A stunning $30 million Times Square subway staircase was revealed on Monday by transit officials.
Tourists and others would be provided a clear pathway in and out of the “Crossroads of the World” through the “stunning… first-class” 15-foot-wide staircase at the “center” of Broadway Plaza at 43rd Street, said MTA CEO Janno Lieber.
Lieber said the new staircase is 450 square feet bigger than its predecessor and is centrally located, unlike the previous staircase.
“It was so inconvenient. You saw so many tourists coming down there and being disoriented. Not anymore,” he said of the previous, narrower stairway. “The new entrance provides direct access to Times Square.”
Paid for by Jameston, which owns 1 Times Square, and included in the project, was a new $10 million elevator from the street to the mezzanine. Officials said elevator users could access the platforms via a different elevator from the mezzanine that opened last year.
Officials said taxpayers and riders are responsible for the $30 million costs of the staircase, street-level canopy, expanded turnstile area, 18 new close-caption surveillance cameras, and a mosaic by the artist Nick Cave.
Officials said that the 4,600-square-foot artwork is the biggest mosaic in the subway system.
On Monday, the new Times Square entrance was “$8 million under budget and on time,” boasted MTA President of Construction and Development Jamie Torres-Springer.
“The project is a great example of how MTA has been making the most of lower ridership during COVID to transform the system and expedite the projects that make a real difference in daily commutes,” Torres-Springer said.
“All of this work gets done while running the busiest station complex in the system, under the busiest public gathering space in the world.”
