We spent an overnight shift with one of the MTA's last elevator attendants

From Gothamist and WNYC [View this email in your browser]( We Spent an Overnight Shift With One of the Few Remaining Subway Elevator Attendants Plus: Congestion pricing is coming to Manhattan and e-bikes are coming (probably) to everywhere but Manhattan. The MTA bans sexy advertisements but allows beef jerky. Also, subway outages, Backstreet Boys, and makeshift protected bike lanes. Note: I'm filling in for James Ramsay who's on a well-deserved vacation this week. – Ali Feldhausen We need your help! We the Commuters is looking for your questions, tips and stories about biking in New York. Put us to work! Submit your questions [at the bottom of this story]( or send them in an email to [WetheCommuters@wnyc.org](mailto:WetheCommuters@WNYC.org). Thanks! Clarissa Sosin for We the Commuters The 191st Street subway station is not the Ritz-Carlton, but most nights, there is soft jazz playing in one of the elevators. "This is Clifford Brown, I’m just getting into him," Lisa Clark, an elevator attendant, told me one night after queuing up a Pandora jazz station on her phone. "I also like John Coltrane, of course. And Miles Davis." She also likes Janet Jackson. And Big Boi. And Public Enemy. But on the job, she sticks to jazz, setting a nice mood for the 35-second, 18-story elevator ride she takes over and over and over again, between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., five nights a week. Earlier this month, I tagged along with Clark for an entire eight-hour shift, to see firsthand what it’s like doing one of the MTA’s oldest, and exceedingly rare, jobs. Attendants now work in only five stations, all of which are in Upper Manhattan, where the tracks are farther below street level. The 191st Street station is the deepest of them all, at 180 feet. Clarissa Sosin for We The Commuters Besides the soundtrack, the first thing I noticed after a few trips up and down was the air quality in the elevator. Clark warned me right away about the smoke that wafts in from outside the station’s entrance on St. Nicholas Avenue. "I never smelled weed like that until I came here," Clark said. "And it gives you some kind of contact high. I had a headache yesterday." At around 2 a.m., an MTA employee, whose job involves going around to different stations to check on elevator attendants, brought Clark a cup of coffee and stayed to chat, mostly about cooking shows. Clark only left her seat once, at 5:30 a.m., to use the bathroom. She didn’t eat a bite of anything, or take a sip of water, the whole shift. By my math, we took about 750 one-way trips together. Then, at 6 a.m., she got out of the elevator, boarded the subway, and went home. She seemed to be in a good mood. Clarissa Sosin for We the Commuters [Last fall]( the transportation workers’ union saved the elevator attendant position from being cut entirely, by convincing the MTA that the remaining attendants were crucial for making riders feel safe. But attendants are not security guards. They do not carry weapons and will not intervene in an altercation. Clark told me that she cannot even carry mace. "Anybody can come in here and rob us," Clark told me, adding that she mostly refrains from striking up conversations with strangers out of a concern for her own safety. (According to the MTA, 675 assaults and 22 thefts were perpetrated against MTA employees at the five uptown stations that have elevator attendants between 2016 and March of 2019. Regarding attendants specifically, no thefts were recorded). Everyone who works as an elevator attendant is technically a station cleaner, or CTA, working on restrictive duty for medical reasons. Clark, who’s been working for the MTA for 21 years, said she became an elevator attendant a year-and-a-half ago after developing arthritis. "If [the MTA] would’ve cut those jobs, they would’ve put them in restricted duty jobs throughout the system," said Damon Shelley, TWU Local 100’s officer for station worker safety. "But other than the elevator job, there are no other jobs in the system where you wouldn’t have to do something straining physically." Though attendants aren't guards, riders still say they provide a sense of security. In previous attempts to cut these jobs, residents of Washington Heights and other surrounding neighborhoods organized to demand that they stay, saying the presence of attendants was ["essential for their safety."]