NYC Subway Will Halt Overnight Service Due To Virus

NEW YORK (AP) – Subway trains, which had been disinfected at least once every 72 hours, will be cleaned once every 24 hours starting May 6, Cuomo said. Buses, vans and other alternative transportation will be provided at no charge for essential workers to get around while the system is closed, he said.

Cuomo said the increased cleaning is a “daunting challenge,” but vital to keeping the subways safe as it continues to be a place of high density while much of the rest of society practices social distancing. Images posted on social media in recent weeks have showed packed subway cars.

Dozens of transit employees have died of the coronavirus and the system has become a haven for homeless people during the crisis.

“You have to disinfect every place a hand could touch on a subway car. Every rail, every pole, every door,” Cuomo said. “Or, coughing, sneezing, wherever droplets could land.”

Cuomo highlighted a front-page report Tuesday in the New York Daily News chronicling incidents of indecent exposure, filth, people stretching out on seats and other problems.

He said the situation was “disrespectful” to essential workers who need to commute and unsafe for homeless people who are congregating in trains without face masks or other protections.

Subway ridership has plunged by 92% since the start of the pandemic, and most of the people commuting are health care workers, first responders and other front-line workers who’ve been keeping the city running.

The cleaning shutdown affects the slowest part of the day for the subway system, in terms of ridership. Around 10,000 people ride the system during that period of time, Cuomo said.

Commuter trains serving Long Island and the city’s northern suburbs will also be disinfected every 24 hours, he said.

City buses will continue to run around-the-clock but will be rotated out of service for cleaning.

“Think about it, the entire public transit system in downstate New York will be disinfected every 24 hours,” Cuomo said. “We’re doing a lot of things here that we’ve never done before.”

Betsy Plum, executive director of the advocacy group Riders Alliance, said the closures “must be strictly temporary while a longer-term solution is developed and implemented.”

The homeless have long taken refuge on the city’s subways, but their plight, and the problems the subway shutdown poses for them and others, have become more visible during the pandemic. Advocates for the homeless say some are taking to trains because they worry about contracting the virus in shelters.

Mayor Bill De Blasio said the city would send more outreach workers to end-of-the-line stations to try to persuade homeless people to go to shelters. Police officers have increased enforcement, removing more than 100 homeless people from trains on Monday alone.

“This has been a heartbreaking experience for all of us. An entire population has been left to fend for itself,” interim transit president Sarah Feinberg said.