New seats at Grand Central Madison for LIRR riders draw attention to why there aren’t more seats at transit hubs

The delay in adding seating for Long Island Rail Road riders to Grand Central Madison’s mezzanine level could be the latest example of transit providers deliberately forgoing customer convenience to discourage homeless people from lingering in stations, experts say .

But the MTA chief said it took 18 months to add the seats because the transit agency didn’t anticipate that so many LIRR riders would want more opportunities to get on at the new station.

“We saw a need,” Metropolitan Transportation Authority President Janno Lieber said at a news conference at Grand Central on Monday. “We put in some seats to occupy us.”

The addition of 28 new seats at Grand Central Madison is the latest development to draw attention to the relative lack of seats at some new and recently renovated transit hubs serving Long Island commuters, including Penn Station and the adjacent Moynihan Train Hall.

Merrick commuter Kyle Bullock, sitting on one of the new aluminum benches at Grand Central Madison On Monday afternoon, he said he was “very glad to be here.” When he commuted forward and exited Grand Central Madison, Bullock said, he would have to “sit on the floor and wait” for the train.

“Or you sit and suffer,” said Bullock, who believes the lack of seats at the new LIRR terminal in Manhattan is by design. “I always assumed they were trying to keep the homeless out.”

Mitchell Moss, a professor of urban policy and planning at New York University, thinks Bullock was on to something.

“The MTA realizes that their goal is to attract riders, not homeless (people),” Moss said in an interview Thursday. “So not having benches is an effort to discourage homelessness, not necessarily to discourage riders. But that can be a side effect.”

Asked if the addition of seats was prompted by concerns about homelessness, MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan said in a statement, “Everything we deliver, whether it’s service levels or whether it’s retail units, or seats, that’s something we’re looking at based on demand. “

A welcome addition

Donovan added that the addition of the seats came after the MTA noticed riders were regularly sitting on the floor at Grand Central’s mezzanine.

The new seating area, located near the escalators and stairs leading to the track level below 47th Street, was a welcome sight for Allison Krieger, of Woodmere, who broke her right leg about a month ago and was “very” happy to be able to stand up while waiting for her train on Monday.

“It’s a nice addition,” said Krieger, who previously waited for his train in the station’s waiting room — a long escalator ride from the mezzanine level — because it had the only seating area in the station. “Then you must hurry down. So better to stay here than upstairs.”

Addressing why the MTA waited a year and a half before adding mezzanine benches, Lieber suggested the transit authority was caught off guard by the demand for seats.

“We’ve seen more people than we anticipated in the planning process crowding around the entrance, the escalators, right at the tracks,” Lieber said, adding that the new seats are “mainly for people with mobility challenges.”
About 80,000 passengers travel through Grand Central Madison each day, about half of the MTA’s projected March 2020 ridership of 162,000.

Asked if the MTA would add more seats to Grand Central Madison, Lieber said the agency “will see how they’re used and learn from it.” The new seating section is only at one of the eight stair/escalator landing areas leading to the rail levels.

Michael Smart, an associate professor at Rutgers University’s Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, said the lack of sufficient seating in Grand Central Madison — which was designed and built over nearly two decades — was not overlooked.

“It’s 100 percent true that the lack of space in new facilities is because of homelessness,” said Smart, who has studied how transit agencies address homelessness in cities around the world. “The station’s chief designers … when they look at the issue of balancing the comfort of their passengers and the homeless people using the space, they immediately lean in the direction of not providing seats.”

Photo from Moynihan, Penn

The lack of seats is even more “egregious” at another new transit facility in Manhattan, Smart said. Opening in 2021, the $1.2 billion Moynihan Train Hall, which serves both Amtrak and LIRR trains, includes 225,000 square feet of space but very limited seating.

Amtrak spokesman Jason Abrams pointed out in a statement that “there are seats available for customers” in Moynihan, including a ticket waiting area, food hall and Metropolitan Lounge.

“Any additional opportunities to increase seating would have to go through Empire State Development,” the state agency that developed the facility, Abrams said.

Just next door to Moynihan, the LIRR Penn Station concourse underwent a $700 million renovation, largely completed last year, that added much more standing room for passengers, but not significantly more seats. There are two small waiting areas at the east and west ends of the station, with a few seats for ticketed passengers.

“It’s so obvious. . . what it’s all about, and it’s so disappointing for existing travelers,” said Smart, who noted that ticket lounges such as those at Moynihan, Grand Central Madison and Penn Station are often far from where travelers congregate usually near the gates leading to the tracks. “We all want a place to sit while we wait for the train.”

While he declined to speculate on the intent behind leaving ample seating in the design of modern transit hubs, David Giffen, executive director for the Coalition for the Homeless, said there is no shortage of examples in transit hubs of “hostile architecture” and restrictive regulations. “which is intended to discourage people who have nowhere to go from being able to sit down and rest.” Among them: the 90-minute time limit for using the new Grand Central Madison seats.

“It’s inhumane and insane,” Giffen said. “Transport facilities should be for the public, and your status as a member of the public is not contingent on having a home or not having a home.”

Rather than “creating unfriendly spaces for everyone,” including commuters who want to take a load off, Giffen said, public planners should focus on “creating enough affordable housing” for the 350,000 residents of New York City without homes.

Moss, the NYU planner, said the city’s transit system is especially welcoming to the homeless, especially in cold weather. Their presence, Moss said, can contribute to the perception of a dangerous climate for commuters.

“You don’t have to be the victim of a crime to feel that the stations are not safe,” Moss said. “Homeless and emotionally challenged people . . . reinforcing the feeling of uncertainty about safety. And that’s why they’re a serious problem.”