( "In the last couple years, there’s been a little bit of a spike in the general discomfort," Elizabeth Lorris Ritter, a longtime Inwood resident who had previously organized to save attendant jobs, told me. "There’s more open drug use. The opioid epidemic has taken its toll. You see more needles." A few days after my night with Clark, I returned to 191st Street station and spoke with another attendant, who asked to remain anonymous because he wasn’t authorized to speak on the record. He told me that it's particularly risky for elderly riders to go into a locked elevator alone, pointing out that he recently called 911 to help an older man who collapsed from a diabetic attack. "Anywhere there’s an MTA employee presence, it’s safer," he said. "What’s going to happen when everything’s automated and there’s no one here?" – James Ramsay Best of the Week From Gothamist & WNYC Seth Wenig/AP Congestion pricing is happening. It's not fabulous news for drivers who will face tolls when passing through Manhattan below 60th Street, but proponents say the [pricing could generate $1 billion a year for the MTA](. Not happening in the near future, advertisements for vibrators. Despite running other sex-related ads, [the MTA has banned the sex toy company Dame from advertising on the subway — sparking a lawsuit](. E-bikes and e-scooters may be coming to New York State and also Manhattan. Well, sort of. Lawmakers seem ready to make a deal as long as [e-scooter sharing companies stay out of the borough](. Thanks to the rollout of new subway vending machines, you can now buy[beef jerky and deodorant at a subway near you](. The machines are part of a pilot program to curtail the problem of empty storefronts underground. For now, people can load up on items like almonds, razors, tampons, and allergy medicine at the CVS-brand vending machines in the Chambers Street and Union Square stations. It might not be a bad idea to stock up on snacks and drinks before getting on Amtrak … [A power outage this Wednesday left hundreds of passengers trapped in commuter trains]( without access to water, bathrooms or electricity. Not a great look. Perhaps those riders should have broken into song? [A subway car broke out into a spontaneous Backstreet Boys sing-along]( this past weekend. The delightful video is a reminder that New Yorkers know how to make the best of the city’s challenges. What Else We're Reading Gov. Cuomo is getting serious about fare evasion. He says the MTA loses $240 million from the free riders in the system. ([The New York Times]( Man cuts sleeping rider’s pants and robs him, as if the L train was not tough enough. ([PIX11]( Officers in the NYPD 19th Precinct help people who bike with makeshift bike lane protectors. We do not hate it. ([Twitter]( Beautiful Vintage Advertisements ... SVA The [School of Visual Arts]( has donated nearly 100 posters from its beloved Subway Series to, [Poster House]( a new museum dedicated exclusively to, well, posters. Friend of WNYC and iconic designer, Milton Glaser, designed this one, Art is Whatever, in 1996. Poster House opened today. Go check it out! ... Versus what we get today. Ali Feldhausen The MTA just put up new fare evasion adverts. [This man budgeted out the costs]( of putting up the signs versus fare evasion itself. Thoughts? Send us an email at WetheCommuters@WNYC.org. Weekend Service Changes: Night of June 21st – Early Morning on June 24th This is a partial list of major service disruptions scheduled for the weekend. For a complete list of the MTA's Weekender updates, [check here](. train service between 96 St in Manhattan and 242 St in the Bronx will be replaced by and trains and free shuttle buses. will be running local in both directions between 125 St and Brooklyn Bridge in Manhattan. On Sunday, Flushing-bound trains will skip 82, 90, 103, and 111 Sts in Queens. Friday evening to Monday morning, service between 205 St and Bedford Park Blvd in the Bronx is replaced by free shuttle buses. Saturday morning through Sunday night, train service between Ditmars Blvd and Queensboro Plaza in Queens will replaced by free shuttle buses. [Check here]( for complete details about the Long Island Rail Road. For NJ Transit, [check here]( for the latest service advisories. Upcoming Meetings and Events Monday, June 24th Metro-North & LIRR Committee Meeting – 8:30 a.m. NYCT & MTA Bus Committee Meeting – 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, June 26th MTA Board Meeting – 9:00 a.m. Thursday, June 27th [Whose Streets? Reclaiming NYC for Cyclists]( 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., $12 and up Museum of the City of New York For official MTA committee meetings, registration for two-minute public speaking slots opens 15 minutes before the start time. To speak before a board meeting, you must register 30 minutes early. Both are held at at the MTA's Board Room at 2 Broadway, on the 20th Floor. Support WNYC + Gothamist Make a donation to support local, independent journalism. 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