Elevator Action Group

The Elevator Action Group formed in 2017 because subway accessibility was a low priority. The group was made up of organizations and individuals. Some later became plaintiffs in lawsuits against the MTA. Members organized postcard campaigns, held rallies to raise awareness, and advocated directly with MTA leaders. The group continues to rally for better maintenance and notifications of outages.

Date: 2023

Image Description: A color photograph taken at an outdoor protest showing several disability rights activists gathered with signs and banners. In the center, a man wearing glasses, a pulled-down blue face mask, and a white t-shirt reading “ELEVATORS ARE FOR EVERYONE” speaks while gesturing with his hand. Surrounding him are three wheelchair users and a person standing behind them, all wearing face masks and holding placards reading “ELEVATORS ARE FOR EVERYONE” with colorful icons of seniors, families with strollers, people with luggage, and wheelchair users, alongside handwritten signs reading “MTA - QUIT STALLING AND SETTLE THE CASE! ACCESS FOR EVERYONE” and “MTA, PUT IT IN WRITING! Sign a LEGALLY BINDING CONTRACT…”

Creator: Erick McGregor

A group of protesters gathered behind a large black banner reading "Elevators Are For Everyone" outside a glass-fronted building.

Date: 2023

Image Description: A color photograph of approximately a dozen activists—including several wheelchair users in the front row—protesting outdoors in front of a glass-fronted building. They hold a wide black vinyl banner across the front with large pink, red, and orange gradient letters reading “ELEVATORS ARE FOR EVERYONE,” flanked by icons of seniors with canes, travelers with luggage, pregnant people and families with strollers, and wheelchair users. Behind the banner, demonstrators chant and hold signs reading “A BROKEN ELEVATOR IS AN EMERGENCY,” “Honor Malaysia Goodson / By Installing Elevators In the Subway / People’s MTA,” “22 ELEVATORS ARE OUT EVERY DAY!,” “34 BROKEN ELEVATORS EVERY DAY,” and large photographs of cordoned-off out-of-service subway elevators.

Creator: Erick McGregor

An out-of-service subway station elevator with red tape forming an X across its glass doors and a sign stating it is out of service until March 20, 2023.

Image Description: A color photograph of a stainless-steel and glass subway elevator at 34th Street–Penn Station cordoned off with two strips of red tape crisscrossing the closed doors in a large “X.” Taped to the left frame is an MTA “Elevator Status” notice reading “Please excuse the inconvenience / This elevator is out of service until 03/20/23” (with the date handwritten), positioned above a permanent sign reading “Please let people with disabilities and seniors board first” and a black “Alternate Accessible Travel Information” sign directing riders: “If this elevator is out of service: Follow signs to 34 St and proceed to elevator EL-34X.”

Creator: Elevator Action Group

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