Sarah Feinberg Hears Your Cries Of 'Hygiene Theater'

Here's why NYC Transit is still disinfecting like crazy [View this email in your browser]( NYC Transit President Sarah Feinberg On Cops, COVID, And The 'Hygiene Theater' Controversy Plus: MTA service won't be cut, for now. A pitch to build a New York-to-Boston train that goes 200 mph. And useful (if terrifying!) tips on what to do if you fall on the subway tracks. By James Ramsay [Sarah Feinberg distributes masks on a subway train] Bebeto Matthews/AP Now almost a year into the pandemic, weekday subway ridership is still down [about 70%]( from pre-coronavirus levels, and the MTA is seeking [an additional $8 billion]( in federal aid to prevent drastic service cuts. At the same time, a spike in violence against MTA workers and a recent stabbing spree have prompted the transit agency to [increase the police presence]( in the system — despite concerns about police harassment of Black and brown New Yorkers, who've made up a disproportionate percentage of ridership during the pandemic. NYC Transit's interim president, Sarah Feinberg, addressed these and other issues on The Brian Lehrer Show this week. Below are excerpts from the interview. On reports that major felonies on the subways [have dropped]( "Sometimes I feel like those crime statistics can tell you whatever you want them to tell you … burglaries are way down, but unfortunately felony assaults are up, misdemeanor assaults are up, murders and rapes are up." On the planned [increase in policing]( in the system: "I’m the last person who wants to over-police the system or make it feel like it’s in any way militarized, but the most important thing is not only that people are safe and secure, but that they feel safe and secure .... With assaults on the MTA workforce are at all-time highs, I want to be able to beat this thing back as quickly as possible. "We hear this from our customers over and over again — even during the pandemic, we’re serving 3 million people a day, and they are by and large essential workers. They’re nurses, they’re grocery store workers, they’re health care workers, they’re city workers, they’re the folks who’ve carried this city on their backs during the pandemic, and what we hear from them overwhelmingly in all of our customer surveys is that their top priority is to feel safe and secure in the system. And they mention two things: safety and security from COVID, they want to see people wearing masks; and safety and security from any crime. They want a uniformed presence in the system." On continuing to disinfect trains amid criticism that it’s [hygiene theater]( "There has been study after study at this point showing that COVID transmission is not happening on mass transit. But every transit system in the country was very ill-served by a lot of the media coverage in the beginning of this pandemic — I don’t think it was intentional at all, but story after story would talk about how COVID was moving through the country, and every piece of b-roll footage was of a crowded subway car or crowded bus. I don’t think that served mass transit well, and we’ve been fighting back from that for a long time. "We’ve got a bunch of folks out there who’ve decided that somehow they’ve become the experts on how to clean and disinfect mass transit and surfaces. Until the CDC and EPA and others say, 'stop all the disinfecting, it’s unnecessary,' we’re going to continue to do all we can to keep people safe. Yes, we all know that aerosols are a much more likely way for COVID to spread, but to be clear, we’re not making this up on our own. We went to the EPA as recently as two weeks ago and said, 'Are we still supposed to be cleaning surfaces the way that we’re cleaning,' and they said, 'Yes, keep doing what you’re doing.'" On how the MTA is compensating families of workers who died of COVID-19: "Sadly, more than 140 MTA workers passed away from COVID. We created what I call the family liaison program, where every single family who lost someone has a senior NYC Transit person assigned to their family, and their job is to make sure that they have whatever they need. That’s to help with paperwork, pension benefits, health care, any items that may have been left in their office or locker. Additionally, we created from all MTA employees a family benefit, which pays the family of anyone who’s passed away from COVID $500,000, which obviously can never replace the people we’ve lost, but it is a generous benefit that we’ve been able to provide to families." [📻 LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEW]( Study Finds That Subway Station Air Is Not Great For Breathing. The PATH Is Even Worse. [a sign in a subway station reminding people to wear face masks] Andrew H Walker/Shutterstock Scientists from NYU who collected 300 air samples in New York, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston, and along PATH and Long Island Rail Road lines, found that PATH and MTA riders are breathing in the highest concentrations of toxic particles. "New York City had, in general, sometimes double the amount of air pollution in the subway stations than the other cities," said Terry Gordon, the study's senior author. Most of the unsafe particles were made up of iron and carbon that likely came from train wheels rubbing up against the rails. Researchers said it'd be a huge challenge for transit systems to eliminate that residue. Their suggestion: Wear a mask if you're working in a subway station or spending long stretches of time down there, even once the pandemic is over. — [Reporting by Sydney Pereira and Danny Lewis]( Here's What Else Is Happening The MTA said at today's board meeting that it won't need to make major service cuts over the next two years. The announcement followed warnings that subway service could be slashed up to 40% because of budget shortfalls. The agency said an influx of federal aid should keep service steady through 2022. ([The New York Times]( Subway service will expand to 22 hours a day next week. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced this week that starting February 22nd, subway stations will only be closed from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. instead of their current 1 a.m.-to-5 a.m. shutdowns. Advocates for resuming 24-hour service have argued that the closures effectively discriminate against homeless New Yorkers, who will still be kicked out overnight. The governor insisted that service needs to stop for two hours so "people in hazmat" suits can disinfect the system. ([Gothamist]( Lawmakers on Monday held a vigil for two homeless New Yorkers who were fatally stabbed in the subway system. One unidentified man was killed on a subway bench around 11:20 p.m. last Friday in Far Rockaway, and a 44-year-old woman, Claudine Roberts, was found dead at the 207th Street station in Inwood the next day. Police have arrested a 21-year-old suspect, who allegedly injured two other people during the overnight stabbing spree. ([Gothamist]( Veteran MTA workers offered advice on what to do if you end up on the subway tracks. If you can scale the 5-foot wall to get back onto the platform, do it. If not, look for a ladder. And if you don't have time to escape because a train is barreling toward you? "If you lay down flat between the two rails where the trains run, turn your head to the side, the train will pass right over you," said one worker. ([New York Daily News]( Tolls are going up on major MTA bridges and tunnels in April. New York E-ZPass users will have to pay one-way tolls of $6.55 instead of $6.12, while non-E-ZPass users will see prices go from $9.50 to $10.17. The MTA expects the increases to bring in an extra $62 million this year and $116 million in 2022. This comes as officials decided to delay any bus and subway fare increase because of the pandemic. ([The Wall Street Journal]( Transit and business advocates in New York and New England are hoping the Biden administration will approve a 200-mph train that gets from New York to Boston in 100 minutes. The North Atlantic Rail proposal, which would cost over $100 billion, take about 20 years to build, and require drilling a tunnel under the Long Island Sound, would be two hours faster than the New York-to-Boston Acela. Those in favor of NAR say it would boost the economies of post-industrial New England towns; those opposed say that, among other things, it could be environmentally damaging to build. ([CityLab]( Weekend Service Changes: Night of February 19th – Early Morning on February 22nd 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 still closed each night this weekend from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. 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 Queensboro Plaza and 34 St-Hudson Yards. Coney Island-bound trains will skip 167 St, 161 St and 155 St. trains will not run between Church Av and Coney Island-Stillwell Av. 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 would like to remind everyone on this snowy Thursday to keep a safe distance from any [pendulous sacks]( under the tracks. (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](