Late Night NYC Subway Service Cut Amid Coronavirus Crisis: Cuomo

NEW YORK CITY — New York City subways will stop running 24 hours a day with the Metropolitan Transit Authority cutting a large chunk of late night service, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Thursday.

Subways won't run between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m., starting May 6 and continuing for the duration of the pandemic, the governor said.

"This is going to be one of the most aggressive, creative, challenging endeavors the MTA has done," said Cuomo. "It's not that easy to stop train service. "

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Stations will close so that the MTA can clean and disinfect stations after reports of homeless people sleeping in subway cars spurred Cuomo to call the situation "disgusting."

Overnight service will resume once "customer demand returns," said the MTA, currently facing a 90 percent drop in ridership and an $8 billion budget deficit.

The MTA estimates about 11,000 riders currently use the subways between during the four-hour time slot.

Buses will not be included in the service shutdown and will continue to run 24 hours a day and essential workers traveling overnight will be connected to free for-hire-cars, said officials.

It will be a cross-agency effort that will include "significant and sustained" NYPD resources to ensure customers leave the trains and stations, according to the MTA.

"Closing our system for a limited time overnight will enable us to clean and disinfect every car, every night," said New York City Transit interim president Sarah Feinberg.

"We also want to make sure we find a way to do this as efficiently and in as innovative a way as possible."

Mayor Bill de Blasio phone in during the governor's daily COVID-19 briefing to show support for the MTA initiative.

"We're going to do something during this pandemic that we've never done before," said de Blasio. "We're going to do something to protect people."

New York was one of two cities to offer 24-hour subway service — the other is Copenhagen — and one of few in the U.S. to provide continuous public transportation.

Transit advocates were quick to express their concerns that the service shutdown would not be temporary.

"Even during a crisis, New York is and will be a 24/7 city," said Riders Alliance Executive Director Betsy Plum.

"Governor Cuomo's suspension of subway service must be strictly temporary while a longer-term solution is developed and implemented."

New York City Transit and MTA bus service will continue to run under the MTA Essential Service Plan with enhancements along high ridership routes.

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