Skip to Main Content
NYC Civil Rights History Project Logo
  • Introduction
  1. Home
  2. Topics
  3. How did we get here? Transportation Access in New York
  4. Subways and trains
    5.   > ...

Key Stations

In 1983, a New York senator introduced a law to make 27 key subway stations accessible. EPVA’s lawsuit resulted in an agreement for 54 key stations the next year. The ADA defined key stations as transfer points, end stations, and high ridership stations, and required cities to create key station plans. After the ADA passed, lawmakers increased the MTA’s number of key stations to 100, but that only represented about 20% of stations.
Cover and inside map page of a 1990 EPVA pamphlet titled "Wheelchair Accessible New York City Subway Stations."

Date: 1990

Image Description: A side-by-side color scan showing the front cover and page 2 of a 1990 booklet. The beige cover on the left is titled “WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE NEW YORK CITY SUBWAY STATIONS / With Detailed Information About Neighborhood Connecting Accessible Bus Routes and Commuter Rail Stations” above a black-and-white photo of a wheelchair user on a subway platform next to an E train, and credits at the bottom reading: “published by: Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association, 75-20 Astoria Boulevard, Jackson Heights, NY 11370-1178, (718) 803-EPVA / 1990.” The right page displays a simplified map of New York City boroughs with red lines tracing select subway lines and diamond symbols marking the small number of accessible train stations in 1990.

Creator: Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association (EPVA)

Source: Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association (EPVA) Collection

An official speaks at an MTA New York City Transit podium inside a subway station alongside a sign language interpreter and wheelchair users.

Date: c. 1980s

Image Description: A black-and-white photograph of a press conference held inside an early accessible New York City subway station in front of metal exit gates and a token booth. At center, a man with glasses, a mustache, and a dark trench coat speaks into microphones at a wooden podium bearing an “MTA New York City Transit” plaque while holding up an accessible subway stations pamphlet. To the left in the foreground, a Black woman with dreadlocks and glasses interprets in American Sign Language (ASL); to the right, two wheelchair users and several standing attendees look on.

Source: Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association (EPVA) Collection

Previous item
Next item