Roosevelt Island Subway Escalators Working in Both Up and Down Directions- Can We Put The Paramedics On Standby and Oxygen Cannisters Away Now?

Roosevelt Island escalators working in both up and down directions

I was pleased to find on Saturday morning that both sets of side escalators at the Roosevelt Island subway station were working in the proper manner - one side going up and the other down - from street level to the platform. However, on Sunday evening around 6 PM, the street level down escalator to the mezzanine level was out of service. Fortunately, this morning, all of the side escalators were working in both up and down direction from street to platform.

Let's hope this is the start of a functioning escalator service for the Roosevelt Island subway station. The expectation for Roosevelt Island residents and visitors alike should be that escalator service for one of the deepest subway stations in New York City (157 steps from platform to street) should be a matter of routine for users and not a cause for concern every time we get off the F Train as to whether or not the escalators are working. It would be a great relief to put the paramedics on standby and oxygen canisters away for a while.

At least we now know that should the up escalators go out of service, it is possible to reverse the down escalators to the up direction mode as long as an on-site MTA employee has the key and is trained to do so. We do not know if the MTA has made any such preparations.

The MTA is still working on Roosevelt Island's middle set of subway escalators as part of its capital improvement program. Roosevelt Island 360 reports that these escalators are scheduled to be operational in mid-October. We shall see.