Center for Independence of the Disabled New York (CIDNY) v. Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) (S.D.N.Y.)

This case challenges the MTA’s failure to maintain the few elevators that exist in New York City’s subway stations. DRA has resolved two separate other cases against the MTA through an agreement for the agency to install elevators in at least 95% of subway stations system-wide over the coming years.

In April 2017, DRA filed a class action lawsuit against the New York City Transit Authority (“NYCTA”) and the Metropolitan Transit Authority (“MTA”) for failing to ensure programmatic accessibility of the City’s subway system for people with mobility disabilities by not maintaining the already limited number of stations’ elevators, causing constant, unplanned elevator outages that leave riders who rely on elevators stranded. Defendants further compound these issues by frequently failing to inform the public about outages, by not providing adequate signage to describe alternate accommodations and/or accessible routes, and by not ensuring alternate transportation for people who cannot use the subway unless elevators are functional.

In 2020, the trial court granted the MTA’s motion for summary judgment, which argued that the system’s elevator uptime rates were sufficient under the ADA. Plaintiffs appealed this decision to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which overturned the trial court’s ruling in 2021 and sent the case back to the trial court. Specifically, the Second Circuit held that, under the proper federal and local law standard, there is at least a genuine factual dispute about whether the MTA’s frequent elevator outages deny New Yorkers with mobility disabilities a meaningful opportunity to use the subway system. However, the Second Circuit also said that the MTA might be entitled to summary judgment if they could demonstrate that they provide “plainly reasonable” accommodations during elevator outages.

Following the Second Circuit’s opinion, the parties took discovery regarding the adequacy of the accommodations the MTA claims to provide riders with mobility disabilities during elevator outages. In 2023, Defendants renewed their motion for summary judgment, arguing that they provide reasonable accommodations during elevator outages. Plaintiffs opposed this motion by showing how ineffective or non-existent the MTA’s supposed accommodations actually are.

In May 2024, Judge Daniels held a hearing on Defendants’ renewed motion for summary judgment, in which they argued that Plaintiffs’ case fails because the MTA reasonably accommodates people with mobility disabilities during elevator outages. Plaintiffs argued that the court should deny Defendants’ motion because the effectiveness of these supposed accommodations is heavily in dispute.

In August 2024, Judge Daniels denied Defendants’ motion for summary judgment. While he ruled that some accommodations were adequate under the law, he found that the MTA had not provided enough evidence for him to determine that its current elevator outage notifications or its training of MTA employees were enough to accommodate riders with disabilities who confront elevator outages.

In July 2026, Plaintiffs reached a landmark settlement agreement with the MTA regarding what steps the MTA needs to take when elevators are out of service. Because it is a class action, the settlement must now be approved by Judge George B. Daniels in the Southern District of New York.  Among other things, the settlement requires:

Physical and digital signage, including:

• Alternate Accessible Travel Information signs posted directly on or adjacent to all Accessibility Elevators, indicating additional available routes, a QR code to the Elevator & Escalator Status Webpage, and information on how to contact a station agent for assistance.
• Real-time elevator status on digital Customer Information Center screens.
• Street-level physical signs indicating long-term elevator outage or those due to capital replacement projects at that station; and when NYCT elevator repair personnel are on site repairing a NYCT-owned and maintained elevator that is out of service for any reason.

Spoken announcements, including:

• Platform announcements every fifteen minutes indicating any long-term elevator outages (lasting 90 days or more) or those due to capital replacement projects up to one Accessible Station ahead in the direction of the trains arriving at the platform.
• On-board announcements on subway trains regarding Accessibility Elevator Outages confirmed to last longer than fourteen days at least two accessible stations ahead in the direction in which that train is travelling.

Telephone assistance, including:

• A 511 customer service phone number for information concerning Accessibility Elevator outages and accessible rerouting assistance.
• Real-time outage information on the MTA’s website and mobile application regarding: (a) the status of all Accessibility Elevators at any given time; (b) all affected subway lines at the impacted station; (c) the reason for any Accessibility Elevator outage; (d) the estimated return to service time; and (e) possible alternate accessible routes from the affected Accessible Station.
• Email and text alerts advising subscribing customers of changes in the status of the customer’s selected Accessibility Elevators.

The Settlement Agreement also requires Defendants to:

• Provide mandatory customer service training for all subway station agents on disability-related topics, including how to assist customers with disabilities in the event of an elevator outage, as well as mandatory annual accessibility training for all employees.
• Add information to the MTA’s Elevator & Escalator Availability metrics webpage regarding all current elevator outages, including elevators out of service for capital rehabilitation work, which the MTA excludes from its metrics regarding elevator downtime and availability.
• Acknowledge customer complaints regarding Accessibility Elevator outages within one business day of receipt of the complaint, inform the complainant that the issue has been directed to the appropriate personnel to address the elevator outage issue, and direct the complainant to real-time elevator outages information provided on the MTA’s website and mobile application.