Gothamist

A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.

Gothamist

WNYC Listen Live

Donate

 

 

News

Urinetown: LIRR Woodside Station Elevator Breaks Down From Excessive Piss


By

Jen Chung

Published Mar 12, 2013

Modified Mar 12, 2013


Share

FacebookTwitterRedditEmail


Never miss a story

 Email address

By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .


By

Jen Chung

Published Mar 12, 2013

Modified Mar 12, 2013


Share

FacebookTwitterRedditEmail


We rely on your support to make local news available to all

Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

Anyone who has dared take an elevator in a MTA subway or Long Island Rail Road station knows that you're playing chicken with your sense of smell. And at a meeting, LIRR President Helena Williams called one Queens LIRR station's elevator a "vertical urinal."

The Daily News reports that MTA officials said that the "lift at the Woodside, Queens, LIRR and subway complex is constantly breaking down from damage caused by people peeing inside it." Williams explained, "The mechanics of the elevator are constantly being contaminated."

There are five elevators at the Woodside LIRR and 7 subway station, but they are only functioning 58& of the time.

And human pee isn't the only problem there! One Yelper complained, "the last thing I want to have to worry about is dodging the birds who lurk in the rafters above most of the platform. they will strike when you least expect it. even though they say it's good luck (i don't know who "They" are, but they must have never been shit on..)- it's not pleasant at all! and in the summer the crap piles up and SMELLS. I don't really know what can be done to avoid this but its like a walking through a field of landmines some days."

Tagged

depressing

elevator

lirr

long island rail road

piss

queens

woodside


Jen Chung

Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.

Read more

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations


Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations


MORE news

Tompkins Square Park is getting a makeover. Some say it's too much.

Some regulars at the East Village park want to preserve its not-so-fancy offerings.

By

Willow Higgins

Published Oct 17, 2026 at 7:00 a.m. ET


Deer are all over New Jersey roads looking for sex, state officials warn

Mid-October through mid-December is deer mating season, which can be a danger to drivers as the sex-seeking creatures cross roadways throughout the Garden State.

By

Rosemary Misdary

News

Deer are all over New Jersey roads looking for sex, state officials warn

Mid-October through mid-December is deer mating season, which can be a danger to drivers as the sex-seeking creatures cross roadways throughout the Garden State.

By

Rosemary Misdary


Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say

By

Samantha Max

Inside the plan to fix the nearly collapsed Pfizer Building, 1/64th of an inch at a time

By

David Brand

School bus carrying autistic students got lost in Brooklyn for 4 hours last year

By

Jessica Gould


Never miss a story

Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.

Sign upEmail address

By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .