24-Hour Subway Service Won't Return Anytime Soon

Even if overnight cleaning doesn't actually help [View this email in your browser]( NYC Gets 24/7 Vaccine Sites Before 24-Hour Subway Service Plus: The MTA will vote on a fare hike next month. The Times approves of Moynihan Train Hall's bathrooms. And what if the High Line was useful for commuters? By James Ramsay [subway cleaners sanitize the Coney Island-Stillwell Ave platform] Stephen Nessen/Gothamist As of this week, [those eligible]( for a COVID-19 vaccine can get their shot at 125 Worth Street in Manhattan, the Brooklyn Army Terminal, or the Bathgate Contract Postal Station in the Bronx any time of the day or night. The same 24/7 vaccination service will soon be available at Citi Field, along with two locations in Staten Island and one in Corona, Queens. But to get there during the wee hours — say you're an essential worker looking to stop by before or after a shift — you can't go by subway. The MTA this week doubled down on its plan to keep train stations closed between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. every night for cleaning. "The expectation is that there will not be any kind of 'herd effect' from mass immunizations until late in 2021 at the best case. So we’ve got a long winter, spring, summer, fall, at a minimum, of wearing masks [and] disinfecting," said Pat Warren, the MTA’s safety officer. The overnight shutdowns began nine months ago, when most New Yorkers were wiping down groceries and trying to avoid public surfaces at all costs. But the scientific understanding of how the coronavirus spreads has since evolved, with most research showing that the virus is primarily transmitted through airborne droplets. It's not clear that spending $500 million to deep-clean the subway system every night — which the MTA is on track to do this year — will protect commuters from getting COVID-19. Critics of the overnight closures also say it's possible to clean the trains without stopping overnight service — and without kicking homeless New Yorkers out into the cold. At the same time, the transit workers doing the overnight cleaning say they appreciate the closures. "I don’t have to worry about being harmed," said MTA cleaner Kim Ford. "The feces, all of that that we used to see regularly because of the homeless, it has dissipated." — [Reporting by Stephen Nessen]( The MTA Is Investigating A Racial Profiling Incident After A Brooklyn Station Worker Called The Cops On 6 Kids Sydney Pereira/Gothamist On December 27th, six boys between the ages of 12 and 17, all Black or Latino, were about to take the train back from Bensonhurst to Coney Island when a station agent came over the loudspeaker and called for police backup. When the boys asked what happened, the worker accused them of planning to skip the fare. "As soon as we stepped literally one foot into the station, the ticket booth man called for police assistance," said 15-year-old Sincere Quinones. "So us being worried and nervous about what could possibly happen, we asked him, 'What happened, sir?' He said, 'the cops are coming for you guys.' We said, 'for us?' He said, 'yes'. We said, 'why?' He said, 'because you guys were going — key word, were going — to jump the turnstile.'" The boys, who ultimately took the bus back to Coney Island that day, plan to file a Title VI racial discrimination complaint against the MTA. The transit agency said it's investigating the incident — and using it as a "teaching moment" to develop "both refresher and new training content around bias" for transit workers. — [Reporting by Sydney Pereira]( Here's What Else Is Happening The MTA board will vote next week on whether to raise fares. In keeping with a schedule put in place a decade ago, the MTA is *supposed* to raise fares every two years to keep up with inflation. But some are arguing that not only would a price increase punish the lower-income essential workers relying on mass transit, it also wouldn't generate meaningful revenues with overall ridership down. ([The Wall Street Journal]( The New York Times agrees [with us]( Moynihan Train Hall has nice bathrooms. "Public bathrooms are exceptionally nice," the Times' architecture critic, Michael Kimmelman, wrote of the new train hall at Penn Station. He also praised other elements of Moynihan — namely, that it's a real transit hub, not just a shopping mall. But he conceded that Moynihan is "like a luxury box in a stadium," designed to complement the Hudson Yards-ification of Manhattan, when what commuters ultimately need are new tunnels under the Hudson. ([The New York Times]( A month after pledging to ride the subway for a week, Mayor Bill de Blasio has yet to do so. The mayor said he still wants to commute on the train — and plans "to do it very publicly" — but there's "a lot going on" right now. Currently, about 1.6 million New Yorkers are using public transportation every day. ([Streetsblog]( Revel, the electric moped company, said ridership in New York City grew 133% since March. And environmentalists are pointing to the company as a key player in getting carbon emissions down in New York and cities around the country. The question is, will authorities and politicians let Revel continue to operate if riders of these 30 mph scooters keep crashing? ([Bloomberg]( What if Metro-North commuters from Connecticut don't return? Even prior to the pandemic, the average monthly pass-holder was only commuting into the city four days a week. Now that white-collar workers are home for the foreseeable future, it's possible that Metro-North could end up cutting service — and laying off conductors. ([CT Mirror]( Is There A Future Where Commuters Use The High Line? [an empty High Line during the pandemic] Jake Dobkin/Gothamist The High Line, which sees up to 60,000 daily visitors during a non-pandemic year, didn't touch those numbers in 2020. But Robert Hammond, the co-founder and executive director of the High Line, said he was encouraged by one change: The percentage of visitors who actually live in the five boroughs went up. And he's hoping that by expanding the elevated walkway 1,200 feet in the direction of Penn Station, the popular tourist destination could gain traction with locals and commuters who want a more pleasant way to walk towards the Javits Center or other offices on the far west side of Manhattan. As for crowds: "The good thing about office workers is they would be using it in our off time," Hammond said. "Our busiest times are during the middle of the day and on the weekend. Office workers would be using it early in the morning and in the evening." The High Line expansion, which would shift the northeast terminus from 10th Avenue and 30th Street up to 31st Street between 9th and 10th Avenues, was a featured proposal in Gov. Andrew Cuomo's State of the State address this week. There's no indication when construction on the project would begin, or what kind of further approval is needed. It's also unclear when any critical mass of commuters will be headed to the Javits Center. — [Read more]( Weekend Service Changes: Night of January 15th – Early Morning on January 18th This is a partial list of major service disruptions scheduled for the weekend. For a complete list of the MTA's Weekender updates, [check here](. Note: The entire subway system is closed each night from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. until further notice. trains will not run between 137 St and 242 St. trains will not run between Bowling Green and Utica Av/New Lots Av. trains will not run between Queensboro Plaza and 34 St-Hudson Yards. trains will not run between Church Av and Coney Island-Stillwell Av. [Check here]( for complete details about the Long Island Rail Road. For NJ Transit, [check here]( for the latest service advisories. James Ramsay agrees that there's a lot going on right now. (Photo by Amy Pearl) Support WNYC + Gothamist Make a donation to support local, independent journalism. Your contributions are our largest source of funding and pays for essential transportation coverage and more. [Donate]( Copyright © 2021 New York Public Radio, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: New York Public Radio 160 Varick Street New York, NY 10013 [unsubscribe]( [update preferences]( [privacy policy](