Why The Return Of Overnight Subway Service Matters

with curfews lifting, a new need for 3 a.m. trains [View this email in your browser]( Overnight Subway Service Is Coming Back. Here's Why That Matters. Plus: Pedestrian deaths have surged this year. The transit workers' union endorsed Eric Adams for mayor. And New Balance has collaborated with the MTA on a new sneaker. By James Ramsay [subway riders wait for a train at night] Frank Franklin II/AP Gov. Andrew Cuomo [said earlier this week]( that 24-hour subway service would resume on May 17th, more than a year after the MTA suspended overnight service [for the first time]( in 116-year history. The decision to end the 2 a.m.-to-4 a.m. closures was just one highlight in the recent New-York-is-back-baby [parade of reopening and restriction-easing announcements](. But with average weekday ridership still down about 65% from pre-pandemic levels, the subway system has a ways to go before reaching a semblance of normal. I asked WNYC transportation reporter Stephen Nessen to put this change in context. JR: Who’s looking to ride the subway between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m., and is that demand trending upward in a serious way? SN: Since last month, the MTA has seen more than 2 million riders a day on the subway, on multiple occasions. That’s a nice milestone as far as ridership returning, and a sign that people are comfortable again on the subway. City workers have returned to the office, and many schools are returning to full-time in-person learning too, so an uptick is to be expected. With the curfew on bars and restaurants lifting later this month, and an easing on restrictions for private parties and venues, there’s an expectation that ridership for late-shift workers and people that want to stay out late will increase. During the overnight shutdowns, the MTA insisted it always had enough buses to transport the 150,000 or so people that would’ve used the subways overnight. JR: In what ways is the return of 24-hour subway service a symbolic victory? SN: For workers that are expected to stay late, or be at work early in the morning, 24-hour service is very much a lifeline, not a symbolic victory. But for advocates who’ve been calling for the return of 24-hour subway service for a while now, they consider it a win. There’s a lot of talk about "a great city" deserving 24-hour subway service, so for that contingent, which includes many politicians and transit advocates, it’s a victory. I should also mention that the subways were always running all night — customers just weren’t allowed on board. But they were transporting MTA workers back and forth, as well as police officers. JR: How will this change both the cleaning of trains and stations, and the nightly evictions of homeless New Yorkers from the system, both of which seemed to be primary reasons for the overnight closures? SN: The MTA has maintained that the overnight closures were strictly about cleaning the subways and stations. The agency has already allocated $350 million this year for cleaning, and says that will continue — although it’s unclear how thorough a job the agency can do once the subways are running, with customers, 24 hours a day. Cleaners told me that their work was so much easier when all homeless individuals were no longer on the trains. They said they could clean every spot of the train, and easily pick up any trash or debris, without fear of agitating anyone. While the city did increase its homeless outreach when the shutdowns began, there doesn’t appear to be plans to ramp it up again. Cuomo had [a rant]( at his recent announcement about the subway reopening, saying no one wants to sleep on the trains, but he didn’t offer any practical housing solutions or funding for outreach. In fact, he’s mostly called for more police to maintain — or at least give the appearance of — safety on the subways. This sends the conversation in another direction about the safety of the subways, with the NYPD saying it doesn’t need more policing and that the subways have never been safer, while the MTA says there are too many low-level assaults on riders and workers, especially considering how few riders there are right now. It kind of feels like we’re back where we were, rhetoric wise, before the pandemic calling for more police to stop fare beaters. That said, I’ve reported on Asian New Yorkers truly afraid of being victims of hate crimes on the subway, and many already have been. JR: I know you’ve reported that the MTA doesn’t expect subway ridership to hit full pre-pandemic levels until 2024, but with about half the city’s adult population being vaccinated and some office workers, including city employees, being called back for in-person work, what’s the short-term prognosis? What will the subway system feel like later this summer? SN: I’ve been on the subway recently, and I wouldn’t agree with the governor that it "smells cleaner," but it is definitely a notch neater than it was before the pandemic. As I said earlier, the MTA has just recently had a few days with more than 2 million subway riders. That’s a far cry from the more than 5 million a day before COVID. But as tourism gradually returns, and New Yorkers feel comfortable going out again, there should be a nice uptick in riders. Mayor De Blasio's Final Year Of Vision Zero Begins With Surging Pedestrian Deaths [A memorial for Alfredo Cabrera Liconia in Astoria] Zohran Mamdani The number of pedestrian fatalities is up 65% in the first four months of this