MTA Says Roosevelt Island Escalator Repair to be Completed by December 2008

Roosevelt Island Subway Escalator Image from Ben

RIOC President Steve Shane forwards message he received concerning the Roosevelt Island subway escalator repairs from MTA's Alissa Kosowsky, Assistant Director of Government & Community Relations, in response to his earlier meeting with the MTA on Roosevelt Island subway transportation problems:

"Here is the information on the escalator replacement:
NYC Transit is in the process of replacing eight escalators at the
Roosevelt Island F station. This contract was awarded for $15.3
million on September 15, 2005 with a duration of 39 months. The contractor,
Skanska Mechanical, is on schedule. As of this time, four escalators
are completed. The remaining four escalators - two platform
escalators and two street escalators are scheduled for completion by the end of
2008. We appreciate the community's patience as we complete this work."

My question is if there are 4 escalators completed shouldn't there always be one escalator working each for the upper street level to mid-mezzanine and then the lower level in both up and down directions? Since these are the longest escalators they should be the priority for replacement before the smaller platform to mid-mezzanine escalators - right? Also, aren't there ten escalators not eight? As Roosevelt Island 360 points out, are there 2 escalators not being repaired?

Let's see how the MTA responds to the other issues raised by Mr. Shane such as problems with daily and weekend subway service as well as next year's Roosevelt Island Tram outage.

UPDATE: 3/11 - Here.