A winter commute is rarely a fun commute (particularly if you are not properly attired). But even those of us who survived an extra-long outdoor wait for the J train this morning did not suffer as resoundingly as the poor souls at the 168th Street station in Washington Heights, where excessive crowding forced commuters to take 15 to 20 minutes to exit. Hell hath no fury like a New Yorker on line.

Tipster Anne Skomorowsky sent us the above photo and wrote in to tell us of this morning's small disaster, noting that the station—one of the deepest in the system—is only accessible via elevator, one of which appeared to have been broken. "As you can see from the photo, access to the platform is completely blocked by passengers trying to exit," Skomorowksy said. "Meanwhile, passengers trying to enter the station from the elevators are unable to get off the elevators due to the pressure of the crowd in the other direction, creating gridlock."

Skomorowsky said it took her 15 minutes to get out of the station, starting at around 8:50 a.m. this morning. And though she's only experienced crowding of severity twice in the 20 years she's been (infrequently) using the station, it's a common problem commuters have encountered. "I've been trapped down there before," she told us. "Several people were saying that this was the 3rd time this has happened recently."

@NYCTSubway totally unacceptable ..2 out of 4 elevator banks down at 168th St 1 train. Been waiting 20 min to get up to the street. @mta — Maria Betzios (@mariabetzios) January 9, 2015

@MTA even on a good day when all elevators are functioning at 168th st, it still takes 10 min. What happens if there ever was an emergency? — Maria Betzios (@mariabetzios) January 9, 2015

The main culprit here, apparently, is that the station is entirely dependent on elevators, with the sole staircase hidden behind a locked fire exit door. "There is a fire escape, but it is locked, and I have been told by a station agent—back when they had station agents—that only the fire department can unlock it," Skomorowsky told us. "There is no agent at the station. There is no cell phone service. There is no way to contact anyone on street level. There is no access to stairs." She added, "I do think in part that it's this Washington Heights subway station, where people don't feel they have a voice and can't complain about these issues."

We reached out to the MTA for comment, and spokesperson Adam Lisberg told us that while the fire door must remain locked, there is a station agent reachable by intercom should such a claustrophobic situation arise again: