A number of projects are coming to the Delancey St–Essex St Station complex to make it completely accessible, officials announced on Friday.
Governor Kathy Hochul and leadership from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), and Delancey Street Associates gathered at the Lower East Side station to announce the projects, which include bringing the station compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and building mixed-income housing on the former site of the Essex Market.
Delancey St–Essex St F M J Z Station serves 68,000 riders per day.
“Making the Delancey-Essex station complex fully accessible with an affordable housing development at Essex Crossing is possible with the revenue from congestion pricing — a program that will put the proceeds toward New Yorkers’ needs,” Governor Hochul said. “We are committed to creating a more accessible and more affordable New York with improvement plans that are focused on bettering opportunities and the transit customer experience for riders.”
With the project proceeding, the MTA will enter a binding agreement with NYCEDC and Delancey Street Associates to advance the new station entrance sign. Once built, the housing complex will provide an easement to the MTA to allow the construction of an elevator connecting the northeast corner of Delancey and Essex Streets to the Delancey–Essex F M J Z station complex. The MTA will commence the design of the elevator as well as a set of accessibility upgrades, including three elevators that ensure that all connections and transfers within the station can be made step-free to make sure the complex is fully ADA-accessible.
The proposed housing site, located at the site of the former Essex Street Market building, has 175,000 square feet of retail space, 64,000 square feet of community space and will deliver approximately 1,100 units of housing overall, 50 percent of which will be affordable.
Construction on the housing project is expected to start in 2026. These accessibility improvements to the station, which are included in the MTA’s 2020-24 Capital Plan, will be supported by proceeds from the Congestion Relief Zone.
MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said, “The MTA is making subway stations accessible at five times the pace of previous administrations. Every New Yorker — seniors, young families with strollers, people with disabilities — need to be able to get to jobs, school, shopping and everything else the City has to offer, so I’m thrilled NYCEDC and Delancey Street Associates were able to figure out a deal so we can move forward on this long overdue project.”
“The Delancey-Essex subway station’s accessibility upgrades will spur forward the Essex Crossing project, which continues to transform the area into a dynamic, mixed-use hub for economic opportunity and growth,” New York City Economic Development Corporation President and CEO Andrew Kimball said. “After more than a decade since the project’s initial approval, today’s announcement by the MTA — in partnership with NYCEDC and Delancey Street Associates — is a testament to this Administration’s commitment to delivering on past promises, addressing our city’s housing challenges, and meeting the needs of New Yorkers.
