246 replies to this topic

[KevinKorell]

New York, NY Post, 4/18/20:

 

  Gov. Cuomo urged to shut down NYC subways to stop coronavirus spread   

 

 

Gov. Cuomo should temporarily shut down the NYC subways to help slam the brakes on the coronavirus outbreak, urge four City Council members.

 

“We believe that drastic measures must be taken to stop the spread of COVID-19 in our transit system,” the lawmakers — Robert Holden, Eric Ulrich, Mark Gjonaj and Peter Koo — say in a letter to Cuomo.

 

Article

[CNJRoss]

Progressive Railroading 4/21/20

 

NYMTA Work Force Gradually Replenishing

 

 

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) on April 20 announced that the number of employees who have returned to work following mandatory quarantines is now higher than those still out on quarantine. System-wide, 5,033 employees have returned to work, compared with 4,112 employees currently out on quarantine.

 

“As a result of the strengthening workforce and improved employee scheduling, MTA New York City Transit is continuing to improve subway service regularity, with the number of train trips that were not able to be initiated due to crew shortages falling to 13% of trips in the past week, down from a peak of nearly 40%,” MTA noted.

 

Continue here.

[KevinKorell]

Cheddar, 4/21/20:

 

  Former MTA Boss Calls on NYC Businesses to 'Stagger' Work Hours to Keep Transit Safe  

 

 

 

 

How can the country's biggest economic engine, which happens to also be the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, get back to work? It is the question bedeviling officials in the New York metropolitan area. With New York City's coronavirus caseload now "past its peak," according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the dilemma turns on when ー and how ー to begin to allow more than just essential workers back into the city's offices, shops, and tourist attractions.

 

Full story

[CNJRoss]

NY MTA news release 4/18/20

 

MTA Launches ‘Keep Them Covered’ Campaign as New Yorkers Now Required to Wear Face Coverings While Riding Public Transportation

 

 

MTA Launches New Signage and Announcements on More than 7,000 Digital Screens, In Stations, and on Board Trains, Buses and Paratransit Vehicles Across NYC Transit, Metro-North and LIRR

View the New Digital and Printed Signage Here & Listen to the PSAs Here

 

 

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) today launched a new “Keep them Covered” public awareness campaign on the heels of New York State’s Executive Order requiring all New Yorkers to wear a face covering while riding public transportation. Face coverings protecting New Yorkers’ nose and mouth, including cloth bandanas, scarves, masks or other alternatives, were mandatory effective April 17 at 8 p.m. in order to ride public transportation.

 

The new campaign includes digital signage across more than 7,000 digital screens, audio announcements in stations and on trains, and more than 7,000 printed signs for buses and paratransit vehicles. The digital signage appears on more than 4,000 screens across the NYC Subway, 2,600 screens on buses, and 550 screens on the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad.  The audio announcements instruct customers – healthcare workers, first responders and other essential personnel – making their way throughout the system to wear a face covering as the MTA has observed the majority of its customers already doing.

 

“This executive order follows our efforts, leading the country, to keep our customers and employees safe during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Patrick Warren, MTA Chief Safety Officer. “Wearing the face covering is critical to protecting public health and could ultimately save lives.”

 

The MTA has been a national leader among transportation agencies in taking aggressive action to battle the COVID-19 pandemic since the early days of its arrival in New York. In order to protect employees, the MTA disregarded federal guidance and began handing out masks to all employees before the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention later issued new guidance recommending all Americans wear masks. The MTA has also strongly recommended all riders wear a face covering since March 2, well in advance of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issuing guidelines for all Americans to wear masks.

 

The MTA reminds customers that public transportation is to be used for essential travel only. All other New Yorkers should stay home.

 

 

[KevinKorell]

The City, 4/26/20:

 

   ‘Unruly Person’ Subway Incidents Rattle Riders, Workers and Cops 

 

 

At the Fort Hamilton Parkway stop in Brooklyn, a “naked individual” delayed F trains while “chasing someone on and off the train.”

 

At Rockaway Boulevard in Queens, two A train riders squared off, one swinging a heavy chain, the other armed with brass knuckles.

 

Read

[CNJRoss]

New York Daily News, 4/27/20

MTA making plans for socially-distant NYC subway when coronavirus lockdown relaxes

 

 

MTA officials are scrambling to ensure New York’s subway system doesn’t turn into a rolling petri dish for a new wave of coronavirus infections once state officials begin easing lockdown measures.

 

With nearly six million daily commuters pre-pandemic and not enough space to sneeze — let alone stand several feet apart — there’s a growing concern that a return to regular work life will make some straphangers super-spreaders.

 

Rules put in place earlier this month that require subway riders to wear face coverings are expected to remain in place for months to come, officials said. But even with the MTA’s best efforts, transit leaders say the public has some responsibility for containing the virus.

 

“Customers’ awareness of and engagement with their own safety will be key [to reopening],” said interim NYC Transit President Sarah Feinberg. “Everyone in the system will have a role to play in keeping our city healthy.”

 

Continue here.

[KevinKorell]

CBS New York, 4/29/20:

 

   Governor Cuomo asks MTA to disinfect subway trains on a daily basis: "A tremendous undertaking"  

 

 

 

 

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said during his daily coronavirus update Wednesday that he is asking the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York City to come up with a plan to disinfect all subway trains on a daily basis. Cuomo said the MTA has until Thursday to deliver.

 

Update

[KevinKorell]

New York, NY Post, 4/27/20:

 

   NYC subway operator confronted by ‘defecating’ straphanger on 2 train   

 

 

 

A veteran subway operator said she witnessed a homeless man openly “defecating” on a No. 2 train Monday — a sign the homeless have “taken over” the subway system during the coronavirus pandemic.

 

It is wrong in all respects to do this, but if he had to pick a train line, it was the #2.   Story here.

[KevinKorell]

Opinion in Daily News, New York, NY, 4/29/20:

 

  Tunnel of tough love: Subway platforms and trains cannot become safe havens for unsanitary vagrants 

 

 

 

The exhilarating noontime joint Blue Angels/Thunderbirds flyover saluting essential workers wasn’t seen or heard by the men and women of the Transit Authority. Most of them were busy underground, moving the doctors, nurses, orderlies, EMTs, cops, firefighters, grocers, letter carriers and deliverymen, building service workers, Con Ed crews and water and sewer employees who keep the rest of us alive and relatively well.

 

Opinion

[KevinKorell]

It is big news when the MTA suspends overnight service, but it will start happening next week. From NBC News, 4/30/20:

 

 

   New York City to temporarily suspend overnight subway service due to coronavirus concerns  

 

 

 

 

New York City's subway system will temporarily close for four hours overnight as the city and state combat the coronavirus crisis, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Thursday.

 

News

 

Closing the system not only allows for cleaning time, but also (hopefully) forces the vagrants out of the system for at least the 4 hour period overnight, which won't help the essential travelers but at least if enforced at the 1 AM closing time should  keep the homeless moving somewhere out of the trains and stations.