GILLIBRAND, SCHUMER ANNOUNCE $156.5 MILLION ASAP
GRANT FOR METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY
New York, NY – Today, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) announced that the $156.5 million All Stations Accessibility Program (ASAP) grant previously awarded to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) can move forward after over a year of unnecessary delays and reviews by the Trump administration.
The ASAP grant program makes competitive funding available to assist in the financing of capital projects to repair, improve, modify, retrofit, or relocate infrastructure of stations or facilities to make all public areas of the station accessible to people with disabilities.
“The Americans with Disabilities Act requires that public transportation be accessible to people with disabilities,” said Senator Gillibrand. “However, infrastructure built before the passage of the ADA in 1990, like much of the New York City subway system, must be retrofitted to be fully accessible to people with disabilities. This critical ASAP funding was held up for far too long, and I am proud that we finally got the funds released from DOT to the MTA so all New Yorkers and visitors alike can take advantage of our transit system. I will continue to call on the Trump administration to release all of the remaining DOT grants being held hostage.”
“The Trump administration has heeded our call to release federal funding for much-needed accessibility upgrades at subway stations across the city,” said Senator Schumer.
“These improvements are essential to modernizing the system and ensuring public transit is accessible to all riders. For too long, New Yorkers with disabilities, including many seniors, have faced barriers accessing our region’s mass transit. I will continue fighting for the federal support needed to advance the MTA’s accessibility projects and deliver these critical improvements.”
This news comes just hours before U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Sean Duffy is set to testify before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development.
Earlier this month, Senators Gillibrand and Schumer, along with Congressmembers Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), and Ritchie Torres (D-NY), called on Secretary Duffy to swiftly complete the agency’s review of the ASAP grant that the MTA was selected for to improve accessibility at two Bronx subway stations so individuals can continue to safely use New York’s world-class public transportation system.
The MTA was selected for the grant nearly two years ago and remained the only grant awardee that had yet to receive the funds.
