The 137 St-City College station on the 1 line in West Harlem now has elevators to both of its platforms. The MTA announced on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, that a new downtown elevator has opened, joining the Bronx-bound elevator that opened earlier in the project. With both in service, riders who need a stair-free route can now get from the sidewalk at Broadway and West 137th Street to trains heading in either direction.

According to the MTA, the station serves more than 9,400 riders on an average day. That group includes students, faculty and staff at City College, whose campus sits a short walk east of the station, along with residents of West Harlem and Hamilton Heights.

What Was Built

The centerpiece of the project is the pair of street-to-platform elevators, one for each side of the station. Because the 1 train runs on separate local platforms here, a rider previously had to rely on stairs to reach either track. The MTA now lists the station as fully accessible.

The work went well beyond the elevators. Crews rebuilt and widened the street staircases, which gives more room for people entering and leaving during busy class changes. Each entrance received an accessible fare gate. On the platforms, the edges were reconstructed, tactile warning strips were installed along them, and new accessible boarding areas were added on both sides so riders using wheelchairs or mobility devices have a designated spot to board.

Inside the station, the project upgraded the communications, electrical, ventilation and fire alarm systems. Crews also repaired ceiling panels, structural steel and wall and floor tiles.

Changes at Street Level

The intersection of Broadway and West 137th Street was also improved as part of the job. The MTA lists street resurfacing, new curb cuts, a wider median, new light poles, new public seating and new pavers. Curb cuts and a wider median matter for anyone pushing a stroller, rolling a cart or using a wheelchair, since they shape the path from the elevator to the crosswalk.

One of the Original Subway Stations

137 St-City College is one of the original 28 stations of the New York subway, built long before modern accessibility standards existed. The new elevators had to be fitted into that early structure, alongside the rebuilt stairs and platform edges.

The station is the last one completed under a group of projects the MTA calls ADA Package 4. The same package covered Northern Blvd on the M and R in Queens, Bay Ridge-95 St on the R in Brooklyn and Parkchester on the 6 in the Bronx. The MTA says the projects in the package were fully federally funded. The work was delivered under a design-build contract by a joint venture of J-Track and TC Electric, with AECOM as designer and Modern Elevators as the elevator manufacturer, installer and maintainer.

With this opening, the MTA counts 164 fully accessible stations across its system, including 49 made accessible since 2020. The agency's 2025-2029 Capital Plan includes nearly $7.1 billion for station accessibility, with a goal of making at least 60 more stations accessible.

Who Benefits

An elevator at a subway station helps more people than the phrase ADA upgrade might suggest. Wheelchair users and people with mobility devices gain a route that did not exist before. So do parents with strollers, older residents who find long staircases hard, travelers with luggage, and anyone recovering from an injury. For City College, the change means students and staff who rely on elevators can now arrive by subway from either direction without detouring to another station.

The station also sits near Riverbank State Park on the Hudson River, so the stair-free route makes trips to the park easier for riders who rely on elevators.

How to Use the New Elevators

The station is at Broadway and West 137th Street, served by the 1 train. One elevator serves the downtown platform and the other serves the Bronx-bound platform, giving a stair-free route in each direction. Both platforms also have an accessible fare gate at their entrance.

Before a trip, riders can check the live status of every elevator and escalator in the system on the MTA's accessibility pages or in the MTA app, which also show planned outages. The MTA's list of accessible stations is updated as new stations come online and is a useful reference for planning a full step-free route from start to finish.

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