What's Going On With 3 Month Long Delayed Roosevelt Island F Train Subway Station Escalator Fix - RI Residents, MTA & NYC Council Member Ben Kallos Take To Twitter To Find Out There Will Be More Delay

Reported June 27, that

... the Roosevelt Island escalator from the street to mezzanine platform is scheduled to be fixed by July 13....

But the Roosevelt Island Twitterverse finds that the escalator will not be fixed for another month - August 31.

At least another month for @Mta Roosevelt Island f train station escalator to get repaired. @NYCTSubway why another delay. @SenatorSerrano @Rebecca76AD @BenKallos https://t.co/QGeaZbrw7d

— Roosevelt Islander (@Rooseveltisland) August 1, 2019

Roosevelt Island's NYC Council Member Ben Kallos seeks answers for the delay.

Hi Councilmember, it looks like we kept this escalator open as a staircase while we completed work on other escalators at this station, to help with passenger flow. Looking to get more details now. ^MW

— NYCT Subway (@NYCTSubway) August 1, 2019

I don’t think that’s accurate. The escalator was boarded up with sign saying it would be fixed by July 31. It had been scheduled to be fixed earlier than July 31 but was delayed to the July 31 date and now August 31. pic.twitter.com/o2aUXHr0lT

— Roosevelt Islander (@Rooseveltisland) August 1, 2019

The MTA tweets Roosevelt Island escalator is getting new steps and chains and will be more reliable.

We have taken the entire escalator apart (see: 👇) to replace the steps and step chains, and we want to make sure that any other component that needs repair is repaired. While it's taking a bit longer, it will result in a more reliable escalator in the long term. (2/2) ^MW pic.twitter.com/NLTBa1GKny

— NYCT Subway (@NYCTSubway) August 2, 2019

You're welcome. ^TS

— NYCT Subway (@NYCTSubway) August 4, 2019

But the escalator has been out of service since last May and its a hardship for many elderly, disabled and others to climb so many stairs.

During a prolonged shut down like this, please make sure the other escalator is working. Having both out of service & folks esp the elderly to climb the steps is inhumane. Also see the line at 10:23pm on a weekday to get on to the only working escalator. You need to do better 2/2

— Vik Patra (@vikpatra) August 6, 2019

The MTA replies:

Hey, Vic. Our mechanics work very hard to ensure things run as smoothly as possible throughout our system. As we continue to implement our Fast Forward plan and improve our accessibility, some escalators repairs require parts that must be ordered to properly fix. 1/2 ^PRN

— NYCT Subway (@NYCTSubway) August 6, 2019

While it may seem as easy as just reversing the escalator in the opposite directions, this would actually damage them and create further issues. We appreciate your feedback and images sent. 2/2 ^PRN

— NYCT Subway (@NYCTSubway) August 6, 2019

Former resident and RI 360 blogger adds:

I created this diagram years ago as it identified each escalator by its official designation. Nowadays that allows residents to tweet the number directly to 311 and MTA to report outages.

— Eric (@Eric11714) August 1, 2019