they deleted one response, then gave another [View this email in your browser]( On The Disappearance Of Overnight Service â And The 23rd Street Station Benches Plus: The MTA's Chief Accessibility Officer doesn't think every station needs an elevator. The F and C lines are getting permanent service cuts. And a romantic Classical Commute playlist from WQXR. By James Ramsay [the 23rd street station, as seen without benches] Vanessa Carvalho/Shutterstock Last Friday, after someone tweeted a photo of the empty 23rd Street subway station with the caption, "Damn, the benches were f**king up the budget that much?" the official NYC Transit Subway account responded, "Benches were removed from stations to prevent the homeless from sleeping on them." What followed: people on the internet got mad; the account deleted the tweet; the MTA said the comment had been posted in error, adding that "the subway is not a substitute for a shelter and homeless New Yorkers deserve much better care"; and, finally, [new benches were installed]( on Tuesday. The MTA later explained that the benches needed to be removed to be "deep-cleaned and disinfected." The transit agency has a record of trying keep people from spending the night in subway stations. Last February, the MTA removed [the backs of subway benches]( and earlier installations of ["leaning bars" and dividers on benches]( were widely seen as forms of hostile architecture intended to keep the homeless from lying down. Additionally, the ongoing 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. shutdowns have required kicking homeless people out of the system every night. In those cases, as well, the MTA says it's stopping service because it needs to deep clean, while critics who want 24-hour service to resume don't buy it. "I donât think itâs the real answer," Council member Brad Lander said yesterday. "I believe that youâre engaged in hygiene theatre. I think itâs a cynical approach. The science would support reopening the subways overnight in a way that was safe. And if you helped communicate to riders that they understood it was safe, it would work." Advocates for the homeless say the bench removals and overnight closures, especially in the dead of winter, are simply cruel. "People who take refuge in the subways out of desperation for a warm space simply need the safety and dignity of a home, not callous policies that make their lives more difficult," said Giselle Routhier, Policy Director of the Coalition for the Homeless. "If the MTA is concerned about homelessness, they should ask their boss Governor Cuomo, and Mayor de Blasio, to fund housing for New Yorkers and low-threshold, single-occupancy hotel rooms for emergency shelter." Critics of the overnight closures also point out that if the sole desire was to clean the trains, it wouldn't be necessary to stop service. Indeed, the trains still run overnight, just with no one on them. â [Reporting by Stephen Nessen]( Meet The MTA's New Chief Accessibility Officer [Quemuel Arroyo] MTA Quemuel Arroyo, the new Chief Accessibility Officer at the MTA, isn't new to this type of role, having been the head of accessibility for the New York City Department of Transportation. But unlike his predecessor, who backed [an ambitious plan]( ensuring that riders would never be more than two subway stops from a station with working elevators, Arroyo said the MTA needs to think about alternatives, like ramps. "I donât think saying that every station doesnât require elevators is controversial at all," Arroyo told Gothamist. "Elevators break, thatâs just the reality, and I know that ramps never break." â [Reporting by Stephen Nessen]( Here's What Else Is Happening The Times has a tidy roundup of the five transportation priorities that New York and New Jersey want President Biden's help with. A new tunnel under the Hudson. Congestion pricing for cars in Manhattan. An AirTrain to LaGuardia. The completion of the 2nd Avenue subway. And billions upon billions of dollars in relief. ([The New York Times]( The MTA permanently cut service on the F and C lines. The service cuts began over a year ago when the transit agency had to pull brand new train cars with faulty doors. When the pandemic hit, the service cuts remained in place because there weren't enough conductors on the job, and the MTA didn't want to keep paying overtime. Now, with ridership still down 70% from pre-pandemic levels, the longer headways on the F and C will remain in place for the foreseeable future. ([New York Daily News]( Mayoral candidate Eric Adams said he wants to add an extra MTA board seat for a representative from each borough. By combining five seats to the mayor's four current appointees, representatives from New York City would effectively control the board of the state-run agency. "[The city has] been treated like the bastard child of this regional system," Adams said at a forum this week. ([Streetsblog]( Mayoral candidate Scott Stringer released a detailed transportation plan that includes added bike lanes that connect to 50 public high schools. Stringer, who has shied away from talk of changing the MTA, said he wants to be "The Streets and Buses Mayor." Among his other ideas: more shelters at bus stops, buses that run no longer than six minutes apart, and widening sidewalks to accommodate pedestrians and outdoor diners. ([Curbed]( Two Guardian Angels started a fight on a subway with trans rights demonstrators. One victim said the vigilantes, who'd been stalking last Thursday's rally outside the Stonewall Inn, got angry after someone on the train accused them of targeting homeless people. "He's getting in my face, so I put up my arm and leg to maintain six feet [for social distancing]. He performs some kind of karate kick on me. This other guy stands up and [pushes the Guardian Angel], and then the taller Guardian Angel squares up to punch him," the demonstrator said. ([Gothamist]( [logo for the Classical Commute podcast] Say what you will about the corniness of Valentine's Day, love songs are some of the best songs! (Songs about Santa and figgy pudding are not the best!) Hear a finely curated selection of love songs in this week's Classical Commute playlist, which is [streaming for free on Spotify](. Weekend Service Changes: Night of February 12th â Early Morning on February 15th 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 Dyckman St. Uptown and trains will skip Spring St, 23 St and 50 St., and 135 St, 155 St and 163 St. trains will not run between Bedford-Nostrand Avs and Church Av. Coney Island-bound trains will skip 167 St, 161 St and 155 St. trains will not run between Broadway Junction and Rockaway Pkwy. [Check here]( for complete details about the Long Island Rail Road. For NJ Transit, [check here]( for the latest service advisories. James Ramsay listens to Valentine's Day music all year round. (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:
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