Gryffindor via Wikimedia Commons
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A frustrated Upper West Side mom has taken her months-long battle with a neighborhood inconvenience straight to social media — and the internet has responded in a big way. Her short video has racked up more than 15 million views and 2.6 million likes, pulling in commuters from across the city who say they’re dealing with the exact same problem every single day.
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The video, posted by Katie Knuhtsen, zeroes in on the shuttered elevators at the subway station on 72nd and Broadway. The clip shows her looking up the daunting stairwell with her toddler and stroller in tow — a daily routine that, in her words, has forced her to “turn into the Hulk.”In the video, Knuhtsen directly addresses Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has built a public profile around hands-on neighborhood interventions like shoveling snow and filling potholes. “Mayor Mamdani, please fix the elevator at 72nd Street. It’s been down for months, and I am sick of having to turn into the Hulk just to get my daughter to school,” she says in the clip. She also pointed out that strapping her toddler into a stroller is a safety priority she shouldn’t have to give up just to navigate a station.
The frustration extends well beyond parents with strollers. Another commuter featured in a report by CBS News described the obstacle the closure creates for blind riders, who can find themselves navigating a crowded mezzanine with a cane only to have it knocked away by a passerby. The elevator, he said, is simply easier — even if it’s a slower trip.
Both elevators at the station were taken offline back in December for full replacement, and the MTA has said new units should be operational by July. ILTUWS first covered the shutdown last summer in our original breakdown of the project and its construction timeline, which detailed the 90-foot staging area along Verdi Path and outlined alternate accessible routes via the West 66th Street–Lincoln Center station.
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While Knuhtsen acknowledges that elevator replacements technically fall outside the mayor’s direct authority, she’s hoping the wave of public attention will speed things along. A deputy press secretary for Mamdani told CBS News the administration is “happy to see that the MTA will take action to fix this elevator and others through their capital replacement projects.”System-wide, 25 elevators are currently out of service across the subway, with six awaiting repair and 19 fully decommissioned for replacement. The MTA says it plans to modernize at least 45 elevators by 2029 under its current capital plan.
You can watch Knuhtsen’s full TikTok right here. We’ll continue to follow the 72nd Street station as the July reopening date approaches.
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