year — from 26 at this point in 2020 to 43 as of this week, according to data released on Tuesday by Transportation Alternatives. That’s the highest death toll since Mayor Bill de Blasio took office in 2014, the same year he introduced his signature [Vision Zero]( effort with the goal of eliminating all traffic deaths by 2024. The tragedies have affected a broad cross section of New Yorkers, from a [beloved Chinese restaurant manager]( on the Upper West Side, to a [6-year-old Williamsburg boy]( waiting for a bus, to a Bay Ridge resident who was killed outside a car dealership [notorious for illegally using public space](. In Queens, a 37-year-old deliveryman was [fatally struck last week]( by a woman who [witnesses said]( was traveling close to 50 miles per hour on a narrow residential street. City officials have attributed the growing death toll to [an increase in reckless drivers]( who took advantage of empty streets at the height of the pandemic and have kept up the deadly habit. But transportation advocates lay part of the blame on the de Blasio administration for not doing enough to scale up street safety improvements. "This mayor who’s overseen Vision Zero and some of these transformative street safety projects hasn’t been able to bring them to every borough and every neighborhood," said Transportation Alternatives' Danny Harris. "We’re going from vigil to vigil instead of groundbreaking to groundbreaking." In Albany, state lawmakers have introduced a package of eight bills, known as the [Crash Victim Rights and Safety Act,]( which include measures to expand speed cameras, permit the city to lower speed limits, and make it easier to prosecute reckless drivers. State Sen. Andrew Gounardes, a Bay Ridge representative who is sponsoring several of the bills, said he was hopeful that the measures could be passed in the next legislative session. In the meantime, as more people return to the streets, Gounardes said he had a message for the city's drivers: "Slow the f down." — [reporting by Jake Offenhartz]( Here's What Else Is Happening When will subway station bathrooms open? While overnight subway service is returning, the bathrooms underground remain closed, and the MTA has recorded hundreds of service delays because of soiled trains. THE CITY's Jose Martinez talks about the challenges this has posed for homeless riders, in particular. ([The Brian Lehrer Show]( Access-A-Ride users participating in the e-hail program are having a really rough time getting rides. The on-demand e-hailing app, which has about 800 active users, is supposed to help paratransit users get green or yellow cabs without having to book them well in advance, but riders who once were able to get a car in minutes now report waiting hours. The MTA blamed the delays on increased demand. ([Gothamist]( The transit workers' union is calling for more mental health professionals and police officers in the subway system to respond to emotionally distressed people. Major delays occurred on three separate occasions on Wednesday due to incidents involving emotionally distressed individuals, including one man who kicked out two D train windows in Brooklyn and another guy who locked himself in the conductor's cab of a J train. ([AM New York]( Last week, the transit workers' union endorsed Eric Adams for mayor. The former cop and current Brooklyn borough president, who shares TWU Local 100's perspective on the need for police in the transit system, received the endorsement after the union's executive board voted 40 to 3 to back him. ([New York Post]( New York State wants to subsidize Penn Station's renovations with revenue from 10 skyscrapers that the city may not actually need. Gov. Andrew Cuomo is hoping to cover some of the $16 billion price tag for Penn Station's renovations by taking a cut of the lease and retail revenue from 10 new towers surrounding the transit hub. But opponents of the plan are questioning whether the demand will exist any time soon for all that office space. ([The New York Times]( NJ Transit stations are still blocking off seating, angering seniors and riders with disabilities. The transit agency originally began blocking benches to enforce social distancing. But with the state easing pandemic guidelines, riders are wondering when stations including Hoboken Terminal and Newark Penn Station will give them a place to sit while they wait for a train or bus. ([NJ.com]( This week in Zizmorcore: New Balance is making sneakers with the MTA's logo on the heel. The shoes, which are for some reason being manufactured in the U.K. and not New Balance's factories in Maine or Massachusetts, go on sale this weekend. ([Hypebeast]( This week's Classical Commute playlist is dedicated to moms on the move, featuring music written by, for, and about mothers. 💐 [Stream it for free on Spotify](. Weekend Service Changes: Night of May 7th – Early Morning on May 10th Note: The entire subway system is still closed each night this weekend from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. [Check here]( for the MTA's live service updates. [Check here]( for complete details about the Long Island Rail Road. For NJ Transit, [check here]( for the latest service advisories. [a photo of James Ramsay sitting on a vespa] James Ramsay would like to remind you that any and all feedback can be sent to james@wnyc.org, or just reply to this newsletter, and he'll read it and respond! (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. 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