by the point the findings of the audit have been revealed almost a yr later.
MTA hadn’t found the problems themselves due to shoddy inspections, the report alleged.
Solely 13% of the intense defects recognized by OIG had been beforehand caught by MTA inspectors, and MTA inspection experiences are imprecise — devoid of element or images to assist restore crews know what they need to be engaged on, in keeping with the report.
When points have been reported by MTA inspectors, the problems have been not often resolved in a well timed method, in keeping with the report. About 76% of “severe defects” reported by MTA inspectors didn’t obtain a response from restore crews inside the 90-day interval required by NYC Transit coverage, the report states.
The MTA refused the auditors suggestions for a wide range of causes. In some situations the transit big flat out disagreed with OIG’s suggestions and in different situations the MTA claimed present insurance policies and procedures have been already enough.
MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber talking at an unrelated press convention Thursday mentioned the OIG’s report “conflated” some “momentary situations,” comparable to a chained emergency exit door and cracks within the concrete.
Lieber mentioned an evacuation final week when 3,500 subway riders have been stranded underground for almost three hours after two F trains in Brooklyn misplaced energy in between stations proved the emergency exits “functioned correctly.” He blamed the hours-long evacuation with no air con on the fireplace division.
“We’re actually attentive to emergency exits, and we had to make use of them simply this week, and so they functioned correctly. And we’re engaged on ensuring the fireplace division may help us get folks — god forbid — out of emergency exits sooner,” Lieber mentioned.
The MTA promised in its December response to the report that each one the hazards at emergency exits can be mounted by Q2 2025.
MTA additionally agreed with suggestions to enhance its inspection course of and famous its 2025-2029 Capital Plan contains $100 million for emergency exits, “essentially the most vital funding in emergency exits thus far,” the response mentioned.
However the MTA rejected a advice from OIG to assign accountability to particular staff to examine handrails as a result of engineers already do “visible inspections,” in keeping with the report.
The embarrassing report comes because the MTA is beneath hearth for rush-hour energy outages, an unpopular Manhattan congestion toll and looming fare hikes that’ll enhance subway and bus fares as much as $3.
The company has additionally been skewered for questionable spending like a plan to pay a contractor as much as $1 million for a report on the mindset of fare jumpers.
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