are the only entrance to the platforms, and passengers often wait for the elevators with an attendant. The attendants at the five stations are primarily maintenance and cleaning workers who have had injuries that made it hard for them to continue doing their original jobs. In July 2003, to reduce costs, the MTA announced that as part of its 2004 budget it would eliminate 22 elevator operator positions at this station and four others in Washington Heights, leaving one full-time operator per station. The agency had intended removing all the attendants at these stops, but kept one in each station after many riders protested. The change took effect on January 20, 2004, and saved $1.2 million a year. In November 2007, the MTA proposed savings cuts to help reduce the agency's deficit. As part of the plan, all elevator operators at 191st Street, along with those in four other stations in Washington Heights, would have been cut. MTA employees had joined riders in worrying about an increase in crime as a result of the cuts after an elevator operator at 181st Street on the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line helped save a stabbed passenger. The move was intended to save $1.7 million a year. However, on December 7, 2007, the MTA announced that it would not remove the remaining elevator operators at these stations, due to pushback from elected officials and residents from the area. In October 2018, the MTA once again proposed removing the elevator operators at the five stations, but this was reversed after dissent from the Transport Workers' Union. The elevators at this station closed on February 1, 2020, so they could be replaced. Work was expected to be complete in February 2021, but was accelerated; the elevators reopened on November 24, 2020. The station remained open during the work via the exit to Broadway. The new elevators are equipped with CCTV cameras, a back-up power supply, and technology that allows for quicker response times to elevator malfunctions. The rear boarding areas of two of the elevators, originally closed to the public, were reopened to provide additional points of entry to reduce crowding. While the elevators were closed, a temporary M191 shuttle bus service was operated between the Broadway and St. Nicholas Avenue entrance; it was suspended from May 9 to July 1, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City, and ultimately did not run after