By Gus Saltonstall
Escalators at a major Upper West Side train station are once again out of service.
Both escalators at the 59th Street Columbus Circle train station have been out of service since the beginning of July.
“I wanted to anonymously report that the Columbus Circle subway station escalators are down once again and have been for several days now,” a tipster emailed to West Side Rag on July 13. “I appreciated your reporting on the escalator drama last year and cannot believe that they’re closed again.”
The escalators at the Upper West Side station were recently out of service for more than a year from the summer of 2024 through November 2025 due to structural damage involving the ceiling above the equipment. The escalators reopened on November 18, 2025, but now, eight months later, they have once again been closed for an extended period of time.
“Can you please find out what is wrong with the escalators at Columbus Circle which are out again,” Sherrie Nickol wrote to the Rag on Wednesday.
The two Columbus Circle escalators both appear as “out of service” on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s dedicated “elevator and escalator status” page.
“Repair: Street to mezzanine,” the page read as of Thursday morning. “Outage reason: repair. Estimated return to service Saturday, August 1, 2026 at 8 a.m.” However, by Thursday afternoon, the MTA’s page updated to Thursday, August 13 at 8 p.m. as the expected return of service date.
“Maybe it will open soon, but I don’t know,” a man who cleaning the closed off escalators told West Side Rag on Thursday morning.
The Columbus Circle station escalators are not maintained by the MTA, but instead by Related Companies, the real estate developer that oversees the Deutsche Bank Center at Columbus Circle.
“NYC Transit and the Department of Preservation are both assisting Related to restore escalator service, which has been out of service due to a water infiltration issue,” a spokesperson for the MTA told WSR.
Related Companies also provided West Side Rag with information on the escalators.
“We are in the process of installing pumps that will continuously remove the water and enable the escalators to safely operate while we continue working to determine the ultimate source of the leak,” a spokesperson for Related Companies the Rag, while also referencing that the machine had flooded. “We expect this work to be completed in Mid-August. We appreciate the patience and cooperation of subway commuters as we work to restore escalator service.”
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I hope Trader Joe’s used a different escalator vender.
So the developers get a forbearance or some kind of break with understanding they build and maintain escalators but they are constantly out of service / got it ! Similar to the public spaces or “parks” that are built by developers that are depressing and neglected- it’s a shame
nailed it..
Seems to be a common thread with these kinds of arrangements–I believe the Union Square escalators owned by the Zeckendorf people have the same issue.
Escalators are extremely expensive, take up tons of space, and are notoriously unreliable and require constant maintenance.
True but MTA rarely does preventative maintenance. They basically run till the break and then the repair is expensive. London still has a lot of wooden ones and as they have had bad fires on them they check and clean them, as well as removing any rubbish that falls into pits below them
That’s why the London subway -“tube” – uses them.? Seems to work fine there.
Indeed! And they are older and often deeper.
Macy’s still has some 100 year old wooden escalators.
Best thing about that place
… when maintained by government bureaucracies that answer to nobody (such as the MTA, aka the Money Taking Agency) but somehow private companies have a much better track record maintaining escalators.
Apparently not since these escalators are owned by a private company.
Not surprising. Related were given $6 Billion in tax breaks and public assistance to develop Hudson Yards including over the western yard and have backed out of it unless they get another $2Billion.
Visit any of the numerous 24hr public open spaces that developers were required to build to get variances, sit down and see how quickly they try and chase you out.
Same owner that created SEPERATE entrances and units for the poor peeople that won a housing lottery to live there.
That owner also prevents those tenants from using the services offered to other renters.
THAT’S what’s done with it tax dollars.
What you’re saying is misinformation. Related cannot develop the rest of Hudson Yards over the western railyard without a platform to build on. Under Adams, the City agreed to issue debt to finance that platform with the debt service to be paid by Related’s tax payments. But Mamadami backed out of the deal because he didn’t approve of the mix of housing that was slated to be built there. This was even after Related increased the number of affordable housing units from 400 to over 600.
Youre mistaken. They were supposed 5o build the western deck as part of the original deal. They backed out of it because the projected cost increased.They then got Wynn in for the casino but that collapsed and now have come back again for $2Billion in taxpayer money. As much as I cant stand Mamdani, he hasn’t backed out, the deal cant go forward because there is a stipulation that Related has to have a signed keystone tenant for the office tower. They dont have anyone. Bottom line is They were supposed to do this as part of the original development.
I’m surprised that no one has mentioned that there are a number of working elevators at that station (three that I know of). One takes you from the lower platform to an intermediate one, and the one which I use, located beside the non-working escalators. That elevator takes passengers from the intermediate platform to the street level on 58th Street. So, while those elevators function, wheelchair bound passengers and others needing assistance can get from the street to the platform levels.
The elevator from the street to the mezz takes too long. I used it occasionally, but on hot days, I take the stairs, even though I have a bad knee and use a cane. The escalators can handle many more people at one time.
That single elevator is comically small for the location and ridiculously slow. Other stations, like the one near Columbia Hospital, have more and larger elevator banks. Not to mention, the number of delivery riders with bikes and parents with large strollers often mean waiting multiple trips before you can squeeze in. Ridiculous when you consider how many people exit and enter there.
We need transparency with the MTA people in charge, the Contractors used, and the undoubtedly obscene amount of money we taxpayers are paying these people. They are incapable of competently doing even basic things.
Did you read the article?
The more it breaks down, the more the union makes money . So why have a well-made escalator?
Would you also please publish an update on the elevator project at 97th and CPW? THANKS.
I was riding this escalator a couple of months ago when a big piece of plastic shot off the side with a loud cracking sound. It was not a great feeling.
Gee….I wonder if elevators and escalators made in the USA with USA parts and service might make a difference?????!
It’s not just the escalators – the elevators are out at 68th and 72nd. It’s impossible to travel with my 81 year old mother and we have to use Uber or Lyft which adds up. I don’t understand how there is zero accountability, any sense of immediacy for repairs or any transparency about timing. And we continue to pay taxes at high rates
See about your mother getting Access a Ride, then use its “taxi authorization’ program, where you get authorization for a trip a day or two before and then simply hail a cab, pay, save the receipt and apply for reimbursement. It takes awhile but is worth it.
So true. The talking street crossing signals are often inaudabile.
those specific escalators are managed by the time Warner building (or whatever MSNOT).. It’s not the MTA but that private entity.
I don’t see that escalator ever getting fixed.