MTA relaunches station manager program to clean up NYC subway stations

The MTA is revamping a program designed to spruce up the city's shabby subway stations, a move officials hope will bring cleaner looks — and smells — to the transit system.

The initiative, called the Group Station Managers program, was first launched in 2018 by former NYC Transit President Andy Byford. The program put a single official in charge of group of about two dozen stations, with oversight of maintenance and upkeep.

The effort was put on ice when the pandemic hit — but current NYC Transit President Richard Davey said it was relaunched last spring and is now showing results.

He gathered the managers on Tuesday for a monthly meeting at MTA headquarters with good news: A survey from February found that 65% of subway riders were satisfied with their experience, up from 52% in June 2022, when the program was restored. Davey hopes to hit 70% by June of next year.

“You are moving the needle, this is the evidence of that,” Davey said.

Davey noted that other factors like clean trains and the reliability of service also play a role in how riders feel, but said the cleanliness of stations is crucial. “Thank you, our customers are recognizing it,” he told the group.

There are 19 managers who split responsibility for the city’s 472 subway stations. That’s down from 22 managers when the program launched. Signs in subway stations tell riders which group station manager is in charge — and how to contact them.

Eight of the subway’s group station managers have held their posts since the program launched nearly five years ago. They include Sandrea Flowers, who’s in charge of stations in the Bronx, like 161st Street-Yankee Stadium, and some in Harlem, like the busy 125th Street station where the A, B, C and D lines all meet.

She said she tells the cleaners and maintenance staff at her stations: “Give us a clean-it-like-you-mean-it performance.”

Flowers also ensures her workers stay focused on the small details by asking them, “Would the condition that you see here be acceptable in a store that you frequent? Keep that in mind.”

Now, she has more help to get her stations clean. Newly delivered scrubbing machines allow crews to wash the platforms more frequently and thoroughly. MTA officials said a recent hiring surge of station cleaners — about 150 new workers since the fall — gives station managers like Flowers more staff to help tidy up.

Flowers also has a unique amenity for riders at her stations: She directs her crews to use a cleaner with a scent called “Spice Fresh” in the elevators.

The group station managers aren’t responsible for major repairs to stations, like fixing busted tiles, painting ceilings or doing deep cleanings. That work happens overnight as part of the MTA’s “Station ReNEWvation" program.

Davey said he was impressed by a recent visit to the Vernon Boulevard-Jackson Avenue station in Long Island City, Queens, which had just undergone a series of repairs.

“Looked like someone took a teeth-whitening toothpaste to the tile, it looked so amazing,” he said at the meeting. “Did we? Whatever it takes.”