With oft-faulty, privately maintained MTA elevator at arena plaza, why can't Barclays Center offer real-time updates?

March 11, 2021. Photo by Norman Oder

"Of the 340 elevators in the subway system, 52 are already under the watch of third parties, typically property owners whose buildings connect to neighboring stations," tweeted The City yesterday. "The MTA & the Department of City Planning would like to add more."

That linked to a 3/17/21 article by Jose Martinez, headlined MTA Looking for Private Business Help With Subway Accessibility Upgrades, which reminded us that "four of the 10 subway elevators with the worst 24-hour availability rates are privately maintained," and that the one at Barclays Center was down nearly 25% of the time.

Well, it was down on 3/11/21, when I wandered by on the night of a Brooklyn Nets home game, as shown in the photo at right.

I reported on a 3/3/20 public meeting in which a Barclays Center rep said they'd switched vendors and were trying to fix the elevator.

Last June that rep, Mandy Gutmann, said that "according to availablity reports we receive from Schindler, the operator, it’s functioning 92% of time," Gutmann said. "There are short periods it goes down and has to be re-set... Our security has been consistently checking to ensure the elevator is functional."

That number does not comport with MTA figures.

And that didn't mean it was fully up to snuff. Gutmann said at the time, "we still plan to do a full overhaul of the system" and "hope to begin work in the very near future."

We shouldn't have to ask, or wait for these periodic, over-optimistic updates. If the Barclays Center can update its website regarding Brooklyn Nets games and health-and-safety protocols, why can't they tell us when and whether the elevator is functioning?